Brian Bengs is a Navy veteran, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and former National Park Ranger. He's dedicated his life to the American people and the American way. As an Air Force JAG, he defended the Constitution. He was a professor at the NATO School and Air Force Academy where he taught the law of war. Bengs is a dual-service military veteran, attorney, and former criminal justice professor at Northern State University, and now a Wind Cave National Park Ranger. This time, Brian Bengs is running as an independent in the 2026 election, after previously running as a Democrat in 2022.
At the end of his Navy enlistment, Bengs used the GI Bill to obtain a bachelor's degree in history from Iowa State University where he met his wife of 30 years. He then attended law school at the University of Iowa where he graduated with distinction. After passing the bar exam, he returned to active military service with the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps. Bengs ultimately spent 19 years living and working all over the U.S., as well as Japan, Germany, Kuwait, and Qatar before retiring as a lieutenant colonel. His two daughters (a college senior in Air Force ROTC and 2025 Truman Scholar, and a college sophomore) were born into the nomadic military lifestyle.