Combat Veterans For Congress - Embedded Integrity

The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is endorsing Major General Bert Kameaaloha Mizusawa, USA (Ret.), as the 159th Combat Veteran For Congress since it's founding in 2009.  He is a decorated combat veteran, national security leader, and constitutional conservative running for the United States Senate from Virginia to challenge three‑term Democratic Senator Mark Warner. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a family of grateful immigrants who served and sacrificed for America, Mizusawa grew up in military communities across Europe, Asia, and the United States before his family settled in Hampton, Virginia, where he graduated from Kecoughtan High School. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1979 as the “number one man”—first in his class—and receiving his commission as an infantry officer. He later earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was twice selected as a MacArthur Fellow in International Security.

An Airborne Ranger and Master Parachutist, General Mizusawa’s distinguished Army career spanned from 1979 to 2015. As a young captain, he served as a paratrooper in Italy with the 1‑509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team and commanded the Army’s most forward‑deployed combat unit, the Joint Security Force at Panmunjom in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. In November 1984, he led his company in a historic firefight against North Korean forces pursuing a Soviet defector, personally exposing himself to enemy fire to lead the defector to safety. For his “exceptional valor and gallantry in action,” he was awarded the Silver Star—one of the rare Cold War combat awards of its kind. Over the course of his career, he deployed to Afghanistan as commander of the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force–Afghanistan (CJIATF‑A) during Operation Enduring Freedom, and served in Iraq as Deputy to the Commanding General, Multinational Corps–Iraq.

Rising through the ranks to brigadier general and then major general, Mizusawa held multiple senior positions critical to America’s security. He commanded the Army Reserve Information Operations Command, the Army’s pioneering cyber and information operations unit; served as Deputy G‑3 (Operations) for U.S. Army Materiel Command; and as Deputy Commanding General of the 335th Theater Signal Command. Promoted to major general in 2011, he became Deputy Director for Strategic Initiatives on the Joint Staff and later the Reserve Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His Combined Joint Interagency Task Force–Afghanistan earned the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for its performance in combat operations.

In civilian life, Mizusawa has combined legal, financial, and national security expertise. He practiced law with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, advising on some of the largest global bond offerings in the world, and later founded technology and security firms focused on multimedia and industrial security. In government, he served as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, helping craft national defense policy and authoring the GOP national security plank for the 1996 presidential platform. He was appointed a three‑star‑equivalent Senior Executive in the Pentagon and, in 2016, became a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, authoring the Trump doctrine on national security. 

In early 2020, he assumed a senior role at the Central Intelligence Agency as Senior Adviser for national security technology and business integration, bringing his operational and strategic experience directly into the intelligence community.

General Mizusawa is running in the August 4, 2026 Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Virginia. His platform centers on strong national defense, secure borders, energy independence, fiscal responsibility, and restoring constitutional government. He advocates rebuilding military readiness, confronting adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from a position of strength, and securing America’s technological edge in cyber and space. Domestically, he calls for controlling inflation and federal spending, cutting wasteful bureaucracy, unleashing American energy, and defending individual liberties—including free speech, religious freedom, and the right to keep and bear arms. He emphasizes that Virginia, with its deep military roots and intelligence community presence, must lead the nation in security and innovation rather than follow the priorities of career politicians.

In the Republican primary, Mizusawa faces businesswoman Kim Farington and businessman and Navy veteran David Williams. Farington has focused her campaign on affordability and economic issues, while Williams presents himself as a political outsider with a smaller fundraising base. Mizusawa is widely viewed as the most experienced national security candidate in the race, with decades of military command, Pentagon service, and intelligence leadership that neither of his opponents can match. His record of combat leadership, strategic policymaking, and hands‑on experience at the CIA gives him a unique ability to challenge Senator Mark Warner, who currently serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee but has spent his career as a wealthy businessman and career politician rather than a warfighter.

General Mizusawa argues that in a dangerous world, Virginians deserve a senator who has personally borne the cost of defending the nation and understands both the battlefield and the policy arena. His combination of West Point discipline, Harvard‑trained judgment, combat‑tested courage, and senior‑level national security experience makes him a stronger candidate to confront America’s enemies, secure Virginia’s future, and restore principled, constitutional leadership in the United States Senate.