Lt. Chris Warren, 25, was born and raised in La Grande, Oregon, the oldest in a family of three boys. He joined the Oregon Army National Guard at the age of 17 and graduated from La Grande High School in 1999.

He recalls transforming from a goofy, awkward teenager to a mature adult through his military experience. “The opportunity to lead has shaped who I am today and made me much more confident and capable. I feel I am ready to act in any situation in military or civilian life.” 

Warren says he loves peace, however in regard to the War on Terror, he feels he’s “seen enough to believe that it is necessary for the United States to take action.”  Warren has been in the middle of that war -- first stationed in Kirkuk, Iraq for more than year beginning in 2004, and now as a volunteer to be deployed to Afghanistan later this year for a mission to help train the Afghan army.

In Iraq, Warren was a platoon leader in a cavalry company responsible for responding to emergencies, mostly due to foreign-led insurgencies. He feels lucky that his experience there went well, with many positive interactions between Iraqis and Americans, and very few casualties to his platoon. However, tragedy struck him personally as his father, 45, who was part of the same battalion, passed away from a non-combat illness while serving in Iraq. He says his family at home in La Grande as well as his military family helped him through that loss.