Jon Soltz

Jon Soltz served as a United States Army officer in the Iraq War and is chairman and co-founder of the veterans advocacy group VoteVets.org. Soltz served in both the Kosovo campaign in 2000 and later in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Based on his service, Soltz became an outspoken critic of the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soltz deployed in 2011 as part of Operation New Dawn in Iraq.

Military service and background

Soltz was commissioned in 1999 from the University of Pittsburgh Army ROTC and attended the Armor Officer Basic Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Following his graduation he was stationed in Germany from 1999–2003. Between June and December 2000, he served as a tank platoon leader in the Kosovo War. in 2005 he trained soldiers for combat at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Veterans' advocacy In 2006, Soltz co-founded VoteVets.org, which originally was a PAC that endorsed a slate of veterans running for office.

Since that time, VoteVets has grown into a group that claims 700,000 supporters, including veterans, military families, and civilians who support them, and is made up of both a PAC and 501c(4), VoteVets Action Fund. The PAC has helped elect a number of veterans in every cycle at the Federal, state, and local levels.

Soltz volunteered for the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004.

He has been a frequent contributor to numerous shows, including All In with Chris Hayes, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Morning Joe, AM Joy, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC. He has been interviewed by the Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time magazine and Newsweek. He has appeared on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, ABC News, Nightline, Air America Radio, The Ed Schultz Show, and The Bill Press Show.