William D. Swenson

William D. Swenson (born November 2, 1978) is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army who was awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony on October 15, 2013. He was the sixth living recipient in the war on terror.

Early life and education Swenson graduated from Seattle University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science, in 2001.

Military career Swenson was commissioned from Officer Candidate School as a United States Army infantry officer in September 2002. His military education, mostly at Fort Benning, includes Basic and Advanced Infantry Officer Courses, Ranger School, and Airborne School. He has deployed three times in the war on terror, once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. He has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Purple Heart (for having been wounded in action), and the Combat Infantryman Badge. At the time of the Battle of Ganjgal, Swenson was a captain in 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, detailed as an Embedded Trainer for the Afghan Border Police.

Swenson left the U.S. Army in February 2011 and lived in Seattle, Washington. At the time, when Swenson received the Medal of Honor, he was unemployed, and had been since after he left the Army. In October 2013, Swenson requested to return to active duty. On March 14, 2014, he was accepted back onto active duty and served as a plans officer at the I Corps headquarters. Later in 2014, Swenson was named "Alumnus of the Year" by Seattle University. In 2015, along with Representative Duncan D. Hunter and others, Swenson advocated on behalf of Major Mathew Golsteyn, who had his Silver Star revoked following an investigation that initially led to no charges; however in December 2018, Golsteyn was charged with murder, being recalled to active duty to face the charge, but the charges were subsequently dropped and Golsteyn was administratively discharged instead. In March 2016, Swenson was assigned to United States Army South.

In December 2017, Swenson earned a Master of Arts in Security Studies Western Hemisphere from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In August 2018, Swenson took the place of Major General James E. Livingston on the board of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. Swenson was promoted to lieutenant colonel on October 31, 2019. during a battle for which he received the Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor award Swenson received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on October 15, 2013. Swenson was nominated for his actions as an Embedded Trainer in the Battle of Ganjgal near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on September 8, 2009. He is reported to have repeatedly entered the "kill zone" in order to rescue wounded American and Afghan soldiers, much like his fellow serviceman Dakota Meyer who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011.

Footage of Swenson from a camera on a helicopter was the first time that part of an event which led to the awarding of the Medal of Honor was filmed. This makes Swenson the fourth Medal of Honor recipient whose actions were caught on film. Being recommended for the Medal of Honor in December 2009 by a battalion commander, the paperwork was lost, causing a significant delay in the nomination process. Prior to the paperwork being lost, General David Petraeus had recommended that the award be downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. There are accusations in both the military and the press that the lost paperwork was punishment for Swenson loudly criticizing his senior officers for not sending fire support in an after-action investigation into the battle. Dakota Meyer strongly advocated for Swenson's Medal of Honor in his book, Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War, writing that if it were not for Swenson, he (Meyer) would not be alive today. In May 2014, the Department of Defense reported that based on an investigation, Swenson's Medal of Honor recommendation was lost in the Army's email system. In February 2015, it was revealed that in the period prior to Swenson receiving the Medal of Honor in 2013, the Criminal Investigation Command began an investigation of Swenson due to negative comments about a book by a former Pentagon official made in an Amazon.com review by Major Mathew Golsteyn in 2011. In the review, Golsteyn, who was investigated over his killing of a Taliban bombmaker in 2010, referred to Swenson as a friend.

Hall of Heroes induction ceremony On October 16, 2013, Swenson was inducted into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. During the ceremony, the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff presented Swenson with a framed copy of his Medal of Honor citation. Following the Medal of Honor presentation at the White House, on October 16, 2013, Swenson was inducted into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. The ceremony was officiated by Chuck Hagel, the Secretary of Defense. Hagel was assisted by the Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh, Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno and the Sergeant Major of the Army, Raymond F. Chandler. During the ceremony, Hagel apologized to Swenson for the mishandling of his award nomination, which had been delayed for 19 months because of what officials called a bureaucratic oversight. McHugh later told the standing room only audience that the army would implement a new process providing greater oversight to "ensure that no future award packet is lost along the way or paperwork misplaced or somehow forgotten in the fog of war." The new directive, McHugh stated, required Medal of Honor nominations be sent immediately to Army Human Resources Command. "As soon as an honors packet is created at battalion level, we will have immediate visibility at Army headquarters," he told the audience.

Swenson also has five Overseas Service Bars.