and in 1989, he was cast as Seaman Beaumont of the in the blockbuster film The Hunt for Red October. The same year, Vaughn joined the ABC television series China Beach, playing the role of Corporal Jeff Hyers. Throughout his career, Vaughn has gravitated toward characters who serve in the military (24, The Tuskegee Airmen, JAG, NCIS), law enforcement (Heroes, Frost/Nixon), politics (The Unit), and Starfleet (Star Trek: The Next Generation). In 1995, Vaughn appeared in Apollo 13. In 1998, Vaughn performed in Hellcab at the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin, Ireland during the Dublin Theatre Festival. In addition to his film work, Vaughn has appeared in a wide variety of television programs, with nearly one hundred episodes to his credit. In 2011, Vaughn provided the face and voice of LAPD Captain Gordon Leary in video game L.A. Noire, which was the first video game to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. Screen Actors Guild / SAG-AFTRA leadership In 2008, Vaughn campaigned to merge the Screen Actors Guild with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Vaughn was elected to the SAG board in 2008 and became SAG 1st Vice President in 2010. During his tenure, Vaughn focused on uniting SAG and AFTRA. In January 2012, it was announced that a merger referendum would be presented to members of both unions. Merger opponents and SAG board members Martin Sheen and Ed Harris, along with former SAG president Ed Asner, filed a federal lawsuit to block the referendum, but the vote went ahead. When their case was dropped, Vaughn commented, "Dropping this frivolous lawsuit is the first good decision the plaintiffs have made." On 30 March 2012, the merger passed overwhelmingly, with 86% of AFTRA members and 82% of SAG members voting to create SAG-AFTRA, the largest union representing performers in the entertainment and media industries. Vaughn was the organization's founding executive vice president, serving as the second-ranking and only Republican national officer of the 160,000-member organization. Politics On 21 August 2013, Vaughn announced he would run as a Republican candidate for California's 66th State Assembly district, representing Los Angeles County's South Bay region. On the same day, he resigned his position as SAG-AFTRA executive vice president in order to focus on his Assembly campaign. SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard remarked, "We may not have the same views on politics, but Ned is one of the finest leaders I've ever