News & Updates
Contact: Matt Gobush, awc@awc.senate.gov
May 14, 2024
As the Afghanistan War Commission’s work intensifies, we want to keep you updated on our progress. Our News & Updates feature focuses on our ongoing stakeholder outreach and engagement with the military veterans community.
AWC commissioners and staff have consulted with veterans from the start. In just the last three months:
Our co-chair Dr. Colin Jackson appeared on a veterans panel in Massachusetts hosted by Stanford’s Hoover Institution to discuss his military service and the work of the AWC
Our co-chairs Shamila Chaudhary and Colin Jackson, as well as veteran commissioners Bob Ashley and Chris Molino, met with a cross-section of Afghanistan war veterans during a roundtable aimed at honing in on their questions and concerns about the war
Our Director of Operations and former IAVA CEO Jeremy Butler, plus Strategic Communications Advisor Matt Gobush, briefed top veterans service organization leaders as part of the White Oak Collaborative on our mission and ways veterans can stay involved
Our Executive Director Jaime Cheshire appeared on the American Legion’s Tango Alpha Lima podcast to thank veterans for their support and to update them on our research plans
We launched a veterans portal on our website enabling veterans to share their stories and questions for the AWC to consider in our research
Our Senior Advisor for Afghan Outreach Mariam Jalalzada and Jeremy Butler traveled to Houston to meet with Combined Arms, a veterans empowerment network.
Over 800,000 servicemembers were deployed to Afghanistan during the 20-year war, including several who now serve as AWC commissioners and staff. We salute their service, value their views, and pledge to continue our engagement with them through 2026, when we deliver our final report.
To all who served and sacrificed we owe an honest, objective, independent and in-depth assessment of the war. We’re committed to deliver it and accomplish the mission Congress set for us – with the continued input and support of America’s veterans community.