David Ward

David M. "Dave" Ward was the sheriff of Harney County, Oregon, from 2015 until 2020. This included during the time of the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.

Early life Ward was born in Drain, Oregon, to Jim, the son of a military veteran, and Linda Ward. In high school, he wrestled and played football. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army, where he served as a combat medic. He was deployed to Somalia, as part of Operation Restore Hope, and Afghanistan. While serving as a machine gunner in Afghanistan, he also trained more than 1,500 Afghan soldiers, and created a literacy program and a bank for them. He had been the top cadet in his class at the Oregon Public Safety Academy, earning awards for marksmanship and understanding defensive tactics. On September 4, 2019, he resigned from the position, effective January 2, 2020.

Refuge occupation

Ward was serving as the Harney County sheriff in January 2016 when a loosely organized militia group occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The occupation was covered by national news media. Ward worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oregon State Police to maintain order and protect local citizens during the occupation. At one point during negotiations, Ward did not encourage armed militants to remove their firearms, which attracted criticism from Harney County Judge Steve Grasty. Altercations also occurred during the course of the occupation: the tires of Ward's wife's vehicle were found slashed, forcing her to temporarily go into hiding; and Ward's parents were followed by militants while leaving Ward's daughter's Christmas play.

During and after the occupation, several media outlets wrote op-eds praising Ward's handling of the incident.

On September 14, Ward was the first to testify against the militants.