I'll start by saying that I've been into guns for quite a long time. At least since I was in grade school, although I remember loving them as far back as when I received my first "old west" cap pistol and my Han Solo Star Wars Blaster.

My Uncle Bob used to run me through safety drills with his shotgun to make sure I was ready before he finally took me shooting. I remember him setting up a milk jug at least 25 yards away and then handing me a .357 Magnum revolver. The first round I fired blew the milk jug apart. I was hooked.

Not long after that my father took me out to shoot some of his pistols: a Ruger MkII, a Ruger .22 revolver and a Ruger Blackhawk .357. We had a pretty good time until we left and got his van stuck (another story).

I didn't go shooting as much as I would have liked as a younger kid, but I got plenty of the good stuff when I joined the Army as an infantryman and got to play with some serious hardware: M16A2, M60, and an M249 SAW. It took me a few years to totally master my primary weapon, the M16.

I purchased my first gun while I was stationed at Ft. Belvoir: A Ruger P89. Not sure what influenced my decision. If I recall I actually wanted a Glock at the time, but I think when I saw the price tag o both guns I ended up with what I could afford.

It wasn't until five years later that I started buying more guns. While I was deployed I was "window" shopping in gun magazines Pam would send me in the mail. At the time I had my mind set on a Para Ordnance LDA 1911 and an HK91.

After I returned home from the hospital I started looking around on the internet to get an idea of prices for an HK91, when I saw a Springfield SAR-8 for sale. This is more or less and exact copy of the HK rifle with the addition of a Picatinny 1913 mounting rail (pdf file). I ordered it and went through a dealer in MD to receive it.

While I was picking up the SAR-8 I was decided to look at a Kimber CDP Pro II. I didn't know much about 1911-style pistols, but I had heard great things about them, which was the reason i had been researching the Para Ordnance. I had also been looking at the Kimber Ultra CDP II, but when I handled it in the store the grips were a little too small for my hand. The CDP Pro II felt and looked great so I ended up getting it as well. The only change I made to it was switching out the Rosewood grips for Hogue rubber grips.

A couple months later I was looking into yet another rifle. This time a Remington 700 PSS. I had only shot a bolt action rifle once before and wasn't all that crazy about it but I had been reading that this rifle didn't have nearly the abusive recoil that I had first experienced in a bolt action. I bought it and threw am inexpensive scope on it as well as a Blackhawk cheek pad (I need to update the picture). As I had hoped, it was a dream to shoot once sighted in and incredibly accurate. I've yet to put it to any serious test of accuracy at great distances only because I'm somewhat limited by where I can shoot.

About a year later I came into some money and started shopping again. This time I was going to get the rifle I had been dreaming of for a long time but for some reason hadn't purchased yet: an AR-15. The first time I had shot an M16 I loved it and had been wanting my own for a while. While I was in the reserves one of the guys in my unit was showing off an M4 from the back of his trunk. I knew someday I'd be getting one. So I went to my preferred gun shop and started looking at what they had in stock. Nothing quite jumped out at me. So I started doing some hard research, which is how I came upon AR15.com. Like a typical newbie on this message board I was asking all of the questions that had been asked dozens of times by other before me: "what brand is the best?", "which length barrel should I get?" "What do I need to buy one with a collapsing stock?". After a few weeks of asking questions I narrowed my choice down to the Bushmaster V-Match Carbine. I preferred the shorter heavy-barrel because of all the years in the Army I had spent wishing I had a shorter rifle. Not to mention a flattop receiver, which makes mounting a scope a lot easier. I always liked the look and feel of the alluminum freefloat handguards and the Ace AFRFX Skeleton stock. I went all out and got everything I wanted on this rifle. I later added a Harris Bipod and a Leupold MkIV CQ/T scope with an A.R.M.S. #12 mount to it as well. This is still my favorite gun in my collection.

After about a year later I decided I was going to try to sell or trade my SAR-8 and to get another AR-15. This was partly due to the fact that I had been spending so much time on AR15.com and seeing how many different ways these rifles could be customized. I never thought I would do this because I always thought it was kind of stupid to have two of the same type of gun. That was, until I realized the versatility of these rifles for different situations. Since I had my V-Match set up for distance shooting I decided I was going to set up my next AR as a close-quarters-battle/home defense(CQB) rifle. I ended up making a trade with one of the local members of AR15.com and got a Fulton Armory GUardian I FAR-15 out of the trade. Over the last year I've been slowly adding and replacing various parts of this rifle. I'm nearly at the finish line now, waiting on a few other parts. The best part about this rifle is that I was able to legally install a collapsing stock after the 1994 Clinton/Brady Assault Weapon Ban (AWB) sunsetted in September of 2004. This was a monumental victory for gun owners, since this law had proven to serve no purpose other than limiting Second Amendment rights.

Only a few weeks ago I ordered a new pistol. I was considering trading in my Ruger P89, but decided against it. I instead ordered a brand new Glock 17. I researched my options for about a month or so before going to a local range and test firing a Glock 19 to make sure I would in fact like it. I like the Glock style, but I wasn't crazy about the shorter grip of the 19, so I went with it's big brother, the 17. After making that determination I was filing out the BATFE forms again. The nice thing about getting this pistol is that after the AWB went away Glock began shipping their pistols with high-capacity 17-round magazines instead of the 10-round magazines mandated by the ban. I'll probably pick up my new pistol sometime in the next week or so, after the mandatory 8-day waiting period.

That concludes my background in guns. Someday in the future I look forward to updating this with news of me taking my son, Ryan, out to the range for his first shoot. Hope you enjoyed the read and I hope you decide to look for me on AR15.com. Also check out my extensive collection of gun-related links.

To the left are two buttons. Clicking on the one to the far left (the EOD badge) will open a series of thumbnails that can be clicked to display larger images of my deployment to Afghanistan. You'll also be able to read my "semi-brief" biography.

Clicking on the one to the closer button (the one that looks like a gun) will open a series of thumbnails that can be clicked to display larger images of my personal gun collection. You'll also see a "semi-brief" history of my interest in guns.

Hope you enjoy your visit.

I might as well start at the point in my life when I started making adult decisions, which was when I joined the military.

In 1992, during my junior year of high school I made the decision to join the Army Reserves. At the time it seemed like a good way to get my college education paid for, as my goals were to attend some sort of art school. I joined as an infantryman (11B) and was shipped off to basic that June. I enrolled under the split-op program which allowed me to complete basic training during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school and complete my Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for Infantry after I graduated. In the time between I would do my one-weekend-a-month reserve obligation at my unit in Bristol , Pennsylvania .

This went according the plan and I spent about two years in the reserves before I realized that my college plans were being hindered by my lack of interest and procrastination. It was at this point in my life that I decided that active duty would probably be a good way to focus my time and energy, since I had no real direction or motivation to do much else.

My original plan was to change jobs from Infantry to Military Police (MP), but according to the recruiter there were no openings for MP's and I would have to either wait or pick a different job. My second choice was Airborne Infantry, which was also not a job that they had any opening for (which to this day I still believe was a line of BS). So my third pick was Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD 55D). The recruiter's brief description of this job was that I would be "playing with explosives" and I would carry a pager. It was the Army's Bomb Squad. I was instantly sold on the potential cool factor of this job.

That fall I was off to Redstone Arsenal for the initial phase of training: Ammunition Specialist (55B). This job had very little to do with EOD, but was a prerequisite at the time. It was a pretty simple school to complete and in February I was off to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida to attend Phase I of the Navy School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (NAVSCOLEOD).

During Phase I students learned the basics of safety and handling of explosives, utilization of the EOD publications system, and the basics of ordnance functioning and identification The attrition rate for this school was considered to be one of the highest of the schools for the Army, and my time there was no exception as I had a couple moments where I stumbled. I completed Phase I and moved on to Phase II which was at Indian Head, Maryland . During Phase II students learned how to render safe specific types of ordnance. The training was broken down into Ground Ordnance, Air I and II ordnance, Nuclear Ordnance, and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's). Each portion consisted of a classroom block and a practical block where students would apply the classroom knowledge.

Graduation of Phase II brought me full circle: back to Redstone Arsenal to attend Phase III, which was an Army specific portion, where we familiarized with basic Army unit equipment and operating procedures. I graduated the third and final phase on 15 December 1995 and was awarded the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge. From there I was assigned to the 57^th EOD Detachment at Ft. Belvoir, VA. I spent just short of three years but grew a lot as a person and a soldier. I became more comfortable with what it meant to be a soldier and an EOD tech, and took great pride in being the best I could be at both. The bulk of my job here was VIP duties working for the Secret Service in security primarily for the President, Vice President, and First Lady of the United States (POTUS, VPOTUS, and FLOTUS) as well as dignitaries and other high level government officials. The best trip I had for this type of work was a two week trip to three former bloc countries: Estonia, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Doing “real” EOD work was somewhat limited by the area I was in to a lot of Civil War ordnance (cannon balls). I got some good training and exposure, but not enough to variety. I reenlisted for an additional six years of service and the choice of my next duty assignment: the 702^nd EOD Company in Grafenwohr, Germany .

I was reassigned in October of 1998 to Germany and fit into the unit pretty fast. I was promoted twice while stationed at the 702 nd : to SGT and SSG (Team Leader). I did a lot less VIP missions here as out primary focus was range operations and Humanitarian Demining Operations (HDO). It was here that I had several short deployments: one in Estonia , under the HDO Program and another to Nigeria , under Operation Focus Relief

Most importantly, it was also in Germany that I met my wife, Pamela. At the time she worked as a Counter-Intelligence agent (97B) and we were “introduced” by my coworkers who worked closely with people in her unit. Once we got through the initial awkwardness we hit it off pretty fast and we both knew this would be a long lasting relationship. I was a little hesitant at first since, at the time, sexual harassment charges were flying all over the Army and I didn't want to get caught up in a “scandal”. Pam will tell you I was just extremely shy and that she had to make all the “first moves”.

We spent one year dating and one year married while in Germany .. From there, Pam got accepted into a technical school in Ft. Meade, and our branches worked it out so that I could move with her. I was assigned to the 744^th EOD Company on Ft Meade. We arrived in mid-July of 2001 and within two months, following the events of 9-11, I was deployed under Operation Enduring Freedom.

Initially my unit was sent to Masirah, Oman on a sort of stand-by status. Our positioning here allowed us to be deployed faster to a location in Afghanistan. Since the operations in Afghanistan fast and constantly changing it was over a month and a half before we were finally sent to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan . It was here that we finally got to do our job as EOD Tech, as this region of the world is absolutely saturated with ordnance, to include being one of the countries in the world with the most landmines. I learned this part the hard way.

On December 18^th, while off the runway, collecting 57mm Russian Rockets for disposal operations, I stepped on landmine. My left leg was traumatically amputated (below the knee) by the blast and I was rushed to the hospital on base before being MEDVACed to several other hospitals on my way to Landstuhl, Germany . This is where Pam met up with me to fly to back to the states. We arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) on the 22 nd of December and we spent Christmas and the entire month of January there. I received a couple surgeries and proceeded with my rehabilitation.

During this time I met and continued to visit Mr. Raymond Francis who works for Ohio Willow Wood Company (OWWCo). They provided me with my prosthetic care (as I had “differences of opinion” with the staff of WRAMC) to include the Pathfinder™ foot. I learned to function normally with my prosthesis, doing most of the activities I had become accustomed to prior to my injuries: running, snowboarding, biking, etc.

On 15 May 2003 I was medically retired from the Army. It was a tough decision as I did enjoy being a soldier and an EOD tech, but I felt I had accomplished most of the goals I had set for myself and it was time to move on. I am not working on completing my masters degree at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in Computer Technology, specifically Digital Graphic and Web Design. Right now I am supplementing my education at Johns Hopkins Computer Career Institute (JHU CCI) , by taking their Digital Design and Multimedia Certification courses. I'll later apply this to my degree at UMUC.

During my time in school our family grew by one: baby Ryan Alexander. Two if you count Sydney the Sassy Dog, which we do since she's such a major part of the family. Ryan was born on 28 September 2003 . He was born a month premature due to some complications, but came out completely normal and healthy.

So, in a nutshell that is my life for the last 12+ years.