I was born on a farm in rural Georgia, just an hour north of Atlanta. My parents divorced when I was ten years old, and mom moved my sisters and me to the bayou country of South Louisiana, then to Baton Rouge. In my sophomore year of high school, I discovered a pamphlet at the school library about the United States Air Force Academy - where graduates learn to fly airplanes. I set my goal on attending the Air Force Academy, and graduated in 1986. After graduation, I attended Undergraduate Pilot Training in Oklahoma, and received my pilot wings in 1987.

 

My Air Force adventure spanned the next twenty years. I began by instructing students to fly the T-37 at Vance Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma. I then flew the F-15E (Strike Eagle) at stations in Alaska, England, Nevada, North Carolina, Idaho, and Florida. During that time, I flew combat missions in support of Operation Deny Flight (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Operation Northern Watch, Operation Allied Force (Kosovo), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I retired from the Air Force in 2006, and worked as a Defense Contractor for the next ten years.

 

In August 2016, a trip to the emergency room ended with my heart and kidney transplants three months later. Thin Spots, chronicles my journey down the transplant road and how I drew upon my rural upbringing, and my fighter pilot training to overcome and survive my latest adventure.