Duane Sand (born May 8, 1965) is an American businessman and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He is a graduate of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

, and was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

officer during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. Sand ran 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 ...

in North Dakota on the Republican ticket in 2000 against

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Kent Conrad of the Democratic-Nonpartisan League, and was called for duty after the election in 2001. Upon returning, he ran for North Dakota's lone

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

seat in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, but failed both times to defeat incumbent Earl Pomeroy. In August 2011, Sand announced his bid to become the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Republican nominee for the same Senate seat he ran for 11 years prior. He lost the Republican nomination to Representative Rick Berg. Sand previously served as the North and South Dakota Director for

Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a Libertarian conservatism, libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary pol ...

, a conservative political advocacy group.

Plane crash

On June 4, 2008, Sand was piloting his personal airplane, a

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck (; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat, seat of Burleigh County, North Dakota, Burleigh County. It is the state's List of cities i ...

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

. At approximately 11:00 a.m. CDT, the plane experienced engine problems, and Sand was forced to land in a corn field near the small town of Nortonville, North Dakota, which is located about twenty-six miles south of Jamestown, North Dakota. According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the plane came down in the corn field's soft soil, bounced, flipped forward and landed upside down. Sand was buckled into the pilot's seat, but was out of the aircraft before emergency responders arrived. He was evaluated by medical personnel at the site of the crash and in

Edgeley, North Dakota Edgeley is a city in LaMoure County, North Dakota, LaMoure County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 585 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Edgeley was founded in 1886 by Richard Sykes (rugby union), Richard Syk ...

. Reports the following day indicated that Sand received a small cut on his forehead along with several bruises, but was otherwise uninjured in the accident.

Military service

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990, Sand went on to serve as a

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

officer in the United States Navy. He served on three different

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...

s, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant commander. Sand was discharged from active duty in 1999, but then after the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, he was recalled to serve as Navigation and Operations Officer aboard the and also spent time serving at

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. Later, he was deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

in support of the

. Now retired from active duty, Sand currently serves as the Commander of the Submarine Veterans of North Dakota and has been attempting to raise money to send veterans to the commissioning of the new nuclear-powered

Business career

As a businessman, Sand has developed a number of properties - including homes, a hotel, a restaurant and apartment buildings. Currently, he serves as president and CEO of North Star Water and Whitehorse Water, an oilfield water services company, which mostly provide water resources for oilfield frack jobs.

Politics

A former inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sand advocates for nuclear energy and establishing nuclear power facilities in North Dakota. On April 9, 2018, Sand filed papers to run in the June 12 Republican primary for State House in District 47, which is mostly suburban north Bismarck. Sand lost that primary to incumbent representatives George Keiser and Larry Klemin in a campaign that included accusations of misstatements and smears. Keiser later filed a police report that accused Sand of violating the North Dakota Corrupt Practices Act with an advertisement misstating his opponent's vote. In response, Sand also filed a police report that accused Keiser of also misstating his voting record in political advertising.

References

External links