At 17-years old I forged my Mother's signature and enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard. I scored in the 99th percentile on my entrance exams and when I was asked what I wanted to do, I replied "Shoot guns, blow things up.."​ And boy did my Army recruiter have the perfect job for me: Infantry. Little did I know that I could have had my pick of any career path. So off I went to shoot guns and blow things up.I attended college at the same time I was in the Guard and 4-years later I finished the Army ROTC program and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, Active Duty: Infantry. With a lot of hard work and determination I made it through Airborne, Ranger and the Infantry Mortar Platoon Leaders Courses all in Fort Benning GA.Following my initial training I reported to Fort Ord, Monterey, CA where I was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. My job: Light Infantry Platoon Leader and then later a Mortar Platoon Leader. While stationed at Fort Ord I earned my treasured Expert Infantryman's Badge. "The Mark of Man"​. At least that was the official tag line of the award when I earned it in 1992.In 1993 I was reassigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Kasey, South Korea. The 20th Infantry Regiment was an armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle Unit located just south of the DMZ. During my year with the 2nd ID I was promoted to Captain and learned to love Korean food.In 1994 I returned to the United States to attend my Captain's Course at Fort Huachuca, AZ and was branch transferred to Army Intelligence. After completing my year long course I was assigned to the 5th Corp in Germany where I promptly deployed to Bosnia. After 3-deployments over 2-years I returned to the US to take command of a training company at Fort Jackson, SC.After 2 successful years as a commander I was promoted to Major and then shortly thereafter transitioned into civilian life and began my business career.