Gabbard Campaign Press Release - Tulsi Gabbard Returns from Active Army Service, Resumes Campaigning in Iowa

DES MOINES, IOWA — U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has completed her two weeks of active duty service overseas with the Army National Guard and returned to the campaign trail. Her first stop is in Iowa, followed by visits to Georgia and New Hampshire.

Congresswoman Gabbard is the first female combat veteran to ever run for the presidency. The Congresswoman has served in the Army National Guard for over 16 years, deployed twice to the Middle East, and has previously participated in joint military exercises in Indonesia and Japan.

While overseas on active duty, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard joined fellow service members from the Hawaii Army and Air National Guard in a joint military exercise focused on counterterrorism and humanitarian response with counterparts from the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian military).

"This training exercise further reinforced the problem-solving mindset that has been drilled into me for the past 16 years as a soldier," said Rep. Gabbard. "It is a mindset that is not only essential for successful military operations, but also necessary for all of the foreign and domestic challenges our country faces. In order to succeed in overcoming any problem or challenge, we must first:

A) Understand the current situation
B) Clearly define the root cause of the problem
C) Identify a well-defined, achievable objective or goal

Failing to adhere to these fundamental principles will result in creating an unachievable or unrealistic goal and cause more problems in the process. Our country's history is rife with examples of leaders failing to do this, like Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.

As President, I will bring this problem-solving mindset to the many challenges we face -- whether it's ending our regime change wars, working to end the new Cold War and arms race with Russia and China, or dealing with domestic concerns such as healthcare, environmental protection, rebuilding our infrastructure, and so much more. We must not view these issues through a partisan lens or rose-colored glasses. We must see them as they are and come together around our shared objective of serving the interests of the American people to solve them."