Ryan Conklin In White House Briefing

After several days of meeting with members of Congress, Ryan Conklin participated in a briefing at the White House to present the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America's legislative agenda to members of the Executive Branch. It was part of the IAVA's "Storm The Hill 2010" campaign to let Congress know what the most important issues are for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

During the week of February 8-11, 2010, Ryan had been part of "Team Bravo", one of the IAVA teams walking the halls of the Capitol, meeting with Congressional leaders. On the last day, Ryan was on the special team, Team Whiskey (referring to the letter W in military parlance) that was sent to the White House.

Ryan was glad for the opportunity to be part of an effort to gain real assistance for veterans. He was also excited to be able to do it so soon after leaving the Army, being a representative for America's newest veterans. In Stars and Stripes, Ryan is quoted as saying: "I'm just out of my uniform, and now I'm up on the Hill in a suit talking to senators. It's left me very optimistic that we can get our voices heard."

Ryan Conklin Meets With U.S. Senators

A little over a month after leaving Iraq, Ryan Conklin was in Washington D.C., meeting face-to-face with U.S. Senators, like Senator Max Baucus of Montana (at right, with Ryan), speaking about the needs of veterans. Ryan was part of a team from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) to explain the organization's legislative priorities to members of Congress. It's a campaign that the IAVA calls "Storm The Hill 2010".

Senator Baucus is chairman of the important Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax matters. His help is needed to pass tax credits for businesses that hire veterans. This is a vital issue to the IAVA because from 2006 to 2009, the unemployment rate among male veterans ages 18-24 increased by 11.5 percentage points to 21.7%. Among female veterans of the same age, the unemployment rate increased by 7.5 percentage points to 20 percent.

One of the areas that Senator Baucus has already been working for veterans is the establishment of mandatory mental health screenings. The specific legislation, which is modeled after a program currently used by the Montana National Guard, requires the military to provide a live screening for all military personnel before they deploy to combat as well as no later than six, twelve and twenty four months after their return.

It must be noted that Senator Baucus had a hand in passing the abomination that is the Senate version of health care "reform", but hopefully he can make up a little for that by doing something that instead helps Americans, like getting the IAVA's priorities passed through the U.S. Senate.

Ryan Conklin In Storm The Hill 2010

Braving the 2010 "snowpocalypse / snowmaggedon" in the Mid-Atlantic states, Ryan A. Conklin (at right) went to Washington, D.C. to be part of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) "Storm the Hill 2010". The IAVA will be meeting with Senators and Congressmen and their staff to present the organization's legislative priorities for helping to meet the needs of our military veterans.

This is the IAVA's fifth such all-out push to make sure that Congress understands the needs of America's newest veterans. From February 8th thru the 12th, the group will present its 2010 priorities, which are to modernize the VA claims processing system, streamline and simplify the post 9/11 GI bill, secure jobs for veterans, eliminate combat stress stigma, and support better health care for female veterans.

Ryan is part of "Team Bravo", one of the seven teams of veterans that will be speaking to the Congressional offices. They are scheduled to meet with well-known Senators such as Max Baucus of Montana, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

You can learn more about the work that the IAVA is doing that week and see how you help by going to www.stormthehill.org.

Team Bravo in front of the White House

Ryan Conklin Is Hope's Voice Speaker

Ryan A. Conklin is a speaker available for scheduling through the Hope's Voice organization to speak as part of the group's "Faces of War" educational lecture series. All the available speakers are soldiers or a loved one of a soldier who has served and returned from war. The purpose of the lecture series is to help young people understand the realities of war from the perspective of one of their peers.

The format of the speaking engagements includes the speaker telling their story and relating the impact that their service overseas has had on their life. The lecture is also interactive with time for questions and answers with the student audiences. It is expected that the lectures will provide valuable and meaningful information and share the emotional and eye-opening realities of the people who have bravely served our country. Hope's Voice states that "the Faces of War lecture and campaign is encouraging young people, regardless of their political views, to put aside their differences and come together to be educated and inspired."

In the bio for Ryan posted on Hope's Voice website, the story of his initial deployment to Iraq, his uneasy return to home, his experience appearing on The Real World Brooklyn, and his involuntary recall to Iraq, are laid out for those considering booking him as a speaker. It gives a glimpse of what we know is the fascinating story of Ryan, although it probably doesn't in a few paragraphs give a picture of how amazingly well-spoken he is and how impressively able he is to relate the Iraq War to those who have not experienced it first-hand.

Hope's Voice

Ryan Conklin At Sundance

During his time at the Sundance Film Festival, Ryan Conklin along with Chet Cannon, walked around Park City, Utah, and walked into the various venues that they were able to get into. One of the places they visited was a suite at The Sky Lodge where the charitable organization Blanket America was creating a PSA for their cause, using whichever celebrities stopped by. Ryan and Chet took the opportunity to get before the camera and be part of the plea.

There at the same event, the interviewer Gregory Mantell had stationed himself that afternoon on the 22nd in order to get some interviews from whoever wandered in. Mantell was able to get a quick interview with the RWB duo, which he posted on YouTube.

In the interview, they discussed the snow and cold in Park City, and how warm blankets were appropriate for the weather. Ryan said he enjoyed the snow, since he had seen very little of it in Pennsylvania.

Chet spoke about the business aspect of their trip and mentioned that he was also part of the scene, since (speaking for himself) they were "celebrities in their own minds." Ryan smiled as Chet bared his ego.

During the interview, Chet kept a tight grip on Ryan's shoulder. It was an opportunity to have sort of a reason for inappropriate touching.

Blanket America is an organization, as the name implies, whose purpose is to give blankets to people in need in America.

Ryan Conklin Visits Chet Cannon

A few days after Ryan Conklin returned home from visiting JD Ordonez in Miami, he was back on a plane, headed to see another Real World Brooklyn cast member, Chet Cannon. The purpose of the trip was to spend some time with Chet as well as go to the Sundance Film Festival, where Chet would be doing interviews for Young Hollywood.

Ryan left Pennsylvania on 1/17, but didn't get to Salt Lake City till the 18th, due to a flight schedule problem that forced him to spend the night in Phoenix. At SLC he was picked up by Chet, who had earlier traveled from his home in LA to meet Ryan when he got to Utah.

Chet was anxious to see Ryan again. Chet tweeted (coincidentally?) while Ryan was visiting JD, "Time to tell that special someone to ditch the zero and get with the hero."

Chet is an important person to Ryan. Like you would expect with a best friend, it appears that Chet is a person that Ryan feels totally comfortable being himself around. For most of the last year, Ryan was in the Army, where there's probably an expectation to maintain a certain butch attitude and to engage in the usual soldier banter. That would let Ryan still show his personality, but not his not-so-butch side that he can let be free around Chet.

Another reason that Chet is important to Ryan is that Ryan wants to pair with Chet on any entertainment business ventures. It's noteworthy that Ryan has shown that he can be successful as a solo talent, writing his own book and starring in his own MTV special. So it wasn't a given that Ryan would want be in a team professionally, as it's kind of unusual for someone after they made a name as a solo artist to reach back and rejoin the group he was in before. However, it's a preference of Ryan to work with others instead of by himself. That may come from his experience in the Army, where you're always working together with others.

That's good news for Chet. He's had some success with hosting and interview gigs, using the big glasses and bow tie shtick, but a partnership with Ryan should really boost his career. It's also probably the quickest and easiest way for Ryan to start another chapter in show business.

It feels unseemly to talk about, but it's been suggested so much by various people that Chet has romantic/sexual feelings for Ryan, and it has to be acknowledged that Chet's behavior has generally been consistent with such an assessment. Looking at Ryan's point of view, notwithstanding the freak-out from the kiss of the drag queen, Ryan had stated on RWB that it doesn't bother him when guys let him know that they think he is hot or even if a guy said he wanted to sleep with him. Accordingly, Ryan gives Chet a lot of leeway when Chet jokingly talks about his feelings or makes use of his hands. As a fail-safe, Ryan knows Chet has vowed to be celibate until marriage, so for that reason, he knows the sex talk is going to be just talk.