Updated : 05-Jan-2003

Biographic Sketch:

Army Brat, father an Army doctor, mother a civil service nurse before and after being a full-time mother. After various moves, homesteaded at Fort Lewis, WA. High school window-washing entrepreneur with a buddy: wash a few scattered houses' windows and suddenly everyone in the neighborhood needs their windows washed. We had to turn down business.

Two years at the University of Chicago before tuition skyrocketed and the great summer job was cut. I hate debt, so I transfered to my state university, The University of Washington. Worked for a moving company and at Mount Rainier before joining ROTC. Graduated w/ BAs in History and Political Science.

Commissioned June 1986, I spent the summer recruiting for the ROTC battalion. During the summer, I climbed Mt. Rainier with the ROTC cadre.

A Short Range Air Defense Artillery Officer, I went to Fort Bliss, Texas for training. One of the last large group classes, we had active, Reserve and National Guard members, men and women of every race and creed, destined to join the new Patriot units or older Hawk and divisional units with Stingers, Chapparel and Vulcans. We had outstanding chemistry, our diversity unified in purpose.

Three years as a junior military officer in Germany. 6-3 ADA, 1st Armored Division, in Schwabach, Bavaria. Learned a great deal about embracing and grokking change instead of paying lip service to new headquarters initiatives. Learned how to sell my organization's services to skeptical senior leaders in customer units (infantry or armor battalions).

Back to Ft. Bliss, in El Paso, for more training and then on to Korea for battery command, leading around 160 soldiers through the scary winter of the Gulf War. Learned about the importance of digging into historical data to truly understand my organization's capabilities and challenges. Worked through the challenges of keeping loyalty up and loyalty down out of conflict with one another.

Back in the U.S., finished my active military career at Fort Lewis, my home. This was my first mixed-sex unit assignment. Facinating to watch the internal struggles of mid-career male officers who did not have combat experience in competition with female peers who, as Patriot officers, did! This informed my later studies of the entanglement of ego, personal agendas and objective national security needs. Young soldiers had no such problems.

Moved to Tucson, AZ and started political science graduate studies at the University of Arizona. Focussed on public policy. Achieved my MA and continued with doctoral studies, focussed on American politics and public policy. Passed preliminary examinations, taught several undergraduate courses, but slowly realized that this was not my life's work.

Currently co-hosting a local radio talk show and doing web design work.