Tim is proud to serve as Montana’s Junior United States Senator, continuing his life of service to the nation. He is a husband, father of four, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and combat veteran. Tim’s first job was working construction in high school and volunteering with his local fire department, where he learned the value of hard work and service to the community. After high school, Tim entered in the U.S. Naval Academy at age 18, joining the class of 2008.
While at the Naval Academy, Tim rowed on the varsity crew team and was privileged to be selected for the U.S. Army Special Operations Exchange program, where he spent over a year attached to Army Special Operations Command completing Airborne School, Ranger Regiment Indoctrination Training, Ranger School, and joint tours with the 75th Ranger Regiment and 5th Special Forces Group. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Tim completed SEAL Training and was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare Unit, deploying on his first operational assignment just days after receiving his SEAL Trident.
During his time as a Navy SEAL Officer and Team Leader, Tim was privileged to lead Americans into battle in various operational theaters around the world. His operational experience includes Officer in Charge of Bravo Platoon, SEAL Team TWO, during a highly kinetic combat deployment to Eastern Afghanistan in 2012, where he and his Joint Combined special operations team conducted counterinsurgency operations in remote parts of Afghanistan. During this deployment, he and his unit saw heavy combat and were recognized as one of the most effective special operations teams in the entire theater.
Tim also conducted two combat deployments in support of a classified Joint Task Force conducting high-value target capture/kill raids across Iraq and Afghanistan. During one of Tim’s deployments, he was embedded alongside the 101st Airborne Division in the Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan, where he assisted them with coordination for sensitive hostage rescue and targeting operations across the region. On a separate deployment, he served alongside his Army Special Operations counterparts as part of an urban strike force in Baghdad, Iraq.
Although most of Tim’s operational experience was in the CENTCOM AOR, he also led a small SEAL Team to the jungles of South America for a combined interoperability deployment where US and Foreign Special Operations forces worked together to train and target narcotics and terrorist cells operating in the region.
After his counterinsurgency and counterterrorism experience, Tim was assigned to a specialized undersea command, SDVT-1, where he became a certified mini-submarine pilot and navigator, organizing and leading some of America’s most specialized operators on sensitive missions of national importance. During this time, he gained experience with the impressive array of American undersea capability and deployed in support of critical national mission priorities. Overall, Tim completed several deployments and hundreds of missions and was twice decorated for Valor in Combat.
Tim’s military decorations include the Bronze Star with Valor for Heroism in Combat, Purple Heart Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor, Army Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Ranger Tab, and other individual unit awards.
Tim was wounded and injured in the line of duty and subsequently left active duty in 2014, when he started his businesses with the vision of bringing some of the technological capability he observed during his military service to the civilian world to better protect Americans from public safety threats like wildfire.
Tim founded Bridger Aerospace in his barn with all his savings and an all-veteran founding team. From two guys in a barn in 2014, the Bridger enterprise of companies grew to employ over 500 personnel on multiple continents by 2024. Always leading from the front, Tim served as a line pilot for Bridger, flying as a carded Air Attack and Water Bomber pilot across the American West for over a decade. Tim remains an FAA Certified Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor.
Due to his experience working alongside wildland firefighters and seeing the disparity in treatment for these brave first responders, Tim cofounded the Montana Firefighters Fund, a charitable organization built specifically to support the families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters.
Tim and his team spun various companies out of the Bridger Aerospace family, most notably Ascent Vision Technologies (AVT) which began independent operations in 2016. AVT specialized in sensor development for infrared and electro-optic camera systems and was one of the pioneers for automated onboard video processing software. By 2020, AVT had led the development of the MADIS family of Counter UAS air defense systems, which were utilized across the US Military. Ascent Vision Technologies was acquired by CACI in 2020.
Tim was also the co-founder of Little Belt Cattle Company, a veteran-led ranch and beef company that raises Montana beef. He and his wife are proud to raise their children in the agricultural community where they learn the value of food security to our communities and our nation.
Tim met his amazing wife, Carmen, at the U.S. Naval Academy. Carmen graduated as a Marine Corps Officer and served deployments in Afghanistan and Asia. She is Tim’s best friend, a homeschool leader, and mother to their four beautiful children.
Carmen and Tim decided to upend their lives and enter politics in 2023 after their shared devastation about the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. As one of relatively few couples who both served in the war, they were heartbroken to see American citizens and allies abandoned and our promises broken so haphazardly. It was a turning point for them, and they are proud to serve once again.
