Prologue

When I was around the age of five or six years old, while most children were idolizing superheroes like Superman or Batman, I was watching G.I. Joe and playing policeman and soldier. I determined from a young age that I wanted to have a “job” where I could be what I called a “real life superhero.” I was not yet sure why I wanted to do this kind of job. That would not occur to me until many years later when I was around fourteen or fifteen years of age. At the time, I only knew I wanted to save people.

I did not idolize Superman or even Batman. I idolized my father. You see, I am from a family of real-life heroes. My father is a twenty-year retired veteran of the United States Navy. He served in the Gulf War, as well as many campaigns before. I have two uncles that served in the United States Marines, one uncle that served in the United States Army, both of my grandfathers served, two of my cousins served. My brother also enlisted but was unfortunately not able to fulfill his enlistment due to a severe medical issue. So you see, I have plenty of real life heroes to look up to.

I looked up to men and women in uniform. My father has meant the world to me throughout the years, but I cannot, in good conscience, overlook my mother. Many people forget the families of those that serve, but they are just as important as those that fight and die for our country. The spouses are the ones who stay behind to care for the families and children. They are the ones who go to baseball and football tryouts, attend school plays, carry the children to doctors’ appointments, and kiss the enormous amount of boo-boos. These mothers deserve our utmost respect and compassion. Without the families, most of those who serve would feel unloved and may even forget why they chose to serve. The families are the heart and soul of our servicemen and women.

Growing up, I valued my parent’s advice and would ask for it more than once over the years, and my career path was no exception. I must have decided on a few dozen jobs throughout my childhood, most children do. First I wanted to be a cop, then a fireman, then a fighter pilot. After a while I wanted to be a Navy Seal and even president at one point, but no matter what, I always came back to military and cop.

By the time I was fourteen or fifteen, I had made up my mind and decided to join the military; although I had not yet determined which branch to join. After speaking with my father at length, I was urged to join the Air Force, so at the age of seventeen, my father and I went to the local Air Force recruiter’s office and I proceeded to take the ASVAB (military entrance exam). I scored very high and was told that I could pretty much choose my career. Of course I originally chose to try out for Para-Rescue (Air Force Special Forces). I trained for weeks with my father and my uncle. I passed my physical abilities testing and was accepted into the Para-Rescue training course, only to be rejected at a later date based on my eye exam. I had dreadfully poor eyesight. Eventually, I settled on a career as a Security Forces Specialist (classification 3P031). Essentially, I was to be employed as a military police officer.

After settling on a career path, I was sent to the MEPS station (Military Enlistment Processing Station) in Montgomery, Alabama. This is where you are sent to complete your paperwork and medical physicals. Essentially, this is the last thing that you do before being sent off to basic training, also known as boot camp. I went to the greyhound bus station in Pensacola, Florida, and was sent by bus to the MEPS station along with two other recruits. Upon arrival at the Montgomery greyhound bus station, the three of us were ushered into a waiting cab and taken to a hotel where we would be staying for two days while undergoing our physicals.

The three of us spent the day hanging out. As the day faded into night, we went our separate ways. I watched a little television, feeling too excited to sleep. I took a shower to calm my nerves. I spoke to my girlfriend, Angela, and then drifted off to sleep.

The next morning the three of us recruits, all three of us being from Pensacola, were up and dressed by 04:15. We were dressed and reported to the downstairs lobby where we met up with approximately fifty to sixty other recruits. We were loaded on buses and taken to the MEPS station. Once we exited the buses and were ushered through the large double doors of the MEPS station, we formed into squads and were sent to different stations that were set up throughout the building. I will save you the monotony of telling you about the day. Only know this, it was long, boring, and full of unpleasantness.

At one point we had been ushered into a small room. There were fifteen of us in this room. We were told to strip down to our skivvies. Skivvies is a term used to describe a person’s underwear. It is a naval term and I was Air Force, but whatever. It wasn’t until I unclothed that I realized it was incredibly cold in that room. My nether regions shrank to the size of peanuts almost instantly. I mean there wasn’t much there to begin with, but now I wasn’t sure you could find my male parts, even with the use of the Hubble Telescope. Anyhow, enough of that. The doctor eventually came in and called each of us into a room alone. Once in this room we endured the most embarrassing day of our lives. There is nothing like a grown man with icebergs for hands, reaching down and grabbing your bare peanuts and saying, “Turn your head and cough.”

I did as I was told but didn’t relish the idea of someone grabbing my privates. I was then told to spread my cheeks and bend over. Not fun to be told that either. The rest of the time at MEPS was not pleasant, but at least I wasn’t naked.

I would go on to serve four years in the United States Air Force. I served at various places including Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; Barksdale Air Force Base, Shreveport, Louisiana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Fort Dix, New Jersey; Germany; and Eskan Village, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

On September 08, 1998, I was honorably discharged from active duty and placed into inactive reserve, which would eventually be extended due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

After being discharged, I decided to continue my career in law enforcement. I used my GI Bill to attend a local police academy. After six months of intense training and one very grueling state exam, I was certified in the state of Florida as a law enforcement officer. After filling out numerous job applications and three or four interviews, I was offered a job with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. I accepted a position as court deputy with the Sheriff’s Office. In this position I acted as a bailiff and carried out numerous duties. I would go on to be assigned to the patrol division.

During my time as a deputy sheriff, I received a certified letter from the Florida Highway Patrol asking me to participate in their written exam and physical abilities testing. I began training and studying as hard as I possibly could. You see, I had never expected to receive a letter from one of the most elite Law Enforcement Agencies in the United States. I never even expected I would make it past the initial testing phase. I was by no means stupid; however, I did not feel I was Highway Patrol material. It’s not that I did not have the confidence, but you have to realize that the Highway Patrol gets over three thousand applications for each class and only accepts around fifty to sixty of those. So I assumed I would not even get past the testing phase.

I did make it past the testing phase. I scored a 98 percent on the written and ran the obstacle course in four minutes and thirty-five seconds. The time limit for the course was six minutes and fifteen seconds. Overall, I scored very well on both. After a polygraph, psychological evaluation, two interviews, and an extensive background investigation, I was offered a law enforcement position within the Florida Highway Patrol.

This brings us to the beginning of this book. In this book I will go through my mental and physical state during the academy. You will learn of the struggles with in my personal and professional life. You will learn about my classmates and my family. I hope that you do enjoy this book, and I hope you find it enlightening.