Sameer Khan

Branch: USMC
Years Served: 2004-2012 (3 years active, 5 reserve)
Rank: Sergeant
Military Occupation: 0311 Rifleman / Scout Team Leader
Twitter Handle: @SameerKhan51740

Tell us a little about you outside of the military: 

• • I live in Woodbridge, Virginia with my wife and newborn son. I have been employed as a Police Officer for 14 years and am currently in the process of medically retiring due to an injury I sustained while on duty. I am an avid video gamer and enjoy playing Warhammer 40k.

Why are you joining the IAVA Cavalry? 

• • I have experienced years of frustration of struggling with PTSD from my military experience as well as my time as a Detective investigating Crimes against Children. I spent years suffering in silence, but after years of therapy through various modalities I was able to overcome the darkness. I have also experienced the loss of family and friends from the suicide epidemic that has plagued the veteran community. I want to use my experiences to advocate for other veterans and first responders who I know are out there suffering like I once was.

How did your military experience shape you to be the person you are today?

• • My unique military experience is a twist to the classic tale of the middle-class kid who volunteers for combat duty. I was in high school when 9/11 happened. I also lived in Northern Virginia and classmates of mine had family at the Pentagon. I experienced my personal anger with my country being attacked while simultaneously experiencing people looking at me with suspicion due to my family being of the Islamic faith. Regardless of how some of my countrymen may have viewed me, I believed that it was important to answer my nation’s call to arms to engage in the Global War on Terror. The trials and tribulations of a deployment to Iraq gave me strength to be courageous in the face of adversity.

Which one of IAVA’s policy priorities do you believe is the most pressing? Why?

• • I believe that providing Veterans with access to medical cannabis not only makes sense but is also essential in combatting Veteran suicide and opiate overdoses. Additionally, I also believe that alternate treatment modalities to include micro dosing of psilocybin or LSD while in the care of a medical professional is an effective treatment for PTSD. I unfortunately have lost many friends to suicide and overdoses and firmly believe that these alternative modalities can be the breakthrough we need to successfully reduce these tragedies that plague the veteran community. Time is of the essence and every day that access isn’t available results in only more lives lost. Medical cannabis can be the tourniquet we need to stop the bleeding.

Which one of IAVA’s policy priorities do you have the strongest personal connection to? Why? 

• • The current state of democracy in our nation is unacceptable in my view. The disinformation and the increased radicalism in politics has contributed significantly to the polarization of our populace. I responded to the United States Capitol on January 6 as a member of the Fairfax County Police Civil Disturbance Unit. I physically fought with insurrectionists who had breached our Capitol. Only 16 years earlier I had visited the Capitol on a High School Field trip. I hope that we never come as close as we did to losing our democracy ever again.