I came to the academy from the grand metropolis of Gibsonton, Florida, a circus town.  I was pointed toward the academies by a USMC reserve officer who had a flat tire in front of our house one evening in my junior year of high school.  I was accepted to both the Air Force and Naval Academies.  I accepted the USNA appointment because I had relatives in the North and none in Colorado.  

Upon graduation I received delayed orders to flight school.  I spent a few months as a guinea pig for NASA.  My job:  don't get sick on the centrifuge.  I began flight training, received a couple of sinus blocks and was found medically unfit for aviation.  I then spent four years on amphibs, primarily the USS Barbour County.  The Navy decided they needed more pilots in 1974 and sent me back to flight school.  I received my wings as a helicopter pilot in 1975.  My first duty station was as a Search and Rescue pilot at Naval Air Station, Meridian, Mississippi.  There, I acquired my Masters in Public Administration from Mississippi State University.  Next, I did a staff tour with TACRON one in Coronado, followed with a tour at HC-1 at NAS North Island.

I was sent to Allied Forces Southern Europe where I served on the Secretary to the Staff of CINCSOUTH, NATO.  After 3 and a half years of eating good food and tasting good wine I moved to NAS Alameda, CA where I flew C-12s until retirement in 1990.

During my last tour, I earned a degree in Computer Science and acquired teaching credentials for the state of California.  I taught NJROTC for one semester and then moved to Colorado and raised horses for 10 years.  I accepted a position as a computer teacher in an elementary school in 1992.  I taught computers 20 hours a week, maintained the network and computers for 20 hours a week, I created a chess club and science club as after school programs.  In 2006, I retired from teaching to enable me to assist with the care of my mother who is now in her eighties.  

Hobbies include tennis, bicycling, and spreading the word about OpenSource software.