He was a former North Dakota hayseed who enlisted in the Air Force at 17. He grew up there and was surrounded by good fortune throughout his 24 years in service.
He had great bosses, both enlisted and officer. After his first seven years, he met and married Julieann Marie. She motivated him to work through night college classes until he was eligible, and fortunately selected, for a full-time bootstrap education program. That let him finish his baccalaureate degree quickly. Three and a half years, all within moves from Riverside, CA to Udorn, Thailand, to Phoenix, AZ to San Bernardino, CA and back to Phoenix.
Next, he applied for commissioning as a Medical Service Corps officer and, fortunately, he was selected. Shortly after, he applied and was selected for a Master's program sponsored by the Air Force Institute of Technology. He survived the two-year program at one of the nation's top universities and was assigned to serve at a medium-sized Air Force hospital in the Pacific Northwest. There, good fortune struck he and his bride again and his son Tyler was born.
After a brief humanitarian tour to help with his severely handicapped father, the hayseed and his family left for an Air Force headquarters position where he assisted and guided with job assignments for roughly 1,200 Medical Service administrative officers. Although he loved the job, his boss, and co-workers he and his bride decided to leave the Air Force and experience life in the civil sector. It was simple curiosity about what was beyond, on the other side of the proverbial fence.
Life, post Air Force was good, some struggles at first but highlighted in good fortune as their daughter Samantha was born. He went on to work as a consultant in health care management for the next twenty+ years. Now the hayseed spends his days as an "obnoxious octogenarian" and has spread his stories about love and life in two blogs and a couple of books. Lord have mercy. Lord. Have mercy.
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