Candidate for
State Representative; District 71; Republican Party

I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with my mother, father, and my younger brother. My father was a truck driver who belonged to the Teamsters Union. My mother was a secretary who worked for a company named Bendix. My father became ill with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) when I was thirteen and he could no longer work. My mother lost her job at Bendix shortly before this happened so both my parents were unemployed at the same time. At the onset of my father's illness, the doctors did not know what he had so, to use the insurance company's exact word "...since the doctors have not diagnosed your illness we will not honor the disability coverage of your insurance policy for your alleged illness". The safety net my parents had put in placed failed.

Even though she was overqualified, my mother took a job as an entry level secretary working for the Baltimore County Planning and Zoning Office in order to bring in some money. In order for the county to hire her because of her over qualifications, my mother agreed to not request a pay raise for five years. She then took on a second job working nights as a book keeper for a local drug store and she also starting working a third job maintaining the books for a local eatery. For two years, my mother worked seven days a week at these jobs until the doctor's finally figured out my father had an aggressive form of MS. When the insurance company and Social Security started to provide the benefits my father deserved, my mother cut back to two jobs to make ends meet.

During this entire two years, my parents did not take any social or welfare assistance programs. They believed in earning everything they had and this fierce belief in self reliance has been passed onto me and my brother. I started working at the age of 13 cutting lawns, raking leaves, cleaning the elderly person's home next door, and anything else I could do to earn money. I started my first real job at fifteen working at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I have worked ever since with no regrets about an alleged lost childhood. My father died when I was 26 and my mother lives in Baltimore; she contracted polio in the late 1930's and now suffers from Post Polio Syndrome. My brother and I have ensured she has a nice place to live and make sure she does not need anything.

I joined the US Army in February 1981 and changed to the US Marines in 1984. I worked my way up from Private to Sergeant and during this time, I completed my Bachelors of Science Degree by going to school at night. I received my degree on 19 March 1991 and submitted an application for Officers Candidate School through the Enlisted Commissioning Program. I was accepted and after ten weeks of training was commissioned on 19 August 1991 as a 2nd Lieutenant. Over the next ten years, I rose to the rank of Major and retired from active duty on 1 October 2003 after 22 years of service.

I am married to the former Karen Martin of Lutherville Maryland and we have been married for 19 years as of 15 May 2008. We have two children, Lindsay and Joe. After retiring from the Marines, I worked for Concurrent Technologies Corporation in Johnstown Pennsylvania. I learned a lot about business leadership while at the company and I started my own small company. This company, Diamondback Technology Solutions, Inc is a Service Disable Veteran Owned Small Business and provides technology consulting to the government and businesses.

I am an American first and believe in service before self. I am Pro-Life, Pro-Family, and Pro-Gun. I belong and attend to the Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Johnstown. I am the President of the Richland Music Boosters (my children are in the high school band), a member of American Legion Post 849, the Conemaugh Valley Marine Corps League, the Disabled American Veterans (Life Member), the Tire Hill Rod and Gun Club, and the Johnstown Sportsmen's Association.