*Reference to Jason Faler's military service or depiction of him in uniform does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Defense or any branch of the US Armed Forces.

Combat veteran. Healthcare executive. Professor. Fourth-generation Oregonian. Political outsider.

Jason Faler is running for Oregon's 6th Congressional District as a true independent — no party affiliation, no special interest funding, no caucus to answer to. He is not a career politician. He has never held elected office and has never answered to a party. His only obligation is to the people of OR-6.

What sets Jason apart is not any single credential — it's the combination. He has spent nearly 27 years solving hard problems under pressure on the battlefield, in healthcare boardrooms, at U.S. Embassies abroad, and in the community. He has stood where OR-6 voters stand — navigating a complex healthcare system, fighting rising costs, and watching Washington fail the people who trusted it most. That lived experience is exactly what he is bringing to Congress.

ROOTS

Jason Faler is a fourth-generation Oregonian, the son, grandson, and great-grandson of a multi-generational Willamette Valley farm family. He spent a significant portion of his youth moving irrigation pipe, milking cows, picking marionberries, and pitching in wherever he could contribute. His father overcame significant poverty, put himself through college, graduated from Oregon State University, and became a Certified Public Accountant — a story of chasing and achieving the American Dream that played a major role in Jason's decision to serve his country in uniform.

When Jason talks about protecting Oregon farmers and fighting for working families, he's not reading from a policy brief. He's drawing from memory and lived experience.

EDUCATION

Jason attended Salem-Keizer Public Schools and graduated from South Salem High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Oregon State University, a Master of Healthcare Administration from Seton Hall University, and a Master of Science in Jurisprudence from the Seton Hall University School of Law. He is a board-certified Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. In 1999 and 2003, Jason studied Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Politics at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

HEALTHCARE CAREER

For over two decades, Jason has worked in executive leadership roles at healthcare organizations large and small — from integrated delivery systems to independent private practices. He has navigated the full complexity of American healthcare: fighting insurance companies, managing regulatory burdens, leading organizations through the most turbulent and transformational period in the history of healthcare delivery in the United States. He understands what it costs — in dollars and in human toll — when the system fails patients and families.

Since 2007, Jason has been an adjunct professor at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, teaching healthcare law and regulation and, occasionally, strategic management to master's and PhD students.

When Jason talks about putting patients over profits and reducing the cost of healthcare, he's speaking from 20 years of experience inside the system — not from a campaign talking point.

MILITARY SERVICE

Jason enlisted in the Army National Guard as an 11B Light Infantryman in 1999. He was accepted to Officer Candidate School and earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in Military Intelligence in 2002.

His deployments include:

• Operation Iraqi Freedom (2005-06) — Deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, attached to the 18th Airborne Corps and embedded at the Joint Headquarters of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and frequently involved in combined operations with Iraqi and other national forces.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom (2008-09) — Again mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Operation Enduring Freedom (2011-12) — Deployed in support of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa and Operation Enduring Freedom. Led a small counterintelligence/human intelligence liaison team based out of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and Camp Lemonier, Djibouti — operating in one of the world's most complex geopolitical environments, navigating the competing agendas of multiple U.S. governmental organizations.

Jason has lost soldiers and friends in combat. He also knows firsthand the solemn duty of delivering that news to the families of fallen soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to this nation on somber mornings. That experience shapes every position he holds on national security, military affairs, and the decision to send Americans into harm's way.

Nearly 27 years later, Lieutenant Colonel Faler continues to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Selected roles: Commander, DET 3, 3100 Strategic Intelligence Group • Command and General Staff Officer Course Instructor • Counterintelligence Special Agent • Task Force Counterintelligence Coordinating Authority • Infantry Brigade Intelligence Officer • Military Intelligence Company Commander • Light Infantryman

Awards and decorations include: Combat Action Badge • Bronze Star Medal • Joint Service Commendation Medal • Army Commendation Medal • and several others

Not a single member of Oregon's current congressional delegation has served in the military. Jason would be the only one.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Passionate about mentoring youth, Jason has volunteered for many years as a youth basketball and football coach, high school football coach, and board member of multiple youth athletic organizations.

In 2007, after being contacted by Iraqi interpreters with whom he had served — men who were being targeted for assassination by the insurgency because of their loyalty to American forces — Jason founded The Checkpoint One Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that successfully brought approximately 150 Iraqi and Afghan interpreters and their families to safety in the United States.

The organization received national attention — covered by the New York Times, PBS NewsHour, the Christian Science Monitor, The Oregonian, and many others. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) commended Jason on the floor of the United States Senate. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) nominated him for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Above and Beyond Citizen Honors Award — and Jason was selected as Oregon's state finalist in 2009.

Republican and Democrat — both recognized what was built. That bipartisan recognition is the foundation of how Jason intends to lead and serve.

FAMILY & PERSONAL

Jason was raised in Salem and lived there until 2002, when he moved to the East Coast for graduate school. He returned to Oregon in 2006 and has lived in Tigard since then. He is married to Caroline Zeller, DDS, MPH, and is a proud father to his three children, Anthony, Kenzi, and Elliot.

Like many OR-6 families, Jason and Caroline have navigated rising childcare costs, housing pressures, and the daily reality of trying to get ahead in an economy that increasingly feels stacked against everyone but the wealthiest. That experience — not just as a veteran or an executive, but as a parent and a neighbor — is at the heart of why he is running.

WHY THIS ALL MATTERS

Most candidates have one credential. Jason has four distinct lived experiences that give him real standing on the issues that matter most to OR-6:

• The farm — physical labor, agricultural economics, Willamette Valley roots. He understands what Oregon farmers face because he has worked that land.
• The military — combat, sacrifice, loss, constitutional duty, and foreign policy from the ground up. Nearly 27 years. No other member of Oregon's congressional delegation has worn the uniform.
• Healthcare leadership — 20 years navigating the system from the inside. Regulatory complexity, insurance battles, rising costs, organizational management under real pressure.
• Being an everyday citizen like you — a father and husband who has felt the same economic squeeze his constituents feel. Childcare. Housing. Groceries. Stagnating wages. He is not observing these challenges from a distance. He is living them.

He has no party telling him how to vote. No caucus to answer to. No donor base to protect.

I have no party. I represent you.