In the Army, I managed networks while in the field for week-long exercises and during my deployment to Afghanistan. Today, I deploy containerized applications across AWS from my home office, listening to lofi. While the technology has changed, the core mission remains the same: keeping critical systems running reliably and securely.
The Early Days
My Army journey kicked off when I shipped to Fort Benning for basic training on October 4, 2011, fresh out of high school. First stop after basic? Airborne School – learning to jump out of perfectly good airplanes! Then it was off to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where my 25B story began.
The Military Mindset
I went all in on everything – from crushing my 2-mile run in under 10 minutes for that 300 PT score to shooting expert and studying for boards. That competitive drive wasn’t just about personal achievements; it was about inspiring others around me. Then came my biggest mission ever: being a dad to my beautiful daughter Jordyn. That mission ultimately led me to make the tough call to hang up the uniform.
Civilian Life, Military Discipline
That military discipline? It stuck. I’m still up at 0430 every morning, no alarm needed. Gym by 0500, coffee in hand reviewing the day’s schedule after that. By 0730, I’m seeing Jordyn off to school, and at 0830, I’m in my first standup with a team of remote workers who are just as hungry for success as I am.
The Transition Plan
Here’s what I tell every service member asking about civilian transition: STAY HUNGRY! Your DD-214 isn’t a golden ticket – if anything, you should be pushing harder than your civilian counterparts. You’re still representing veterans everywhere.
Remember those Friday safety briefings hammering home “HAVE A PLAN”? They were right. My plan? Stack certifications before separation:
- Cisco Certified Network Professional
- CompTIA Security+
- CompTIA Network+
Were these certs the golden ticket? No. But they got my foot in the door. Combined with hours of LinkedIn profile tweaking and networking, I landed my first network admin position within a month.
Why This Blog?
I’m creating this space to document my journey and help other veterans making the military-to-tech transition. Expect deep dives into the technologies I’m passionate about:
- Cloud platforms
- Linux systems
- Kubernetes orchestration
- Container technologies
- Network engineering
- And much more
The same intensity I brought to PT scores and weapons qualification? That’s what I bring to learning cloud native technologies and crushing civilian career goals.
Stay tuned – this is just the beginning.
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