Born and raised in an extremely rural area in Southern Indiana to a half Cherokee father who worked as a lumberjack and a mother who worked in a Diesel engine factory. A gifted student, he joined the Army at age 17 partly because of a strong family history of military service and partly because it was the only path available to pay for college. His goal was to become a career military officer, preferably in Special Forces or Military Intelligence.Attended Indiana University earning degrees in Political Science and History as well as a Certificate in East Asian Studies. Later earned an MBA from Norwich University.He served in the US Army but his plans for a military career were short lived after suffering injuries which left him with life long disabilities and for which he was eventually rated as 100 percent disabled.Worked for the Federal Government for most of his career working on military weapons programs and buying weapons and equipment for special forces troops. Regarded as a weapons expert, he consulted on a number of books and television programs.He is extremely well travelled having spent a year living in Communist China before the opening of trade relations and later spent more than five years working overseas, primarily in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Speaks Russian well and a variety of other languages to a lesser degree.Worked in the civilian sector for several years but returned to work for a variety of Federal agencies before retiring in 2011.