Colonel Brian M. Rees, M.D., M.P.H.
Brian Rees, M.D., retired from the US Army Reserve as a colonel after 37 years of commissioned service. A graduate of the US Army War College, he is a veteran of five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and spent eight years in hospital commands, including as chief medical officer for the Bagram Theater Internment Facility (home to all Taliban and Al-Qaeda detainees) and as outpatient physician for the detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in 2006 and at Camp Bucca in 2007. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion. Currently he serves as co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness of the David Lynch Foundation, and as director of TM4Vets, enhancing the availability of the Transcendental Meditation program for veterans and service personnel.
Dr. Rees received his medical degree and master’s degree in public health from Tulane University and is a board certified family physician. He has had his own private practice; after 9/11 he served as a physician in the California state prison system, as well as in the Veterans Administration.
Dr. Rees has researched the application of technologies of consciousness for the reduction of violent conflict, terrorism, and war and builds a case for this approach in his book Terrorism, Retaliation and Victory: Awaken the Soul of America to Defeat Terrorism without Casualties. He has also researched and written about the promotion of soldier resilience and resolution of PTSD, most recently as lead author of two published studies about the effects of Transcendental Meditation practice in resolving posttraumatic stress in Congolese refugees. His most recent book, Detained: Emails and musings from a spiritual journey through Abu Ghraib, Kandahar and other garden spots, was published in 2015. He has also published extensively in military journals and online sources about the Brain-Based Approach to Peace (known in military circles as the Invincible Defense Technology) and its applications.