Konrad R.K. Ludwig
Sgt. Konrad R.K. Ludwig, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In 2005 he tested out of high school and joined the U.S. Army to serve his country as an Infantryman during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In February 2006 Ludwig was assigned to the “Deathmasters” of 1-5 INF and followed their history through their re-flag to “Bull Company”, deployment to Germany and later to Iraq for combat.
For most of his time with “Bull” Company, Ludwig served as the radio technical operator, through which he was given hands-on experience with the leadership and management of his unit. He was later promoted to serve as a machine gunner shortly before the battle began, ending his service with 1/2 SCR shortly after their returning to Germany in November of 2008. In 2009, Sergeant Ludwig was assigned to the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF) in Ft. Bliss, Texas, where he served as a squad leader, testing and evaluating future weapons technology.
Sergeant Ludwig was medically discharged from the Army in 2010 due to symptoms from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) inflicted during a roadside bomb attack and severe post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his experiences in combat. He started writing Stryker as an emotional release and therapy, and later decided to publish his work when controversy arose among veterans of the battle of how little coverage the conflict had received. When the first draft of Stryker was finally complete, Konrad decided to independently publish the book in order to maintain the work’s authenticity and narrative authority.