Jeff

I began life in Man, West Virginia, in the coal fields of Logan County. My family and roots still run deep there. As an Army Brat, we moved alot, but the family finally ended up settling down in Radcliff, KY when I was in the 5th grade. I graduated from North Hardin High School in 1987, but even before then, I was with the 11th Special Forces Group @ Bowman Airfield in Louisville, KY. I graduated US Army Basic and Airborne School between my Jr. and Senior Year in High School, having jumped out of 12 perfectly good aircraft before graduating High School, and reaching the rank of Corpral. I was trained to be a Counter Intel Agent in 1987,then went to Camp Mackall, NC and went through Special Forces Qualification Course as an 18E Special Forces Commo Guy between 1987 and 1988. I returned to Radcliff briefly in 1988, got my heartbroke, had an 'Endless Summer', then in the Fall of 1988, I set out on my own and went active-duty. My first stop was Monterey, CA. Here, I married for the first time, and studied German for 9 months, and graduated with honors. Next I ended up in Southern Arizona from 1989 to 1992. While in Arizona, my first wife Crystal and I had our beautiful son Chad Michael, born April 1, 1990 at Raymond W Bliss Army Hospital. Then, in 1991,I went to Washington DC for a bit over a year to participate in an experimental Intensive Arabic, Iraqi Dialect, training program. That War ended before we finished our training, so afterwards, it was back to Ft. Huachauca, Arizona. I retrained again, to become an All-Source Intel Analyst, after which, I served for 3 years with the "All Americans", known as such by the AA Patch, being assigned to the 3d Battalion/504th PIR, 82d Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, NC. In 1994, I was sent to Stuttgart, Germany, and assigned to the J2 section of the SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND, EUROPE (SOCEUR). There I saw 'the rest of the world'; I've been to the top of the Eiffle Tower, Paraglided off a cliff in the Swiss Alps, Skied the Matterhorn, Jumped with the 13th Dragoons Brigade in Dueze, France; swam with villagers off the coast of Sierra Leon. Assisted in the NEO evacuation of over 500 Americans from Liberia; Climbed the walls of The Colesium and Alexandria in Rome, Italy. Trained with the German G-9, attending their Commando Course in Altenstadt; did a tour or 2 in Bosnia/Herzegovina, Northern Africa, training in Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, most all of Europe. I left active-duty in 1997 and moved to Orlando, Florida as a bonafide civilian, where my wonderful daughter Madisyn Pearl was born in November 1997. I worked as a gov. IT contractor for the next couple of years with Mystech Associates, Logicon RDA, Northrop Grumman, SAIC, Computer Associates, and was also with the 3d Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group, at Camp Blanding, Starke, FL, were I was the NCOIC of the Intel Shop, and later, a SOTA Team Chief. Then Sept 11, 2001 happened, and my second 'oppurtunity to excel' was realized. My second wife and I divorced shortly after 9/11, when I was recalled by Presidential Orders to active-duty once more and sent to Afghanistan to stand up the CJSOTF-AFG. There I worked with the New Zealand, Australian, British, German and US Special Forces teams, and I'm proud to say, I personally tagged,zip-tied, and arrested 55 confirmed Al-Qaida/Taliban members, and planned over 100 other SF missions to apprehend the terrorists responsible not only for 9/11, but other insults and atrosities committed against our nation. I was awarded the Bronze Star during my tour of duty there. I also lost more than a few friends/brothers. I finally left active-duty again in January 2003. After that Tour-of-Duty, I got a FABULOUS position in the Washington DC/McLean, VA area, and travelled the world training foreign elite forces in new technology to combat terrorism (more on this over a beer, if your curious) I travelled as a diplomat of our Government to: Barbados, Chile, Thailand, Bangladesh, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Brazil, the Caribbean, and others. Then, in March 2004, after a final TDY in Thailand, I took another assignment and went to Baghdad, Iraq, and served 6 months as Ambassador L. Paul Bremmer's (otherwise known as Jerry) Senior IT Communications Officer, until he turned control of Iraq and the Coalition Provisional Authority over to the Interim Iraqi Government. I then assisted the Honorable Ambassador Negroponte, as we once again stood up the US Embassy in Baghdad in August 2004. After that tour, I returned to the US and went back to work for 'an agency' in McLean, Virginia, and did a bit more international jet-setting, until I decided to buy a horse farm back in Florida, to be near my daughter. My biggest regret in life was not having a more active role in my sons life. Chad and I have never been as close as I wish we could've been, and I have vowed not to let that same distance come between my daughter and I.So, today, we have a log cabin on 10 acres and our other 2 farms in the Ocala, FL area, which is where me, Kelly and Madisyn live with our animals, commuting daily between Orlando and Ocala. Our animals consist of: 9 horses, 3 donkeys, 45 sheep, 25 chickens, 4 dogs, 2 cats, etc, etc, etc... I'm back working for Northrop Grumman as an Intel Tester/Trainer in Orlando and I currently own/manage the largest and most successful DAIRY SHEEP FARM ( http://www.eweremembered.com ) in Florida, albeit, it's the only one that I know of, but. In this venture, I've learned how to assist in breach births, how to treat pregnancy toxeamia, bottle-jaw, administer injections, perform emergency c-sections, read anemia through Fumacha, just a plethora and encyclopedia worth of stuff I never thought I could do. I got a new AQHA Registered Grulla Stud Colt, 7 months old. His 'official name' is 'Pocos Smokin Bleu Diamond', but I call him Bodi. I'll be training him from the ground up to eventually be the American Cutting Horse Association Futurity Classic winner. This may take until 2010 or so, but, it'll be fun. And, I just adopted 2 new wild Mustangs (as if I didn't have enough to do). Still working on names for them, I'm thinking 'Comanche' and 'Newt'. These will be my summer project, while I wait for Bodi to become a 2 year old (he'll be 1 yo on 07 June 07).