Schmid, Claude: - Colonel Claude Schmid retired from the US Army in 2013 after thirty-one years of military service in combat units around the world. During his two tours of duty in Iraq, he commanded a combined US-Iraqi infrastructure security force that secured, defended, and assisted in the rebuilding of Iraq's northern energy infrastructure. He returned to Iraq as commandant of the new Iraqi military school system. Before retiring, Schmid served as chief of the Army's Wounded Warrior Flight program, which welcomed thousands of wounded warriors back from Iraq and Afghanistan for medical treatment. Serving in this capacity-witnessing the warriors' hardship and pain, and hearing their stories-reaffirmed the unbreakable strength of America's soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen. A first-generation American, Schmid was born in New Jersey to Swiss parents. He is an avid student of history, politics, and good books, and holds bachelor's degrees in economics and government from Wofford College and master's degrees in business administration and strategic studies from the United States Army War College. He is a member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the International Churchill Society, and serves on the New Jersey Board of Directors of Operation Homefront.