Alexander Vindman and Patrick Schmidt, 2021
Patrick Schmidt is a Democratic candidate running in the State of Kansas. While stationed at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, DC, Patrick witnessed the attack on the Capitol. Realizing that the biggest threat facing Kansas and country is authoritarian leaders gaining control of the federal government, Patrick moved back home and filed to run against a member who supported the Big Lie and the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
While on active duty he served as a Division Officer onboard the USS RONALD REAGAN, the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and Fleet Intelligence Watch Officer in support of Commander, Task Force 70. As Division Officer he led a multisource intelligence team providing air, surface, and subsurface threat warnings for the carrier strike group, frequently inside the First Island Chain. He subsequently spearheaded a counter-Iranian Threat Network intelligence and cryptologic team in support of CENTCOM and partner-nation operations and supported national mission forces at the Office of Naval Intelligence.
While at Tufts, Patrick was a member of the 2009-2010 EPIIC class, South Asia: Conflict, Culture, Complexity, and Change. In addition to studying the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan He cites an EPIIC colloquium lecture by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and the as a primary reason he studied Persian throughout college. Mentorship and support from Sherman Teichman and IGL alumni from Dewick Dining Hall to Dushanbe, and everywhere in between enabled him to earn two Critical Language Scholarships from the State Department and a Boren Award from the Department of Defense to study in Tajikistan. He also credits missile defense research during the 2010-2011 EPIIC Course, Our Nuclear Age: Peril and Promise, with significantly aiding his understanding of the threat environment while supporting operations in the Western Pacific.
Prior to commissioning, Patrick interned with the Economic and Commercial Section of Embassy Nicosia and worked as a research assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy with the Iran Security Initiative.
Michèle Flournoy, Patrick Schmidt, and Dennis Ross, 2021
Patrick was a freshman when I met him first. I had a really enjoyable experience teaching and interacting with him over the years and most recently serving on the Host Committee for his campaign. Alert, intellectually curious, a thoughtful nonpolemical thinker, he was always imbued with a sense of civic responsibility and was particularly interested in my Institute’s ALLIES (Alliance Linking Leaders In Education And the Services) civil-military program.
Patrick has recently written me this statement:
“One testament to the transformative power of the IGL and Tufts community is that 12 years ago I was the freshman who repeatedly fell asleep overnight inside the IGL house, and now I am the Democratic nominee for KS02. Your support and encouragement led me to study Persian (you wrote me letters of recommendation for the DoD's Boren Award, and the Department of State's Critical Language Scholarship, which I received twice), and it was Persian that led to my getting hired at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy). Thank you for investing in me and equipping me to pursue my passions.”