Paul (P.J.) Rieckhoff is an American writer, social entrepreneur, activist and veteran of the United States Army and the Iraq War. He is the president of Righteous Media Inc and the host of the Independent Americans podcast. Prior to that, he was the founder, CEO and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a non-partisan non-profit founded in 2004. He served as an Army first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq from 2003 through 2004. Rieckhoff was released from the Army National Guard in 2007. He is also the Karl Lowenstein Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in the Political Science Department at Amherst College, where he designed and taught a class on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, titled Understanding 9/11. Education Rieckhoff attended James I. O'Neill High School in Highland Falls, New York, and graduated from Amherst College in 1998 with a BA in political science. At Amherst, Rieckhoff was a varsity football and rugby player. He hosted a radio show on the college radio station, WAMH-FM and was president of the student government. Military service Rieckhoff enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on September 15, 1998, and completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He then served in the U.S. Army Reserve, as a specialist with the 812th Military Police Company. While working on Wall Street in 1999, Rieckhoff transferred to the New York Army National Guard. He graduated from Officer Candidate School in June 2001 and was named a Distinguished Military Graduate. Rieckhoff selected infantry as his branch and joined A Company, 1-105th Infantry (Light). Rieckhoff left Wall Street on September 7, 2001, with plans to travel and complete additional military schooling. On the morning of September 11, Rieckhoff was at his apartment in Manhattan when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. He participated in the rescue efforts at ground zero. In 2002, Rieckhoff volunteered for the invasion of Iraq. In January of that year, he was on a plane to join the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Rieckhoff was then assigned as a platoon leader in the [[124th Infantry Regiment|3-124th Infantry]of the Florida Army National Guard. The unit was attached to 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and spent almost a year conducting combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq. Rieckhoff was awarded a United States Army Commendation Medal for his service in Iraq. Political activism In 2008,