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A Brief Bio, As Of December 2009 -
I
graduated with Class 14-66 in July of 1967. After training in New Jersey, I
arrived in Viet Nam, assigned to the 1st Cav. Div. However my orders were
changed and I reported to the 459th Sig. Bn. at Nha Trang. I became OIC of
the battalion ComCtr in early 1968. Later I was reassigned to Co. B as a
platoon leader.
After my tour, I asked for and received orders to
STRACOM, Alaska, as I had been in Alaska prior to my OCS acceptance. My
first command was the 272nd Sig. Co. (CA) at Ft Wainwright. I also served as
the battalion S3 and my last command was CO of the Fixed Signal Company.
While stationed in Alaska, I applied for a branch
transfer to Military Intelligence as I was in the Army Security Agency prior
to OCS. I received the transfer, but my orders sent me to the career course
at Ft Holabird, Md.
Upon graduation from the career course in mid 1970, I
was assigned to the 313th ASA Bn. at Ft Bragg, NC. This assignment was
totally unexpected as I had been back from Viet Nam for 3 years and was
expecting my second tour. While with the battalion, I was the Training
Officer, Operations Officer and Headquarters Company Commander. In September
of 1973, I was RIF'ed.
As a civilian I went to work for Deering Millikan
textiles, as a shift supervisor. After a couple of years, I got into nuclear
construction as a pipefitter. I helped build nuclear plants in Kansas, North
Carolina and Texas from the early 80's to mid the 90's. In 1994, I started
traveling about the country working on nuclear refueling outages. Normally
this work was 6 to 10 weeks of 12 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week.
After 9/11, I was hired as a recruiter with a major
company in the nuclear outage business. My job was to find qualified
craftsmen who could be cleared via background checks to work on nuclear
sites during refueling outages.
In 2004, I decided that sitting behind a desk for the
rest of my working career was not what I wanted, so I took the required OSHA
training to become a qualified (personal) safety coordinator. Since
that time, I have worked for several company's at various nuclear locations
throughout the eastern part of the US.
This past October I retired, but I intend to keep doing
the outage work. Nuclear refueling outages occur in the spring and/or fall,
so I can schedule my working time. I get plenty of travel, meet old friends,
and get to see the sights of this country. This type of work allows me to
have time off (summers/winters) and enjoy my retirement.
After being RIF'ed, I remained in the active reserves
until Sep 1988. And I received the "subject to recall" letter, when the Gulf
War was about to start. Thank God that war turned out better than ours
did....
I have lived in Florida since 1999. I have a daughter
and grand daughter nearby, so I can think of no better place to call home.
All of my military experiences have made me what I am
today. I would do it all over again...
Click any picture above to see full size image.
This page originally posted 4 December,
2009, updated 24 May 2010