Following that year, I was given orders to attend the Marine embassy security guard school in Quantico, Virginia. My first assignment would be to work as a security guard under the dual control of the Marine Corps and the U.S. State Department at the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia. During my time in St. Petersburg, I had the opportunity to visit Moscow, as well as taking a nearly month-long tour of Europe by train. I also participated in the security support for the Presidential visit to Russia in 1996.

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Twelve months later, I was re-assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I would spend the next two years. While in Argentina, I was quickly promoted to the rank of sergeant, had the opportunity to serve as the non-commissioned officer in charge of a 16-marine detail flown in to Argentina to provide security support during President Clinton's visit, and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. I also took the opportunity to travel the world during my 25 months in Argentina, seeing Iguazu Falls along the Argentine/Brazilian/Paraguayan border, the ancient Incan Ruins of Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, the mysterious "moai" on Easter Island in the French Caribbean and finally to have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Eastern Africa.

In August of 1998, I was released from active duty in the Marine Corps and returned to Indiana University, where I finished an interdepartmental B.A. in economics and political science. Following IU, I packed my bags, and like most liberal arts grads who didn't find work in fast food restaurant management, I found employment in our nation's capitol, working in the defense industry. Specifically, I work as an anaylst in long range strategic planning, wargaming, and foreign research. I have also stayed fairly active, having run in last year's Marine Corps Marathon (and training to run in this year's, which is scheduled for October 28, 2001), played in a Winter basketball league, done a fair amount of traveling, and finally bought my own place.

I have tried to include many pictures on this website of the people I've met and places I've gone, but I'm sure that in the course of trying to cram everything in here, I'll have missed people. If that's the case, please forward me your pictures or the link to your homepage and I'll do what I can to post them. Thanks for reading this through to the end, and I look forward to reading your comments.