Paul Rieckhoff is the Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). A non-partisan non-profit group with over 100,000 members around the world, IAVA was founded in 2004 and is America's first and largest Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans organization.
Rieckhoff was a First Lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in the Iraq war from 2003-2004. He is now a nationally recognized authority on the war in Iraq and issues affecting troops, military families and veterans.
Honored by Esquire magazine as one of "America's Best and Brightest" in 2004, Rieckhoff has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs. Recent appearances include: The Charlie Rose Show, 60 Minutes, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper 360, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Hardball with Chris Mathews, The NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, ABC's documentary "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports," The CBS Evening News, Hannity and Colmes, BBC World, NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Real Time with Bill Maher, Tavis Smiley and The Colbert Report.
Rieckhoff has had opinion pieces printed by the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Knight-Ridder and The New York Daily News, and is a regular blogger for The Huffington Post and Military.com. He has been featured in U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, The New York Times, GIANT Magazine, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Army Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The New York Post, Newsday and A.P.
Rieckhoff is also the author of Chasing Ghosts, a critically acclaimed account of his experiences in Iraq and activism on behalf of veterans, published by Penguin in May 2006.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 Congress Gets Paid, Veterans Get Shafted
Despite repeated assurances that the VA budget would be passed on time this year, the September 30th deadline has come and gone. And the only thing that's passed is another milestone: 20 out of the last 23 years, the veterans' health care budget is late. This year, the VA is not alone. The only budget that did pass on time was the one that funds salary checks for members of Congress. So Congress gets paid, and vets get stuck w
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 As Michael Vick Awaits Hail Mary, Vets Tackle a New GI Bill
An editorial from IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff announcing the launch of a groundbreaking outreach campaign, anchored by the website NewGIBill.org, to provide educational resources to new veterans seeking to attend college on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which takes effect August 1.
Friday, July 17, 2009 GAO: VA Failing to Serve Women Warriors (1 comments)
Latest column from Iraq veteran and IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff about a new GAO report out this week detailing alarming disparities in VA health care for our nation's female veterans.
Saturday, July 4, 2009 Coming Home from War is No 4th of July Picnic
Ironically, for veterans, the Fourth of July can be a difficult holiday to celebrate. With every uniform that marches by in parades, we remember our friends that did not make it home. The sounds of fireworks remind us of incoming mortar rounds. And as large crowds gather to celebrate America's birthday, we sometimes find ourselves scanning the masses for potential danger.
