Sen. Tim Sheehy Guest Columnist
Jan 17, 2025
I’ve been serving our country since I was 18. It was never my goal to enter politics, but when your country calls on you to serve, you must answer.
I spent years leading men and women in combat worldwide as a Navy SEAL team leader, fighting wildfires as a water-bomber pilot, and building successful Montana businesses. I was proud to do it. One thing I learned: clarity of mission is key to any successful organization.
As your senator, my new mission is simple: make life more prosperous, safe, and affordable for the people of Montana by restoring competence and common sense to our government.
In the United States Senate, I now serve on the Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, on Armed Services, and on Veterans’ Affairs. These committee assignments will give me the opportunity to use my background as a Navy SEAL and businessman to deliver greater economic opportunity for hardworking Montanans, put America’s warfighters first, and better serve our veterans.
Free enterprise powers America. Competition, grit, and innovation fuel the American Dream. I know because I lived it.
In 2014, we founded Belgrade-based Bridger Aerospace which, along with its sister company, Ascent Vision Technologies, experienced rapid growth, created hundreds of Montana jobs, and helped hardworking Montana families and veterans thrive.
Ascent Vision Technologies went on to be acquired by CACI for $350 million in 2020, and Bridger Aerospace remains a major Montana employer and one of only a few publicly traded companies in the state.
Each business helped veterans successfully transition to civilian life, young Montanans jumpstart their careers, and parents raise their growing families in Montana. My job now is to foster an environment where more Montanans and Americans can enjoy such prosperity and live the American Dream.
As a SEAL team leader who completed several deployments and hundreds of missions across the globe, I intimately understand that the highest duty of our government is to protect its people.
That means we must ensure our warfighters have the leadership, training, and resources they need to close with and kill the enemy and defend our great nation. On the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’ll help reorient the military’s focus back to combat lethality and make America strong again.
Veterans used to make up about 75% of Congress. Today, we’re around 18%. That’s part of the reason why the government is failing our brave men and women in uniform as well as our veterans.
As a wounded combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, I know firsthand the challenges our veterans face at the VA. I will put that knowledge to use for Montana’s veterans on the Senate VA Committee and lead the charge to fix the dysfunctional agency.
My experience uniquely positions me to make an impact on the issues that matter to Montanans. I’m not serving in the U.S. Senate to make friends or be popular at D.C. cocktail parties. I’m here to fight for hardworking Montanans and help take our country back.
Ultimately, this isn’t about me. I don’t own the Senate seat; I hold it temporarily as a steward working for the betterment of the people of Montana and our country. My focus each day will be taking tangible, incremental actions that make progress toward our ultimate goal of Making America Great Again.
It’s a new day in America. We have an opportunity to secure our children’s future and revive the American Dream. Let’s seize it.