I was was born in 1955 in Nashville, Tenn. I graduated from Nashville's Hillsboro High School in 1973.

After graduating from Wake Forest University I took a commission as a second lieutenant in the US Army field artillery.

I was married in 1980 to the former Catherine Stephens of Durham, NC. Her nickname is Cathy. We have two boys, the elder in the US Marine Corps, the younger in high school, and one daughter in elementary school.

I was in the Army until 1995, serving on four continents. I was an artillery forward observer in Korea, a battery commander, a brigade fire support coordinator, and howitzer-battalion operations officer in Germany, and operations officer for a Multiple-Launch Rocket System battalion in 18th Airborne Corps Artillery at Fort Bragg, NC. I was also qualified as a nuclear and chemical targeting analyst and was trained in counterterrorism at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, NC.

In 1986 I attended the Defense Information School, from which I graduated first in my class, then served as chief of media relations for 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, NC. During the invasion of Panama in December 1989 (Operation Just Cause), I served on the Corps' Battle Management Cell.

Assigned to the Pentagon in early 1990, I served as the speech writer and personal public affairs officer to the Secretary of the Army until January 1991, when I was assigned to the US Army Operations Center for the Gulf War.

After the return of forces to America, I was made Director of Media Relations for the National Victory Parades in Washington, D. C. and New York City, coordinating directly with White House staff and more than 650 national and international news organizations.

Subsequently, I was a plans officer in the Army Staff (more properly, the Army Secretariat) until May 1993. My final Army assignment was as chief of public affairs, US Army Criminal Investigation Command, 1993-1995. Just before retiring, I served as a member of the Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation Task Force.

I took early retirement at the rank of major in August 1995 as part of the post-Cold War drawdown to answer my call to ordained ministry. I began classes at Vanderbilt Divinity School the same month. I have served full-time as a church pastor since 1997. I was ordained an elder in full membership of Tennessee Conference of the UMC in June 2002. I also serve as a volunteer chaplain for the Williamson County Sheriff's Department.

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