The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is endorsing the 56th previously endorsed Combat Veteran For Congress to run in 2016 for the open US Senate seat in Nevada, vacated by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV-Senate).  He is a fiscal and constitutional conservative Congressman who has been working to rein in the out-of-control spending, and cut down on fraud, waste, and abuse in the bloated out of control government bureaucracy.  Congressman Joe Heck, BGEN-USAR (MC) resides in Henderson, NV.  BGEN Heck has been serving for over 24 years in the US Army Reserve as an Emergency Medicine Physician and Flight Surgeon.  Congressman Heck serves as Chairman of the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, has served as the Vice-Chairman of the Transportation & Homeland Security Subcommittee, served on the Permanent Select Intelligence, the Human Resources & Education, the Commerce & Labor, and the Natural Resources Committees, where he has been working to prevent any reductions to military pay or benefits, has been reviewing terrorism & counterterrorism analysis, been working on streamlining federal job-training programs by cutting out duplicative and ineffective spending, has worked to improve health care, and has been pressing for local control of education.  Congressman Heck has been working to identify and curb irresponsible fiscal practices of the Obama Administration, has tried to support the passage of a balanced budget amendment to the United States’ Constitution, and has worked with his colleagues on the Hill to reinvigorate the US economy. 

Joseph Heck was born on October 30, 1961 in Jamaica, New York and raised in New York and Philadelphia.  Upon graduating from Wallenpaupack High School in 1979, Joe took a year off to compete on the U.S. Luge team.  In September 1980, Joe matriculated at Penn State University in University Park, PA where in May of 1984 he received a BS in Health Education.  In September 1984, Joe was accepted at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, PA where he earned a Doctor of Osteopathy in June 1988.  From 1988 to 1989 he went thru his internship at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Philadelphia; from 1988 to 1992 he went thru Emergency Medicine Residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.  In June 2006 he received a Master’s in Strategic Studies Degree (MSS) from the US Army War College in Carlisle, PA. 

On May 28, 1991, in his last year of Emergency Medicine Residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Heck received a direct commission as a Captain in the U S Army and attended the US Army Medical Department Officer Basic Course in 1993.   He completed the Army Medical Officer Advance Course in 1994, and the army Flight Surgeon Course 1994.  In 1998 he completed the Combined Arms and Services Staff School.  On June 30, 1996, Capt Heck was promoted to Major and was called to active duty in support of Operation Joint Endeavor in Mannheim, Germany.  In 2001 he graduated from the US Army Command and General Staff College.  On November 14, 2002, Major Heck was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and in 2003 he was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Noble Eagle.  On September 29, 2006 LTC Heck was promoted to Colonel and was once again in 2008 he was recalled to active duty and deployed to Al Asad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  In Iraq, he served as the Chief of Emergency Services and Aeromedical Evacuation of the 325thCombat Support Hospital in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (2nd award), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (2nd award), the Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary Medals, and various Campaign Medals. In 2010 he completed Advanced Joint Professional Military Education at the Joint Forces Staff College.  On July 14, 2014 Colonel Heck was promoted to Brigadier General and currently commands the Western Medical Readiness Support Group overseeing more than 2,000 soldiers in 6 western states.  

Joe Heck began his 25+ year career in public service as a volunteer firefighter and ambulance attendant in rural Pennsylvania. In 1992, he moved to Southern Nevada where he volunteered as a Medical Team Manager with the Nevada Urban Search & Rescue Team - Task Force 1 and as a member of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) Search & Rescue and Tactical Medic teams.  Before his election to the US House of Representatives in 2010, Cong Heck owned a small business; he founded and served as President and Medical Director of Specialized Medical Operations, Inc. a corporation dedicated to providing quality medical training, consulting, and operational support to Law Enforcement, Emergency Medical Services and Military Special Operations.  From 2004 to 2008 Dr. Heck was elected and served as a Nevada State Senator representing District 5.  Cong Heck has served as a member of the Nevada State Homeland Security Commission Sub-committee on Health, the American Osteopathic Association's Task Force on Bioterrorism, and as the Medical Director for the Nevada Hospital Association’s Hospital Preparedness Program. He also served as the Medical Director for the Southern Nevada Health District's Office of Public Health Preparedness. With a faculty appointment at Touro University Nevada in Henderson, NV, and prior faculty appointments at Community College of Southern Nevada in Boulder City, NV, University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, and the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD, he understands what it takes to provide quality education for children. Dr. Heck has lectured and published widely on special operations medical support and the medical response to acts of terrorism, with over 80 articles and chapters in medical publications.   

Dr. Heck is a member of the NRA, the Military Officers Association of America, the American Legion, the VFW, the Catholic War Veterans, the Knights of Columbus, American Osteopathic Association, the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the National Association of EMS Physicians, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, the American Association of Medical Review Officers, the Nevada State Medical Association, the Clark County Medical Society, and the Special Operations Medical Association.  Dr. Heck is certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine, with a Certificate of Added Qualification in Emergency Medical Services, and is a Certified Medical Review Officer by the American Association of Medical Review Officers; he has been endorsed by the Susan B. Anthony List advancing Pro-life Leadership.  Joe and his wife Lisa, a registered nurse, have three children: Monica, Chelsea, and Joseph III.

If you review Congressman Joe Heck’s positions on various issues on his Web site, you would be pleased with his stands; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is pleased to re-endorse Cong Heck as a Combat Veterans For Congress from Nevada, look forward to working with him, and are pleased that a Combat Veteran of his caliber is running for election to the US Senate in Nevada.  If you have friends, associates, or relatives who live or know voters in the state of Nevada, kindly pass this E-mail onto them and ask them to support Cong Heck by working in his campaign organization, by providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign.  We have endorsed another Combat Veteran For Congress, that General George Washington would have approved of, he is a veteran who at one point of his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”