Why I Back Bardack: Colonel Stephan J. Picard, ARNG, retired

Duty, Honor, Country.

These are words that every Veteran understands well as it is taught to us as we enter service to our country and then threaded throughout everything we do throughout our careers, no matter if that service lasts 1 year or 30 years. I am a Retired Colonel from the Army National Guard with 15 years of Active Duty Service and 12 years of National Guard Service. Normally I sit quietly by and watch the political process. Since retiring, I have felt freed to express my opinions. Now that I see Paul is running for office, I simply had to provide my support. I had to urge the Veterans of District 19 currently serving, or previously served to get out and vote for Paul.

You see, Paul and I worked together for many, many years in support of the National Guard Distance Learning Projects and the Secretary of Defense Advanced Distributed Learning Projects. I was the Uniformed Officer in charge and Paul was my lead consultant, but he was much more than that. Paul understood and lived the same Ethos of our uniformed services. He demonstrated Duty, Honor, Country every day.

I have to say that Paul was and is a man dedicated to improving peoples station in life no matter where they are and where they are going. I have seen first-hand a demonstration of that as he served the National Guard and the Nation by bringing children from Minnesota, Virginia, and the U.K together with scientists from NASA all across the country and aboard the International Space Station. Paul truly is a man that brings people together no matter what their agenda may be in order to effect positive and real change. I have seen him negotiate at the highest levels of government with impressive results.

Paul has a very unique personality; he truly cares about people. He is intelligent and if you have met him, you know that he has almost boundless energy. It is with pride that I endorse Paul for District 19 Delegate. I think the citizens of the district will gain a man who will lead from the front, a man who has impeccable integrity, a man who will represent the citizens with a sense of Duty, Honor, Country rarely seen in today’s politician.

Stephan J. Picard

Colonel (ret)