Adam DeRito was born in Poughkeepsie, NY and grew up in West Milford, NJ. He started his public service career as a local volunteer Fire Fighter, Emergency Medical Technician, and Search and Rescue Technician; specializing in high angle rescue and vehicle extrication. He moved to Colorado in 2006 when he was accepted to the United States Air Force Academy. He has over 12 years of experience in the upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas sector. Earning his Master of Science in 2015, Adam has extensive experience in hydraulic fracturing, well bore cementing, production facilities, completions operations, reservoir production methods, cased hole pump down perforating procedures, refinery operations, and industrial wastewater treatment.

The founder of Leatherwood Development Group LLC, Adam has advocated for reform in the Department of Defense for over 14 years in Washington D.C. He provides consulting services for local, state, and federal legislative work. As the originator of the “DeRito Act” he provides resources to Federal Military Service Academies and fellow service members when it comes to ending sexual assault and retaliation in the ranks. A member of the “Common Sense Network” composed of fellow veterans, he is the host of the Dark Sabre Podcast and the Tuxes & Tomahawks Podcast that gives a voice to others who are dedicated to progressing reform in their local community, state, and nation.

A veteran of the Global War on Terror, Adam continues to serve in the Army Reserve as an Intelligence Analyst for Civil Affairs, and is a substitute teacher for St. Mary's Catholic School in Greeley, Colorado. A paratrooper, hobby farmer, and Constitutionalist, he is dedicated in his position as President of the Colorado Chapter for the America First Veterans Alliance. His vision is to bring our First Responder and Military Veteran communities together by ensuring our collective conservative values are empowered in local, state, and federal elections to protect the freedoms of all Americans that our service men and women have dedicated and sacrificed their lives for.