Eric Egland

Eric I. Egland, a military reservist who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the founder of Troops Need You. He also declared as a protest candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 4th Congressional District (map) of California.

In March, 2011, Egland was raising money through mass mailings, using a May 24, 2007 letter to him from David H. Petraeus to raise money for his organization. A flag decal accompanied the appeal.

Contact
Troops Need You, PO Box 758531, Topeka, KS 66675-8531

Record
Egland is a reform advocate for abuse of what he terms "national security earmarks," a practice described as Congress appropriating funds directly to privately owned for-profit government contractors even though such funds were not requested by the defense or intelligence communities. In a published op-ed and subsequent interview with CBS Evening News, Egland claimed that he saw "first-hand" how congressional abuses of classified earmark spending resulted in "lost lives on the battlefield" in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the same interview, Egland explained that he confronted Doolittle, his congressional representative, and called for him to resign because of the earmarks that Doolittle helped provide to MZM Corporation, led by now-convicted felon Mitchell Wade. Egland claims that when Doolittle refused to step down, "I decided to run against him."

On July 31, 2007, Egland announced that he would challenge incumbent Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) in the 2008 Republican primary and raised $200,000 in individual contributions, but did not appear on the ballot due to withdrawing in early 2008 shortly after Doolittle's retirement announcement. Doolittle had previously announced "I will not step aside. I am running again. Period."

Egland's earmark reform efforts were later profiled in Government Executive magazine, outlining his advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. In March 2010, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a ban on earmarks to for-profit corporations.

A 501c3 non-profit organization Egland founded, Troops Need You (see below), received an in-kind donation from a controversial source. Troops Need You claims over 20,000 supporters nationwide and Eric Egland's Twitter page highlights Troops Need You activities. That page posted a "Supporter Highlight" thanking "Greg L." for donating "video expertise." It is apparently the same Greg L. who petitioned the City Council of Manassas, Virginia to cease funding for "illegal immigrants," and whom the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a nativist extremist activist in Virginia..

Bio
Egland, who received a degree in political science from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1992, is a Major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who served on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. In January 2005, Egland volunteered for a six-month tour in Iraq "where he worked to help units in Baghdad help identify, defuse and avoid roadside bombs." He returned from duty in July 2005.

Egland is "the founder of Troops Need You and is a counter-terrorism consultant who has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. His experience includes working to defeat terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). He holds a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College."

He is the author of the March 2007 self-published The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help Them Win, a book "based on an essay he published in The Weekly Standard magazine," which "shows average Americans how to help the troops win in Iraq."

Egland "has discussed national security issues on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News Radio, the Hugh Hewitt show, and HotAir with Michelle Malkin."

On September 18, 2006, Egland and his wife Ania were speakers at a Move America Forward the "America Remembers 9/11" event at the California State Capitol.

At the November 2, 2006, California 2006 Victory Rally, First Lady Laura Bush acknowledged Egland:


 * "With us tonight is Major Eric Egland from the U.S. Air Force Reserves. (Applause.) Eric earned a degree from the Air Force Academy, and then he served in Korea and Saudi Arabia, and then he volunteered to go to Iraq. During his time there, he trained units in Baghdad to identify, defuse, and avoid roadside bombs. Now that he's home, he's a contributing author to 'Blog of War: Frontline Dispatches from Iraq and Afghanistan.' He also participates in rallies hosted by moveamericaforward.org, which is a non-profit committed to supporting America's efforts to defeat terrorism and supporting the brave men and women of the United States military. Thank you very much, Eric."

On May 7, 2007, Egland was introduced by Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball as "an adviser to Move America Forward, which backs President Bush's strategy." Egland is also a member of Vets for Freedom and was a speaker at the March 17, 2007, Gathering of Eagles event held in Washington, D.C.

2008 elections
Egland was seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) in the 2008 congressional elections.

On May 30, 2007, Egland stated that "he is seriously considering challenging Doolittle in next year's Republican primary because the congressman is too damaged to win the general election." Egland "says he was a lifelong independent voter before he re-registered as a Republican last year. Yet, he is picking up some important Republican support."

"Among those backing his entry into the race is Steve Schmidt, a former White House adviser to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney who ran Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 re-election campaign, and Cindy Sherrod, who chaired the Bush-Cheney re-election drive in Placer County in 2004."

A resident of Roseville, California, Egland "helped Rep. John Doolittle defeat Democratic challenger Charlie Brown" in the 2006 congressional elections. In the fall of 2006, he "organized a group of veterans to oppose Doolittle's Democratic challenger, Brown, a retired Air Force officer who is seriously weighing another run next year."

Committees
Egland will be assigned committees if and when he is elected to Congress.

Contact
Web: http://www.troopsneedyou.com/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 2008 U.S. congressional elections
 * 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
 * Portal:California and the U.S. Congress
 * war propaganda

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on California's 4th Congressional District
 * California Candidates: District 4, Politics1.com.(accessed July 18, 2007)
 * California 2007, The Green Papers.(accessed July 18, 2007)

External articles

 * Multi-National Corps-Iraq Public Affairs, "'5-25' campaign increases IED awareness," Army News Service, May 26, 2005.
 * John Hinderaker, "Major E Speaks!" Power Line Blog, September 15, 2006.
 * Paul Rieckhoff, "Iraq Plans: Get Advice From The Professionals," The Huffington Post, November 20, 2006.
 * Skulnick, "CA-4: Et tu Doolittle?" An Enduring Democratic Majority Blogspot, June 1, 2007.
 * TC, "One crook for another, according to this article soon there will be a few more pugs added to the list...," VoyForums, June 9, 2007.
 * Buzz Patterson, "Soldiers’ Voices. Listen to what the armed forces have to say about Iraq," National Review Online, June 29, 2007.
 * David Dayen, "Doolittle: I'm an America-hating peacenik!" Calitics, July 6, 2007.
 * Erica Werner, "House members' fundraising lags amid legal woes. Doolittle consultant: 'Fundraising is harder'," Associated Press (Auburn Journal), July 17, 2007.
 * David Whitney, "Ex-ally may challenge 'damaged' Doolittle in GOP primary," Sacramento Bee, May 31, 2007.

Articles by Eric Egland

 * Eric Egland, "Six Steps to Victory. The bottom-up plan to defeat the insurgency," The Weekly Standard, November 16, 2006.
 * Eric Egland and Deborah Johns, "Doolittle should not flip-flop on Iraq war," Sacramento Bee, July 15, 2007.