Baadani 1stSgt (Ret.) Jamal S.

ASSOCIATION OF PATRIOTIC ARAB AMERICANS IN MILITARY
"Patriotic Arab Americans Making a Difference"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

EMPLOYMENT

CONTACT US

JAMAL S. BAADANI, First Sergeant (Retired), United States Marine Corps

Served as the President & Founder of APAAM from 2001 - 2010
Jamal's current capacity with APAAM as an Advisory Consultant

CNN VIDEO (G.I. Jamal) - Watch here
Presented in front of Senator John McCain - 10Mar10

Thank You Senator John McCain

ABOUT JAMAL BAADANI

Jamal Baadani felt he had an obligation to give back to his community, and shortly after the horrific days of September 11th, 2001, he founded the Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in Military to create a voice for the Arab and Muslim American Communities in response to backlash and discrimination.

Jamal quickly understood that the backlash and discrimination faced by the Arab and Muslim American Communities after 9/11 was mostly due to a lack of understanding by their fellow Americans. Using the U.S. Military uniform as the bridge to understanding coupled with his will to educate his fellow Americans about the Patriotism of Arab and Muslim Americans, Jamal’s vision of bringing them closer together would be through his continued persistence to make America a better place for all Americans.

Sharing in the same conviction of “Duty and Patriotism” hundreds of Arab American service-members, to include General John Abizaid, joined APAAM to share in Jamal’s vision of making America a better place for all Americans.

The United States Marine Corps requested his leadership to develop the Middle East Cultural Outreach Program (MECOP). Joining Marine Corps Recruiting Command in 2006, Jamal was instrumental in developing a national level program that would engage with the Arab and Muslim American Communities located throughout the United States. Jamal was instrumental in building the structure and foundation of the program to strategically manage the recruitment and retention, and develop the way-ahead for 12 major U.S. markets.

The net result of his leadership yielded and established relationships within the Arab and Muslim American communities with the United States Marine Corps as well as developing relationships within the Department of Defense, local, state, and federal representatives/Senators as part of a complete community outreach program. The engagement efforts led to numerous meetings with former Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Congressmen Darryl Issa, Charles Boustany, and Senator John Sununu, to name a few.

An Ambassador: Jamal was a member of the 2001 – Military Goodwill Ambassador Contingent to Australia to represent the US State Department in a five country symposium celebrating the ANZAC and ANZUS Treaty between the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain.

A War Veteran: Jamal recently returned from his second tour in the Middle East as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Jamal served on active duty in participation with the Global War on Terrorism from April 2002 – June 2004 and most recently from June 2005 – July 2006. At the age of 19, Jamal served with the US Marines in Beirut, Lebanon from January – June 1984 as part of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force at Beirut International Airport followed by service as part of the external security force for the United States Embassy in West Beirut.

An Inspiration: For his heartfelt efforts Jamal Baadani was awarded numerous citations, medals, letters, and recognition for his continued efforts to inspire, motivate, and bring people together across America. Hundreds of young Arab and Muslim American youth joined the military to serve their country as a result of Jamal's inspiration. Over 800 joined the U.S. Army's 09L Program going on to serve in or support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Community Awards:

n Distinguished Service to Government Award, National Association of Yemeni Americans (2008)
n Distinguished Public Service Award, American Immigration Law Foundation (2007)
n Citation, from Mayor and City of Dearborn, MI (2007)
n Immigrant of Inspiration Award, National Immigration Forum (2002)
n Honorable Recognition, ADC (2010)
n Letter of Appreciation, from General Barry R. McCaffrey (2010)

Military Awards:

n Letter of Appreciation, from President of the United States, Barak Obama
n Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2006)
n Joint Service Commendation Medal (2005)
n Joint Service Achievement Medal (2003)
n Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2002)
n Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal (2002)
n Combat Action Ribbon (1984)

Media Participation:

· "In Their Boots" - Documentary of Arab and Muslim Arab American Service-Members

· "Our Arab American Story" - Emmy Award Winning Documentary

· "Profiles of Famous Arab Americans" - Al-Hurra Television Documentary Series

· "The Riz Khan Show" - Al-Jazeera English Television Interview

· Exclusive Feature on CNN's Newsnight with Aaron Brown/Brian Cabell.

· Part of PBS Documentary "They Came To America " Profiling Immigrants Contributions to America.

· Featured in People Magazine's 9/11 Anniversary Edition

· Featured in over 50 Major Newspaper publications for Founding APAAM since 9/11