U.S. Naval Experience
I entered the naval service in 1982 after completing the Naval Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Newport Rhode Island . I was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve and attended the Surface Warfare Officers Course in Coronado , California . My first assignment was aboard the USS Tarawa (LHA-1) where I served 40 consecutive months of sea service. I served in a variety of shipboard assignments including Deck Division Officer, responsible for 35 enlisted ratings, COMSEC Custodian, and Shipboard Security Officer. I earned my Surface Warfare Designation (SWO) as an Officer of the Deck underway (OOD), Combat Information Center (CIC) Officer, and Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOW). During my service aboard the Tarawa , the ship was deployed twice to the western Pacific and included duty to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in support of the Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in Beirut , Lebanon . I was Honorably released from active duty in April, 1986. I received two sea service deployment ribbons, a Naval Expeditionary Medal and other naval decorations.
I was a Reserve Naval Officer, Commander, 0-5 (1635 designator - Naval Intelligence) from 1986, to January 2005 serving in a variety of Naval Intelligence Reserve Units in California , Florida , and Washington D.C. To change my Surface Warfare Designator (1115) to Naval Intelligence (1635) , I completed requisite intelligence and counterintelligence courses taught by the NCIS and naval intelligence. I held “Reserve NCIS Credentials” that enabled me to conduct counterintelligence, criminal and personnel reliability investigations. I completed a variety of naval active duty for training (ACDUTRA) between 1986 and 2005. These included NCIS offices around the world such as Bahrain , Guam , Hawaii , Jacksonville , San Diego , SOUTHCOM, JSOC, and CINUSNAVEUR. I received a Naval Achievement Medal for Counterintelligence support to Commander, Seventh Fleet, and Pearl Harbor Hawaii in 1989.
