Baghdad Underground Railroad with Col. Steve Miska

Schedule

Thursday, March 10, 2022

5:30 PM Reception

6:30 PM Dinner and program

Venue

Phoenix Country Club

2901 N 7th St

Phoenix, AZ 85014 (map)

About the Book

During the war's worst fighting in 2006 and 2007, a handful of Iraqi interpreters put their lives on the line to help American combat troops. Families threatened, a bounty on their heads, ignored by the powers that be, they faced execution if they remained in their homeland. A US Army Task Force Commander decides a promise made should be a promise kept. Get them to the USA.

Above: Steve Miska (right), on the streets of Baghdad with his interpreter, Hassan. Photo credit: Chris Hondros, Getty Images, 2007

Speaker

Col. Steven M. Miska

Author, Baghdad Underground Railroad

Steve Miska served as an officer in the United States Army for 25 years before retiring in 2015. From 2011 to 2012, Steve served in the White House as Director for Iraq on the National Security Council. During his second of three combat tours in Iraq, Steve led a team that established an underground railroad from Baghdad to Amman to the United States for dozens of foreign military interpreters who supported U.S. troops in country. Since then, he has written extensively about the need to protect soft networks, and has acted as an advisor to several non-profits that aim to support and protect foreign military interpreters, including No One Left Behind and the International Refugee Assistance Project. He is the Founder & CEO of Servant Leader Citizen (SLC) Consulting, which exists to educate others about national security and counterterrorism issues in an increasingly global environment, and executive director of the non-profit First Amendment Voice, a nonpartisan effort to reinvigorate civic awareness about First Amendment issues. Steve is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, Cornell University, and the National Defense University. He and Amy have been married 29 years and have two grown children.

Moderator

Brett Hunt

Director, Next Generation Service Initiatives

The Volcker Alliance

Brett Hunt joined the Volcker Alliance in September 2021 as the director of the Next Generation Service initiatives.  In this role,  Mr. Hunt oversees the Alliance’s Next Generation Service Corps initiative, working directly with a growing network of universities around the country to create innovative programs that prepare college students for careers in public service. He comes to the Volcker Alliance with over eighteen years of experience as a leader in the public and private sectors. Previously, Mr. Hunt founded the nation’s first Public Service Academy at Arizona State University, serving as the Michael M. Crow and Sybil Francis Executive Director. Mr. Hunt has experience in the private sector having worked in the fresh produce industry as a manager and as a consultant on issues including immigration, agriculture and Department of Defense clean energy programs. Mr. Hunt began his career as a captain in the US Army, including a deployment to Iraq. He also served as a Foreign Service officer at the Department of State where he was a Vice Consul in the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mr. Hunt has business fluency in Spanish and holds degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Thunderbird School of Global Management.