Meet Tom Ludwig

Thomas Ludwig is a recently retired US Army Special Forces officer and Harvard graduate from Levittown, New York running for the 2024 US House of Representatives, NY 3rd Congressional District Republican nomination.

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Ludwig started his military career just months before the attacks of 9/11, being commissioned as an Infantry officer in June 2001. During Thomas’ 21 year military career he deployed seven times, to include one deployment to Iraq, three deployments to Afghanistan, earning multiple Bronze stars and a combat valor award, and three deployments to South America. Thomas has led over 180 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had two deployments as a Special Forces Company Commander, where he had mission command of all special operations in Central America, Colombia, and Peru. Tom also countered Russian aggression in Europe for three years, helped establish schools and medical clinics in South America and the Middle East, worked with the US Marshals as an US Army Interagency Fellow, was the lead exercise planner for Special Operations training support to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, and examined and helped create US national security strategy and policy towards Russia and China as the first ever Special Operations Command Strategic Director focused on the use of Special Operations Forces in great power competition.

Thomas just earned his fifth college degree, a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University. Thomas also has a Master’s in Business and Organizational Security Management from Webster University, and a Master’s in Defense Analysis: Irregular Warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School. Thomas received his Bachelor’s from Northeastern University, and his Associates from Nassau Community College. He also has graduate certificates from Harvard and Stanford University, studying International Relations and International Security, and eight professional certificates, to include credentials from Yale, Cornell, London School of Economics, Michigan State, and Notre Dame.

As an Army Ranger, Green Beret, and strategist, Thomas has professional and leadership experience no other candidate can match. Thomas is a Foreign Policy and National Security expert who believes the current political leadership is bitterly polarized and ineffective, and that US has regressed in its standing in the world and is facing serious domestic and international challenges. Thomas has been trained to identify and help solve some of the world’s most complex problems, and he plans to utilize this knowledge, training, and experience to help identify, confront, and fix the problems and make a more positive difference for the people of the district, state, and country.

Education
Harvard University, Master in Public Administration 2023
Harvard University, Graduate Certificate: International Relations 2021
Stanford University, Graduate Certificate: International Security 2018
Naval Postgraduate School, MS: Defense Analysis: Irregular Warfare 2013
Webster University, MA: Business and Organizational Security Management 2013
Northeastern University, BS: Criminal Justice, Minor in Political Science 2001
Nassau Community College, Associates of Arts: Liberal Arts 1998

Professional and Executive Certificates
Harvard University, Certificate in Management, Leadership, and Decision Sciences 2023
Cornell University, Psychology of Leadership 2021
Institute of Project, Management Certified Project Director 2021
Yale University, Global Business and Politics 2021
Michigan State University, Global Management 2020
London School of Economics Business, International Relations, and the Poli-Econ 2019
University of Notre Dame, Negotiation 2018
University of Notre Dame, Leadership 2017

US Army Schools
Special Forces Qualification Course
Ranger School
Defense Strategy Course
Red Team Strategist Member Course
Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course
Advanced Special Operations Level II
Joint Professional Military Education Level II
Human Operations Preparation Course
Infantry Officer Basic Course
Infantry Captains Career Course
Covert Action and SOF Sensitive Activities
Airborne School
Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape: High Risk
Air Assault School