Two candidates with military experience vie for West Point's congressional district

"Yes. No. No excuse," Rep. Pat Ryan says into the camera to start his campaign ad, standing before a panoramic image of the Hudson River with the granite buildings of the U.S. Military Academy towering above it.

"I'm Pat Ryan, and at West Point those are the only answers for a new cadet."

The halls of Congress used to be filled with veterans, but that measure of public service − a credential with bipartisan appeal for voters − has become increasingly rare. This year's race for New York's 18th Congressional District features a double rarity: two candidates with military experience. That they are running in the district that includes the 4,600-cadet academy in Orange County has made that background even more significant.

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Ryan, 40, a Democrat who won a special election for Congress in August and is seeking a full term on Nov. 8, graduated from West Point in 2004 and served two tours in Iraq as an Army intelligence officer, earning two Bronze Stars and a Combat Action Badge for heroic deeds during his deployments. He has highlighted his West Point training and combat experience in his campaign, vowing to fight for rights and freedoms in Congress as he did overseas.

Colin Schmitt, the 32-year-old Republican assemblyman competing for the seat, has served in New York's Army National Guard for more than seven years and now holds a sergeant's rank, and is assigned to the Camp Smith training site in Westchester County. He was activated with his former unit for three months in 2020 to deliver protective equipment and other supplies around New York in the harrowing early stage of the pandemic.

Military service became part of Ryan's closing message to voters on Wednesday, when he toured the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in Orange County with former President Bill Clinton as a low-key campaign event six days before the election. The museum, which is less than a half-hour from West Point in New Windsor, opened in 2006 and honors an estimated 1.8 million service members awarded the Purple Heart after being killed or wounded by enemy action.

Among them was Ryan's late grandfather, John Porsch, a Navy veteran who was injured when his ship was sunk in the Pacific in the closing days of World War II. Ryan showed the former president his grandfather's record in the registry as they strolled through the museum exhibits and chatted.

Clinton met Ryan there after speaking at a campaign rally in Sullivan County for Josh Riley, the Democrat running for the 19th Congressional District seat. Ryan, speaking to reporters after their tour, called the museum a "gem and a treasure of the Hudson Valley" and, with West Point, a symbol of the region's commitment to veterans and military families.

"Regardless of anything happening − I know there are politics happening, there are elections happening − I just think it's important that we not lose really why we're doing all this, what is really at stake, which is the fact that we have people willing to risk and give their lives for this country," he said.

Fifty years ago, while the Vietnam War was being waged, 73% of all Congress members had served in the military, according to a report in September by the Congressional Research Service. That percentage has steadily dropped and stood at 17%, the lowest level since the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, when the current congressional term began in 2021.

Some 212 candidates for Congress and governor around the U.S. − around 21% of the 1,000 or so people seeking those offices this year − have had some level of military experience, whether on full-time active duty or as a reservist or National Guard member, according to a Pew Research Center article last month.

Schmitt is one of 10,700 Army National Guard members in New York, a commitment that requires him to work at Camp Smith for one weekend each month and undergo two weeks of training at various locations each summer. He also must be ready to be deployed when activated by the federal or state government, as he was for the pandemic in 2020 and for two weeks in 2017, when he packed hurricane relief supplies in Westchester.

Schmitt, who joined the Guard in 2015 and touts that service while campaigning, said in an interview his military training was good preparation for serving in Congress, particularly the resiliency training that teaches Guard members how to handle stressful situations and overcome obstacles.

"It's so important for successful leadership in any capacity," he said. "It would be great to see more of us in more races."

Ryan became one of 78 veterans − 55 Republicans and 23 Democrats − serving in the House of Representatives when he took office in September. His campaign has gotten significant support from VoteVets, a group that backs Democratic veteran candidates and has spent $1.5 million on ads for Ryan and against Schmitt, according to campaign finance reports compiled by OpenSecrets, a money-tracking group.

Schmitt was endorsed by a Republican veterans group called Frontline Patriots, which was created last year and hasn't raised much money or distributed any to Schmitt or other candidates.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: NY-18 House race: What to know about Pat Ryan, Colin Schmitt