The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is re-endorsing the 82nd Combat Veteran For Congress we endorsed in 2014; he is a fiscally conservative candidate who will work to reduce the national debt, and will focus on reining in the out of control spending by Congress.  He will work toward unleashing the private sector to grow once again, create jobs, and stimulate private sector business investment.  Col Robert L. Maness, USAF (Ret) (R-LA-Senate) who resides in Madisonville, Louisiana is a 32 year veteran of the US Air Force.  Col Maness is running to win the Louisiana Republican primary election as the Republican US Senate candidate in the general election, for the Senate seat vacated by Senator David Vitter’s (R-LA-Senate) retirement.  Robert L. Maness was born in the Madigan General Army Hospital in Fort Lewis, Tacoma Washington on November 14, 1961. 

Since his father was a 23 year career MSgt in the US Air Force, in his youth Robert with his family moved frequently to MS, NV, CA, Morocco, North Africa, and TN as his father received orders to different military assignments; Robert graduated from Southside High School in Jackson, TN on May 14, 1979.  In June 1985 Robert Maness received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida.   In May 1995 Captain Maness received a Master of Science Degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass.  In June 1999, Major Maness received a Master of Science Degree in Military Operations Art/Science at the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. In June 2007, Colonel Maness received a Master of Arts in National Strategy and Strategic Studies at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.      

While in his senior year in Southside High School in Jackson, TN, Robert enlisted in the USAF and was sworn in at the Military Entrance Processing Center in Memphis, TN on November 18, 1978.  He entered boot camp on June 7, 1979 at Lackland Air Force Base, and graduated as an E-1 Airman Basic.  During the next 8 years he was an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant.  Staff Sergeant Maness entered Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas in October 1985, and graduated and commissioned a Second Lieutenant on January 23, 1986.  From Feb 1986 - Nov 1986 he went through navigator training at Mather Air Force Base, CA, followed by KC-135A training Castle Air Force Base California through June 1987.  In June 1987, 2nd LT Maness was assigned to Instructor and Evaluator Navigator Duty at Barksdale Air Force Base Louisiana; on January 23, 1988 he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant.  1st LT Maness continued in Instructors Duty and was promoted to Captain on January 23, 1990.  On March 1992, CPT Maness was assigned as a student at the B-1 Flying Training Course at Dyes Air Force Base Texas.  In Sept 1992, CPT Maness was assigned as Flight Commander and Wing Weapons Officer, 46th Bomb Squadron, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.

In December 19-20, 1989, Capt Maness flew his first wartime operations missions from Barksdale Air force Base, LA in support of Operation Just Cause, and from August 1990 throughout the remainder of the year and into 1991, in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Capt Maness was a navigator in combat support operations in KC-135s and was awarded the Arial Achievement Medal.  In April1 1994, Capt Maness was assigned as Chief, Combat Operations of the 34th Bomber Squadron and was awarded the Arial Achievement Medal.  In April 1994 Capt Maness was assigned as Chief, Combat Operations of the 34th Bomber Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base North Dakota.  In July 1994 he received orders to report as a Graduate Student at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts and in June 1995 he received a Master of Science Degree in Public Administration.  In May 1995 he was assigned as Chief, B-1 Standardization/Evaluation, 336th Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base North Dakota and was assigned as Executive Officer to Wing Commander, 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth AFB, North Dakota in April 1996.  Capt Maness received orders to report as Assistant Operations Officer of the 77th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, ND in April 1997 and was promoted to Major on November 1, 1997.

During his military service, Colonel Maness led numerous combat operations, including as a bomber squadron commander in Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.  Colonel Maness served as an enlisted bomb disposal technician in three assignments countering terrorism before being commissioned and selected for flight training.  As a Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Officer he was on duty in the National Military Command Center located within the Pentagon during the September 11, 2001 attack. In the ensuing months, he directly assisted the United States national security team with creating, synchronizing, and executing the campaign plan for the global war on terrorism. In August 1998 Major Maness reported as a Student, Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama and received a Master of Science Degree in Military Operations Art/Science in June 1999, then received orders to report to the Pentagon as Operations Officer (J3) with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  In March 2002, he reported as the Assistant Operations Officer of the 13th Bomb Squadron at Dyes AFB, TX and on May 1, 2002, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.  In May 2003, Lt Col Maness reported as the Operations Officer for the 9th Bomb Squadron at Dyes, AFB Texas.  From January through March 2004, he deployed to Diego Garcia in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, as the Director of Operations 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron; he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for combat operations.  From December 2004 to May 2005, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom he was transferred to Al Udied, Qatar as Commander of the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron; he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Air Medal for combat operations.

On March 2006, Lt Col Maness reported as Deputy Commander of the 7th Operations Group at the Dyes AFB Texas.  He received order to report as a student to the US Naval War College as a Student; upon graduation from the Naval War College in June 2007, he received a Master of Arts in National Strategy and Strategic Studies.  In June 2007, following graduation, Col Maness received orders to report as Vice Commander of the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, as was subsequently was assigned as Deputy Director for Plans and Programs at Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana in July 2009.  In April 2010, Col Maness received orders to report as Commander of the 377th Air Base Wing, Kirkland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Col Maness retired from active duty and was honorably discharged from the US Air Force on November 30, 2011.  His awards include the Legion of Merit Medal (oak leaf cluster), Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (2oak leaf clusters), Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Join Services Commendation Medal (oak leaf cluster), Air Force Commendation Medal (6 oak leaf clusters), and various campaign and service medals.

Following his retirement from the US Air Force, in September 2011, Col Maness was employed as Director of Safety and Training by ENTERGY Inc., in New Orleans, Louisiana; the firm is in the utility industry and headquartered in New Orleans.  Following Col Maness statewide campaign in the 2014 for the US Senate, he founded a hybrid super PAC named GatorPAC.  Through GatorPAC, he trained over 100 new grass roots activists in the state and transformed his campaign statewide organization into a grass roots election group to assist GatorPAC endorsed conservatives win many state wide elections in the Louisiana 2015 election cycle.  GatorPAC achieved victories in the Lt Gov, Attorney General, and multiple state House/Senate races in October and November of 2015.

Col Maness is a VFW Life Member, is a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, is a Life Member of the Air Force Association, is Life Member of the NRA, is a Life Member and current President of his local chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, and a member of the American Legion.  Col Maness is married to the former Candance Smith; they have five children James who is on active duty with the US Navy, Staci, Brandon who is in the Army National Guard, Collin who is in the U.S. Air Force, and William.   Col Maness and his wife Candy are active members of the First Baptist Church of Covington, LA.   Col Maness has been endorsed for the US Senate by Gov Sara Palin, Dan Bongino, Maj Gen Paul Vallely USA RET, 55 Tea Party Leaders from every TP Group in Louisiana, the Combat Veterans For Congress PAC, and the National Defense PAC.
The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is pleased to endorse Col Robert L. Maness, USAF (Ret) who will bring to the US Senate private sector skills and wisdom to better solve problems in government and represent the State of Louisiana.  If you review Col Maness’s positions on his Web site, you would be pleased with his stands; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  We look forward to working with Col Maness, and are pleased that a Combat Veteran of his caliber is running for US Senate.  If you have friends, associates, or relatives who know voters in Louisiana, kindly pass this E-mail on to them, and ask them to support Col Maness by working in his campaign, providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign.  The military is one of the few remaining institutions producing the caliber of men and women needed to restore this nation to the greatness our Founding Fathers envisioned.  We have endorsed another Combat Veteran For Congress that General George Washington would have approved of.  He is a Veteran who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”