Brandon Friedman is the Director of Online Communications for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In that position, he and his five teammates plan and oversee execution of a digital media strategy for an agency with over 300,000 employees and eight million enrolled veterans.

Before joining VA, Brandon helped veterans get involved in politics at VoteVets.org where he was a Vice Chairman from 2007 to 2009. While there, he represented the organization on national television, radio, online, and in print, advocating on a variety of defense and foreign policy related issues. Prior to that, Brandon served as an infantry platoon leader and executive officer in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, completing combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2004.

Brandon is the author of the combat memoir The War I Always Wanted—recognized by The Military Times in 2010 as one of “The Best Military Books of the Decade.”  In addition to his memoir, Brandon’s writing has been featured by a number of publications—from The New York Times and The Guardian to The Huffington Post and The White House Blog. Brandon has been interviewed and quoted by ABC News, the Associated Press, Fox News, BBC, The Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, Politico, and many other media outlets. He has appeared as a guest on CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN, as well as on dozens of radio programs across the country. Brandon holds an MPA from the University of Texas at Dallas and a BA from Louisiana State University in Shreveport.