About Me

Born and raised in Amsterdam, New York, along the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, I grew up on a dairy farm.  I joined the Navy in 1981 while a senior in high school.

As a junior enlisted, I enjoyed my experiences at sea and overseas as a Plane Captain and Jet Mech with the World Famous Gunslingers of VA-105.  I was fortunate enough to meet some terrific leaders there, like Scott Speicher, and a few others.  It was really an incredible squadron to be assigned to. While there, I earned an NROTC scholarship, and attended Jackosnville University, graduating in December, 1989. I was off to flight school, finally able to break the planes that I'd fixed for four years!  But politics and the national budget had other plans for me, as I and 400 other student naval aviators were "downsized" out of training.  Ah, the needs of the Navy... Determined to stay Navy, I went on into the Surface Warfare community, serving as a Division Officer on USS YOSEMITE (AD-19) and USS MOUNT WHITNEY (LCC-20).  My last tour in the Navy was  shore duty in Washington DC with the Bureau of Naval Personnel (PERS-6), Quality of Life Programs. Presently, I live in Orange Park, Florida with my wonderful family, and work in Jacksonville as an automotive Quality Engineer. As well as being a board member on the Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher group in Jacksonville, Florida, I enjoy helping mold tomorrow's leaders, as a Cubmaster in a local Cub Scout Pack.

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