Gulf War veteran Willes K. Lee of Honolulu was sworn in today as the newest member of the National Rifle Association’s board of directors. The NRA Board and leadership, led by President Allan Cors and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, oversees the NRA’s overall direction. Lee fills a recent opening due to changes on the board.

“For 26 years as a soldier, I was privileged to be a Defender of Freedom. I am honored to continue to defend freedom with the National Rifle Association of America, freedom’s safest place.”

An Endowment member of the NRA, Lee served on civil rights icon and 25-year NRA board member Roy Innis’ NRA’s Urban Affairs committee and serves on the NRA’s Military and Veterans Affairs Committee under charge of LtCol Oliver North and the NRA’s Outreach Committee with Sheriff David Clarke.

As a candidate for election in 2017 to a full 3-year term on the NRA board and now as a board member serving the remaining months of Mr. Innis’ term, Willes Lee has crisscrossed the country attending gun shows, meeting with national and grassroots leaders in the Second Amendment movement, and calling on a wide range of political leaders in order to shore up support for gun rights at the local, state and national level. “From youth safety and shooting, to training, competition, hunting, self-defense, collecting, to elections and issues campaigns, we’ll be a more aggressive, offensive-minded, agile Board.”

Lee recently was named as a co-chairman of the Trump-Pence Second Amendment Coalition. His many varied endorsements include Lt Col Oliver North’s first-ever NRA endorsement, Congressman Matt Salmon, national radio host Lars Larson, Ammoland Shooting Sports News, Freedom Alliance, Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb, conservative leader Morton Blackwell, 2A leader Charlie Cook, noted attorney and conservative activist Cleta Mitchell, and the Hawaii Rifle Association. The majority of NRA Board members signed his ballot petition. Lee is a member of Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Virginia Shooting Sports Association.

The married father of two grown daughters, Lee is a retired U.S. Army officer having served our nation as a Defender of Freedom for twenty-two years as an Airborne-Ranger Armor officer following graduation from West Point. He is a recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal for contributions to national operations, the Bronze Star Medal for Desert Storm combat performance with the 24th Infantry Division, and the Legion of Merit for combating terrorism in Europe. Lee’s service includes five years with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. Lee is a lifetime Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) member.

If elected to the NRA board, the wide-ranging wealth of grassroots political experience Lee brings to the table is formidable. Lee says “It is our time to go on the offensive to secure our Second Amendment rights and to take back the liberties stolen by anti-gun progressives the past eight years”.

Lee’s past roles as a member of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and as Chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party make him comfortable and adept in political circles to advance the interests of gun owners while fighting legislative attempts to undermine our rights. Presently, Lee advocates Second Amendment rights as President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) and National Director of the Hawaii Republican Assembly (HIRA). He is a Director for the American Conservative Union (ACU) Foundation which hosts the annual, high profile CPAC conferences and Council for National Policy (CNP) member.

The election is underway through ballots sent by the NRA to life members and consecutive five-year members. If elected to fill one of the 26 open seats, Lee will serve with 75 others on the national board. Only 37 qualified for the ballot this year, of the estimated 100 million gun owners and 5.2 million NRA members. Following the board election, the elected Directors will be recognized at the Annual Meeting of NRA Members in late April 2017.