Mike Press

Biographical Information
"Mike Press is currently Spirit of America's Commander Support Program Field Representative with 3/10MTN in the districts of Maiwand and Zhari, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

"He was born and raised in Los Angeles. Following college graduation in 2001, Mike enlisted in the US Army Infantry. After serving for over five years overseas in Europe and two tours in Iraq, he finally completed his service in 2008 with the rank of Staff Sergeant. Upon returning stateside, Mike eventually relocated to Washington DC for graduate studies at Georgetown University's Security Studies Program within its School of Foreign Services, graduating from the program in May 2011, focusing on International Security.

"In summer of 2010, he was an intern dealing with terrorist-related issues in the New York Police Department. Mike also participated in Fall of 2010 in the US State Department's Institute of International Education's Young Leader's Dialogue with America Conference in Prague, which brought 47 American and 150 Central and Eastern European young professionals together for workshops and group projects dealing with issues such as Transatlantic Security.

"Additionally, he was one of seven Americans out of 70 international young professionals to participate in the Atlantic Council's Young Atlanticist Summit in Lisbon, Portugal that coincided directly with the NATO summit of November 2010 occurring in the same complex. Among the many international leaders who addressed the young attendees, Mike had the honor of giving the introductory speech for then-General David Petraeus.

"He also has completed a stint as a Research Assistant at the Center for Complex Operations, which focuses on diplomacy, development and defense issues within low-intensity conflicts, at the US Department of Defense's National Defense University and recently was selected as a 2011 Presidential Management Fellowship finalist."