He joined the USMC out of High School in 1994.  He was an Infantryman from the start, training in small unit tactics, reconnaissance, small boats, maritime navigation and eventually dabbled in Counter Intel when he left the Marines in 98.  After some time out of the service playing cowboy all over the western US he decided it was time to go back.  The Army gave him the best offer so in 2002 he joined and was sent to Ft Campbell and the 101st Airborne.  In 2003 he deployed for the invasion of Iraq and spent a year there.  He actually broke my ankle and tore all the ligaments but kept performing his mission.  He was in a few explosions, two IED's and a RPG blast but his injuries were not known until we began to recognize that blasts can cause TBI.  He know nows what all the slurred speech, memory loss, and headaches are from.  Instead of TBI he has been diagnosed with Post Concussive Syndrome which is a TBI that has healed so to speak.  After redeployment he went to West Point to train Cadets for the summer.  Soon after he reenlisted at Ground Zero and made his way to Korea for two years.  In Korea he was responsible for putting together a Chemical Reconnaissance and Security platoon for 1st Brigade 2ID.  It was the first platoon of its kind and it was an honor to be the Platoon Sergeant.  During his time in Korea he also attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection.  He was selected and soon after he returned to the US and reported to Fort Bragg for Special Forces Qualification Course.  It was in Q Course that he fell 20 feet, fracturing my Lumbar Spine and Herniating a Thoracic disk into my Spinal Cord.  A lot of other health issues began soon.  He had a Lumbar Fusion to fix the fractured vertebrae. After multiple surgeries he suffers from residual nerve damage from all of the spinal issues but everything is stable.  It was only 7 months ago that he participated in a Soldier Ride thru the Wounded Warrior Project.  It was his first time on a Road Bike.  He knew right away that he had found what he thought he lost when he was injured.  Soon after he learned about the Paralympic Military Program with the US Olympic committee and he decided that he wanted to pursue a goal of becoming a Paralympic Cyclist.  He began training right away and now have been cycling for about 6 months.  He has been working with the Army Center for Enhanced Performance doing a Mastery program.  He now has his USA Cycling license and will be competing this year as a CAT 5 rider.