Rep. Seth Moulton appears to be determined to do the right thing, even if it means not getting himself re-elected

By Sebastian Bae and Christopher Evanson
Marine and Coast Guard Co-Chairs, Best Defense Council of Former Enlisted

Just 118 days into his first term as a member of Congress from Massachusetts, Rep. Seth Moulton sat down with the Best Defense Council of Former Enlisted to discuss leadership principles, his political objectives, and the challenges that lie ahead for the nation, and men and women in uniform.

Moulton, who was as a platoon commander in Najaf, Iraq in 2004, described the political debate in Washington with a mix of disappointment and matter-of-fact sternness. “People on Capitol Hill, and maybe the White House had no idea what it meant to be on the front lines,” he said.

The lack of veterans in Congress is notable, he said. Of the 535 members currently serving in the House and Senate, just 19 percent have worn a military uniform. “We talk a lot about supporting troops on the frontlines,” he said, “but there are very few people here who understand what that means.” When pressed to elaborate, Moulton was more concise: “What I think is lacking [here] is courage. The courage to speak the truth even when it is something the folks back home don’t want to hear. The courage to vote with your conscience, not your party.

For Moulton, this is best characterized by the recent feud over the controversial planned retirement of the Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II. Despite the adamant support of senior Air Force leadership to permanently retire the platform, in a rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans are determined to continue appropriating funds for what Moulton views as an obsolete Cold War capability. Moulton instead proposed a controversial amendment that would shift funds from the A-10 fighter to more programs like counter-IED technology, a capability that he believes remains woefully underfunded.

When asked why he broke with his party, he said, “A lot of people think first: what does my party want me to do? What do I need to do to get re-elected back home? And somewhere down the list is what do we need to do to keep the [soldiers] in Iraq and Afghanistan safe at night.”

The freshman congressman understands his amendment will not win favor among Democratic leadership or even with his constituency in the 6th Congressional District of Massachusetts.

“For me, even proposing this amendment was bad local politics, because the engine for the A-10 aircraft is made by the biggest employer, in the biggest city in my district,” said Moulton. But Moulton is casting himself as a man of principle, not one of convenience. “If I was just interested in getting re-elected, or getting votes or being popular back home, I absolutely should have not proposed this amendment,” he said. “But this was good for the troops on the front, and that is more important to me then just getting re-elected.”

Asked about the startling prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and moral injury among returning veterans, Moulton said he believes that PTS is a difficult challenge for today’s veterans, but it does not have to be a scarlet letter of condemnation. “It is important to remember that PTS is a treatable condition, it is something you can get over and get past,” he said. “We need to do that, not just because we have a moral obligation to take care of our veterans, but because it good for our country’s future.”

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