Where did you serve and what did you do?

USAF Lt Col (RET). Medically retired in 2017 after 18+ years of service. Served as Navigator on EC-130H Compass Call, Pilot on HH-60G Pave Hawk, Mission Planner for U-2, Pilot for RQ-4B Global Hawk. Deployed throughout my career in support of OSW, OEF, OIF, and OEF-HOA between 1999-2017.

Tell us how your dog is helping you continue Still Serving in your community.

I adopted my American English Coonhound, Beru, as a puppy in the fall of 2017, shortly after my medical retirement. I was working through the transition to civilian life and learning to live within my new physical and cognitive limits. She was a spontaneous decision, and she immediately became by “everywhere” companion–my emotional and physical support animal. I was granted an accommodation from the university where I was teaching, and she joined me every day when I went to campus. Being together every day, at home and at work, she soon learned to know how and when to intervene to keep me from overextending myself beyond those new cognitive and physical limits, at work, in the community, and at home. Seven years, one cross country move, and a transition from actively teaching to leading a research team in a full-time remote work-from-home position, she continues to intervene and remind me to take care of myself. Most importantly, she helps me to better understand my thoughts and actions through reflection on her motivations and actions so I can be a positive and engaged member of my local community and serve in my professional role as a Senior Research Scientist at the Research Institute for Autonomous Systems (RIAS), University of North Dakota (UND).

Why do you do it?

Serving is built into the DNA of so many Service members–it’s just natural and innate, like breathing–and as I embarked on the challenge of transitioning from a Service member to a civilian after the medical retirement, I knew my best chances for success lay in the motivation of finding a new way to serve my nation and my community. That’s what drew me to the University of North Dakota, and why I love continuing to work for UND and RIAS although I now live in North Carolina. The position I have allows me to continue to deliver a “return on the investment” for our nation (there’s a lot of learned skills and experiences after 18+ years of service!) while permitting me the accommodations I require to remain a valued and positively contributing community member, father of two great kids, and husband.