Completed my Masters of Professional Studies degree in Security and Safety Leadership in May 2014. Before that, I completed my Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Political Science in December 2012. I emphasized my studies on the Middle East, terrorism and learning Modern Standard Arabic (1 year).
With the current position I'm in, I'm able to take Department of Defense-specific classes to help me advance in my career in security. Through the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE), Iwas able to gain my Security Fundamentals Professional Certificate (SFPC).
Beyond the CDSE coursework, I'm also working on my NCMS certification to become an Industrial Security Professional (ISP).
At this present time, I've been admitted into a Doctoral (Ph.D) program for Intelligence and Security Studies through Capitol Technology University out of Laurel, MD. These studies should conclude in 2026 once my dissertation has been successfully defended.
Other Comments:
Service/Deployment Information:
Active Duty: September 2001-September 2004 / IRR: September 2004-May 2008 / Reserves: May 2008-August 2009
While on active duty, I participated in Battle Focused Training at the Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) in Hohenfels, Germany, from October-December 2002 doing exercises with OPFOR. At the same time, I was afforded an opportunity to qualify with German weapons (G36 and MG3) in Grafenwoehr to earn my Schutzenschnur.
Learned to operate HET trucks while stationed in Germany. Did many missions back and forth from Mannheim to Grafenwoehr, Germany, and from Kuwait to Iraq. Supported the major divisions going into Iraq, such as 3ID, 4ID, 3ACR, 1AD and 101st Airborne.
Learned to operate a 5,000 gal. tanker truck while in Iraq. Acquired, transported and distributed JP8 fuel in support of 4ID, 82nd Airborne, among others.
While in Kuwait and Iraq, drove over 10,000 miles accident-free (actually, close to 20,000), earning me the Army Driver's Badge.
Once I ETS'd out of the Army in 2004, I came home and went to school for my Class A CDL, and then gained employment with Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR-Halliburton). I worked in the "Green Zone" or "International Zone" (Baghdad, Iraq) supporting the US State Department in their diplomatic missions from February 2005 to February 2008.
For two years, I drove line-haul trucks to Regional Embassy Offices at Camp Victory (BIAP), al Hillah and Kuwait. My third year with KBR, I was promoted to a desk job in the Transportation Department where I did supervisory/administrative duties. In 2008, I returned stateside to pursue my college education.
Description The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 19 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the conflict that later came to be known as the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States (prior to 19 March, the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom, a carryover from the conflict in Afghanistan). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion phase consisted primarily of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces.
Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 9 April 2003. These were the United States (148,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops were assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The coalition forces also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan.
According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." General Wesley Clark, the former Supreme NATO Allied Commander and Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of Strategy and Policy, describes in his 2003 book, Winning Modern Wars, his conversation with a military officer in the Pentagon shortly after 9/11 regarding a plan to attack seven Middle Eastern countries in five years: "As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan." Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.
In a January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, and New Zealand. Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading the country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC's 12 February 2003 report. On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war.
The invasion was preceded by an air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 19 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Province from their massing point close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While the special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk, where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi army to secure the northern part of the country.
The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi army including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.
