Leif Babin

Leif Babin is a highly decorated U.S. Navy SEAL officer and combat veteran that deployed three times to Iraq earning a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. As a SEAL Platoon Commander during a historic combat deployment to Ar Ramadi, Iraq in 2006, he led some of the heaviest, sustained urban combat operations in the history of the SEAL Teams. Leif then served as the primary leadership instructor for all SEAL Officers graduating from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL. In 2009, he again deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, as Operations Officer for a Joint Special Operations Task Force where he witnessed first-hand the miraculous improvements in security and prosperity that he helped to bring about with the 1st Armored Division three years previously. Additionally, Leif served as Executive Officer, second in command, of a SEAL Team through a rigorous 12-month training cycle in preparation for combat deployment to a number of locations across the globe. Prior to SEAL training, Leif served as a division officer on a U.S. Navy Destroyer and a U.S. Navy Frigate. In July 2011, Leif left active duty and launched Echelon Front LLC to educate, train, and inspire leaders and organizations through SEAL leadership principals and strategies he learned on the front lines of battle. Leif’s editorials have been published in the Wall Street Journal and the National Review and he has appeared on a variety of television news and radio programs. Leif lives in New York City and remains a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. (This bio is current to when the participant joined FDD’s National Security Network.)