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Aaron von Ehlinger
Aaron von Ehlinger 2020
Born	May 7th, 1982 Orofino, Idaho
Education	Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History
Alma mater	University of Alabama
Political party	Republican

Aaron von Ehlinger

Aaron von Ehlinger (born May 7, 1982) is an American veteran of the War in Afghanistan.  He is a former United States Army Airborne and Air Assault qualified Infantryman who was deployed in support of the initial Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF) mission to destroy Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001-2002 and was attached to the Combined Joint Task Force Mountain as a member of Task Force Rakkasan.  Von Ehlinger was initially deployed to Afghanistan with the first conventional, and highest-rated United States Army Infantry battalion in the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT), the 1st Battalion 187th Infantry Regiment (Rakkasans).  He left the U.S. Army due to multiple service related injuries in June 2003.

life and education

Von Ehlinger was born on May 7th, 1982 in Orofino, Idaho where he spent his childhood playing sports, riding motorcycles, building hot rods, fishing, and hunting.  At the age of 15, Aaron’s family moved to Whitefish, Montana.  As a kid, he always thought that the greatest thing a man could do was serve his country, and after his junior year at the age of 17, he entered the U.S. Army's Delayed Entry Program and committed to serving in the Army’s elite Airborne Infantry.  In June of 2000, von Ehlinger graduated from Whitefish High School.  After the military, von Ehlinger graduated from the University of Alabama with a double major Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History (Magna Cum Laude) and made the President’s List multiple times.

Military Career

Two weeks after graduating high school in the year 2000, Aaron was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia (The Home of The Infantry) for Basic Training, Advanced Individualized Training, and Airborne School to learn how to jump out of airplanes into combat zones.  Aaron was then stationed with the 1st Battalion 187th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  Shortly after arriving, Aaron was sent to Air Assault School to learn the science of rappelling and fast roping operations and insertions from helicopters.  

Not long after Air Assault School, the September 11th attacks of 2001 occurred, and Aaron’s unit was placed on full alert, and later deployed to Afghanistan and Pakistan in support of the Joint Special Operations Command mission to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  It was during this time in Aaron’s life that he learned the true meaning of sacrifice and leadership.  This was truly a pivotal moment in time for him.  Aaron was just 19 in Afghanistan.  In 2002, Aaron’s unit was sent back to Fort Campbell, KY and in 2003 Aaron was honorably discharged from the Army.

Weapons

As an Infantryman, Aaron has often been asked about his weapons and equipment.  In the field, he used the following:

Weapon	Details
M4 carbine (5.56 NATO)	with the Knight’s Armament Company (KAC) Rail Interface System, with and without the M203 grenade launcher, and with the AN/PEQ-2 Infrared Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Light (ITPIAL).
M249 SAW (5.56 NATO)	with the Aimpoint CompM2 M68 Close Combat Optic, and the AN/PEQ-2 Infrared Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Light (ITPIAL).  In Afghanistan, von Ehlinger’s primary weapon was the M249 SAW.
M240 machine gun (7.62 NATO)	with the AN/PEQ-2 Infrared Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Light (ITPIAL).
MK 19 grenade launcher (40mm, belt fed, fully automatic)	either mounted on an M3 tripod or a Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle HMMWV).  In Afghanistan, von Ehlinger was also a MK 19 gunner.
M2 Browning (.50 BMG)	with the AN/PEQ-2 Infrared Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Light (ITPIAL), and mounted on an M3 tripod or a Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle HMMWV).
Beretta M9 (9x19mm Parabellum)	In Afghanistan, von Ehlinger’s primary side arm was the Beretta M9 pistol.
BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided)	The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided")[6] is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly improved semi-automatic guidance system that could also be equipped with infrared cameras for night time use.
AT4 shoulder fired 84mm Anti-tank weapon	The AT4 (also AT-4)[8] is an 84-mm unguided, portable, single-shot recoilless smoothbore weapon built in Sweden by Saab Bofors Dynamics (previously Bofors Anti-Armour Systems).[9] Saab has had considerable sales success with the AT4, making it one of the most common light anti-tank weapons in the world.
M67 grenade	Sandard fragmentation hand grenade
M18 Claymore Mine	(directional anti-personnel mine)
M9 Bayonet with M10 scabbard.	In Afghanistan, von Ehlinger carried and used the M9 Bayonet.
AN/PVS-14	Monocular Night Vision Device (MNDV).
Interceptor Body Armor	Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System (IBA)

Awards and Decorations

Right Breast		Left Breast
		0em		0em

	Right Breast		Left Breast
Insignia	1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia	Badge	Combat Infantryman Badge
		Badges	Parachutist Badge		Air Assault Badge
		1st Row	Army Commendation Medal w/ Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster		Army Achievement Medal
		2nd Row	Army Good Conduct Medal	National Defense Medal		Afghanistan Campaign Medal
		3rd Row	Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal	Global War On Terrorism Service Medal		Army Service Ribbon
Badge	101st Airborne Division Combat Service Identification Badge (CSIB)	Badge	U.S. Army Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge w/ rifle Clasp

Post Military

After the military, it wasn’t long before Aaron realized that the United States is no longer interested in winning wars.  When he was in Afghanistan in 2001, he assumed that the nation was in it to win it, but 18 years later, that is clearly not the case.  Aaron knew American Heroes who did not make it home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and also some who succumbed to the grief of wartime service.  To Aaron, the idea that the United States sends its Heroes to fight and die in wars it has no intention of winning is absolutely outrageous.  One Veterans Day many years ago, Aaron was at a celebration where he and several of his Veteran friends were gathered.  He was introduced to a Gold Star Mother.  She was the mother of a fallen Infantry Marine who died in Iraq.  Aaron hugged the woman as she told her son’s story and began to cry.  She was understandably overcome with grief, but he tried to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay.  

Aaron recalls that it was at this moment with that fallen Marine’s mother in his arms that he realized that we must do better.  The leaders of the United States, even at the state and local level, must only ever accept total victory over our enemies, and that we must secure victory by every means possible, and at the least risk of shedding the blood of American heroes.  It was at that moment Aaron decided that if he were ever elected to a position of leadership, he would treat the job with the seriousness it deserves.  It is with this level of seriousness that Aaron pledges to go to Boise and do the business of the great patriots of Idaho’s 6th District.

Aaron joined the All 50 club by traveling all 50 states in the US.

Political Aspirations

Aaron Von Ehlinger in the Idaho Senate Gallery

http://www.Aaron4Idaho.com

Aaron believes we are in the middle of a pivotal moment in our great country’s history, where the corrupting influence of socialism is rising up to levels we have never seen before.  He is convinced that for us to survive as a nation, we must start electing serious candidates that have strong moral convictions to leadership positions.  Aaron is no stranger to literally standing toe to toe with the enemies of America, and he strongly believes that patriotic Americans can still stand up and resoundingly defeat the socialists and all those who wish to do America harm, but it must begin now! There is no more time to waste on weak, do nothing politicians who just go-along-to-get-along. To maintain the ideals so many of us patriotic Americans still cherish, and to win back some of the ones we have lost, we must act now on serious change!  The status quo will no longer do.  

It is with these patriotic beliefs in mind that Aaron humbly offers his candidacy to the people of Idaho’s 6th Legislative District for Idaho House Seat 6A.  Together, Aaron and the patriots of Idaho’s 6th District have the opportunity to usher in a new generation of serious leadership to the Idaho legislature, and to guide our great State into the future, as a glowing example for all other states to emulate.  Thank you for your support of Aaron, the great State of Idaho, and the United States of America!

He is a Life Member of the Grand Old Party (Republican Party), the National Rifle Association, the Combat Infantryman’s Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and is an annual member of the American Legion in Lewiston Idaho.  Aaron has lived in the local area for 25 years.