Bradley Florian Podliska is an American author and intelligence analyst. Podliska was motivated to serve in the military by the stories of his grandfathers, both of whom served in World War II.Honoring Our Nation's Heroes: Brad Podliska, Ph.D. (G'01)
", Georgetown University. He graduated from University of Wisconsin, where he chaired the

College Republicans College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various in ...

, and interned with conservative media watchdog Media Research Center. He took all of the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps courses, but found employment with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and joined the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

rather than the Army. In the DoD, Podliska first worked for the Director of Intelligence for the United States Joint Forces Command in Virginia, followed by a stint at the Joint Warfare Analysis Center, and then a one-year placement in Germany conducting tactical intelligence for the United States European Command. He received an M.A. from Georgetown University in 2001, and completed a Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in 2007. He published his doctoral dissertation, ''Acting Alone: United States Unilateral Uses of Force, Military Revolutions, and Hegemonic Stability Theory''. In 2010, the work was revised and reissued under the title ''Acting Alone: A Scientific Study of American Hegemony and Unilateral Use-of-Force Decision Making''. A review of the book by the Air Force Research Institute stated that "Podliska provides valuable insight into why presidents decide to act unilaterally despite the widespread belief that such actions are inherently unpopular", and concluded that "''Acting Alone'' is a valuable contribution to the social science literature on foreign policy decision making", despite weaknesses identified in the review. In 2008, Podliska served with the

301st Fighter Wing The 301st Fighter Wing (301 FW) is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Carswell Field, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Tex ...

in Fort Worth, Texas, then deployed to Iraq as an intelligence officer with the

332d Air Expeditionary Wing The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing (332 AEW) is a Provisional Wing of Air Combat Command, currently active. It was last inactivated on 8 May 2012, and most recently reactivated on 19 May 2015. The Wing's 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group (33 ...

. He thereafter returned to the U.S. European Command in Germany, and later returned to Washington, D.C. as a Defense Department analyst. In September 2014, Podliska joined the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi as a staffer for the House Republican members. On June 26, 2015 and in alleged violation of

USERRA The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA, , codified as amended at ) was passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton on October 13, 1994 to protect the civilian employment of act ...

, he was asked to resign, according to court documents. In October 2015, Podliska, claimed that the purpose of the committee was political, that he was retaliated against, and asked to resign—all for going on military orders and for not focusing his research on Hillary Clinton. Podliska filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in November 2015, claiming his

rights were violated, that the Benghazi Committee retaliated against him for trying to enforce his USERRA rights, and that Chairman

Trey Gowdy Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news personality, former politician, and former federal prosecutor who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. His district included much of the Ups ...

defamed him and violated his due process rights. Notably, Trey Gowdy was served with a cease and desist letter for violating the Congressional Accountability Act in publicly discussing confidential personnel and mediation issues. According to the Benghazi Committee's court filing, Trey Gowdy also allegedly tried to strip military reservists of their USERRA rights, as Gowdy argued that firing an employee for going on military orders must be the ''sole'' motivating factor for a termination. USERRA law places less legal burden on the reservist, stating that an employee must simply show that "his or her involvement in the uniformed services was a substantial or ''a'' motivating factor in the adverse employment action taken by an employer against him or her." On December 19, 2016, '' The Washington Post'' reported that Chairman Trey Gowdy and the Benghazi Committee settled the lawsuit with Podliska. Terms of the settlement were labelled as "secret." On December 1, 2017, ''The Washington Post'' reported that the amount of the settlement was $150,000, as listed in a report from the congressional Office of Compliance. Podliska was reinstated to his position with back pay. In November 2018, Podliska published a book chapter on the intelligence community and congressional oversight.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Podliska, Bradley American non-fiction writers United States Air Force reservists University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Georgetown University alumni Texas A&M University alumni College Republicans Living people American intelligence analysts Wisconsin Republicans Year of birth missing (living people)