Allen Edward Weh (born November 17, 1942) is an American business executive, politician, and retired

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedit ...

. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for

governor of New Mexico The governor of New Mexico () is the head of government of New Mexico. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New Mexico's state government and the commander-in-chief of the New Mexico National Guard. As noted in the govern ...

in the 2010 election, and the Republican Nominee for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

2014 election against incumbent Democratic Senator

Tom Udall Thomas Stewart Udall ( ; born May 18, 1948) is an American diplomat, attorney, and politician who had served as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator for N ...

. He is the founder and CEO of CSI Aviation Inc., which has grown over four decades to become a leading provider of aviation services that includes mission-critical services for a diverse portfolio of government and specialty customers. The company specializes in two core service areas: Government Services, in which CSI provides large scale management of complex aviation programs; and Specialty Mission Services in which the company supports both commercial and government customers with medical flight services, emergency response operations, and secure air transport of individuals. It holds FAA Operating Authority and numerous certifications and licenses that cover all aspects of its business operations.

Early life and education

Weh was born in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

and grew up in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Raised in

Scotch Plains, New Jersey Scotch Plains is a Township (New Jersey), township in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is located on a ridge in North Jersey, northern-central Jersey, central New Jersey, within the Raritan R ...

, Weh graduated from

Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (or SPFHS) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the Township of Scotch Plains a ...

in 1960. He earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in education and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in counseling from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

Career

Weh began his military service as an enlisted Marine before selection for

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

. He served two tours in Vietnam and with the

British Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a company strength sub-unit to the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), landing craft cr ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Colonel Weh was recalled for active duty during the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, for the U.S. expedition into Somalia, and to serve as Chief of Staff of Marine Forces Pacific prior to retiring in 1997. In 2003-2004 he was recalled from the USMC Retired List to serve in Iraq and given a key leadership role with the creation and organization of the new Iraqi Army. During his service, Weh received the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, two Bronze Star Medals, one with

V device V, or v, is the twenty-second letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''vee'' (pronounced ), plural ''vees''. Name * ...

, three Purple Hearts, two Meritorious Service Medals and five

Air Medals The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

. In 1979, Weh and his wife, Rebecca Roberton Weh, launched CSI Aviation, Inc., a worldwide company that charters flights for private, commercial and government uses. In the years since, CSI has grown into a multimillion-dollar company, providing services to corporations,

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

, the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

, as well as commercial medical flight services among others. Weh also served as chairman of the

New Mexico Republican Party The Republican Party of New Mexico is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New Mexico. It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by chairperson Amy Barela, vice chair Hessel Yntema, secretary Kathleen Apodaca, and treasurer Ki ...

from 2004 to 2008.

2010 gubernatorial primary

On 1 June 2010, Weh lost to his main opponent in the primary,

Doña Ana County The terms Don (in Spanish and Italian), Dom (in Portuguese), and Domn (in Romanian), are honorific prefixes derived from the Latin ''Dominus'', meaning "lord" or "owner". The honorific is commonly used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well a ...

District Attorney

Susana Martinez Susana Martinez (born July 14, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as List of governors of New Mexico, 31st governor of New Mexico from 2011 to 2019. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, she served as chair of the ...

. At the end of the election, Weh came up second with the votes, as compared to opponents Susana Martinez who took the lead, Doug Turner who came to third, Pete Domenici, Jr. in fourth, and Janice Arnold Jones who came in last. Weh conceded to Martinez shortly after 9:00 PM when Martinez held over half of the precinct votes, or 8,000 votes greater than Weh. Weh offered his congratulations to Martinez just after her decided victory". Martinez went on to win the general election.

2014 U.S. Senate election

In the 2014 election, Weh ran on the Republican ticket for United States Senate seat against the incumbent Democrat

. In the primary he faced David Clements, also of Doña Ana County, a former assistant district attorney and chairman of the county Republican Party. In the straw poll at the Republican state convention, Clements polled a strong 47% against the well-known Weh, but in the June primary Weh beat Clements handily 63% to 37%. In the general election Weh had the full support of the

National Republican Senatorial Committee The National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to the Senate. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. It was reor ...

(NRSC), the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

(NRA) and other groups who sponsored independent political advertisements. However, in October the NRSC diverted its attention and money away from New Mexico to the six states that it thought would determine control of the Senate. In the first televised debate between Udall and Weh the issues of immigration reform, job creation in New Mexico, and drought management were addressed. Weh argued Udall was a rubber stamp for President Obama's policies and Udall said that he stood on his record. A second debate was scheduled at the last minute for 30 October, where issues included the national debt, Obamacare, and the economy. Weh clarified his position on the minimum wage saying, "I break with my party on this, I'm fine with raising the minimum wage." Udall won by 57,312 votes.

Notes

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Weh, Allen 1942 births Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy Living people New Mexico Republicans Military personnel from Union County, New Jersey People from Scotch Plains, New Jersey Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Union County, New Jersey Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Silver Star Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School alumni State political party chairs of New Mexico