I originally enlisted in the United States Army in 2003. I served for almost a combined 12 years on Active duty and in the Ohio Army National Guard. Until I was medically retired in 2016 due to injuries sustained of the course of my military career. My primary military occupation was Infantry. Secondary to that I was also a Recruiter, Instructor, and worked in Operations. While serving I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009. During which time earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge. Since retiring my passion project has been being a voice for veterans. I think this came from the unique opportunity I had after returning from my deployment in 2010. That opportunity was to be the Quartermaster of my local VFW post. The unique part was the person who I got to learn from. He was a past VFW National Commander and very active in anything involving veterans. The passion and voice I began to develop came out in March 2017. I like over 300,000 other veterans received erroneous or miscalculated debt notices for the VA. I wrote my elected officials. I pleaded with the VA. Until finally in July of that year I drove to DC and took my issue to a Constituent Coffee session with one of my Senators. This action and my persistence to correct this problem lead to me testifying before the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs regarding the " State of the VA in Ohio". This lead to the introduction of legislation S. 2341/ S. 805 to address debt collection issues within the VA. From there in the spring of 2018 I found myself helping a Veteran candidate running for Congress. His campaign slogan of "Country over Party" and idea that change starts by "having a conversation" really resonated with me. This experience and a fellow Veteran I met while working on that campaign, lead to my involvement with Veterans for Responsible Leadership. from there my advocacy and activism has only continued to grow. I stood with my fellow veterans for the PACT Act Firewatch. from there I worked extensively on last ditch efforts to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. currently I find myself advising on a host of veteran driven initiatives, while also continuing to grow out my advocacy network.
Listed skills include Shipping, Customer Service, Logistics, Inventory Management, and 19 others.
