When I was in the 6th grade I started to participate in sports. This gave me the foundation of what team work means. By the time I learned that unfairness hurt and that we all should be fair in all we do, I was in the eighth grade. By the time I left high school I learned that fairness is taught and has to be part of a persona. Fairness continued to elude me as I matured. Finding that Society is not what it is all cracked up to be, I decided to become a Forest Ranger with an interest in nature. I relished the idea of not being around the hypocrisy of society. Being in the wilderness was fine with me, until I found out chemistry was part of the educational process. The table of elements that my high school teacher insisted we learn was like trying to memorize the dictionary. Needless to say I went into a different direction.
I still wanted to be out of doors and I also was in the "let's be a daredevil", "I want to have emotional and physical thrills" stage in my life. After talking with my Dad, i decided that a wild land firefighter would be a good nitch for me. Two weeks out of high school I was fighting a huge fire with the then know "California Division of Forestry," then in the Conservation Department, now known as the "California Department of Forestry." At one fire the Fire Prevention Ranger asked me to find the cause of the fire and the point of origin. That was a awesome task for me. I thoroughly was into what I was doing. If this was what investigating was all about then I want to be there. I wanted to be an "Fire Investigator." That was my new goal.
Life then gave me a new course. I was no longer a firefighter and my attention now turned to Law Enforcement and Security. Again my goal was towards investigations. So I educated my self through college Administration of Justice Courses. In 1979 I graduated from the Police Academy. In 1983 I decided to enter the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman. Because of my college education I obtained the rank of Private First Class (E-3). After Basic and Advanced Individual Training, my first duty station was Ft. Polk, LA. When I reported to my unit 1st Sgt, I was asked how I received my E-3 rank. I told him about my education. He then stated that I don't belong on the road, but belong in Investigations. He asked if I would like to do that. Of course I said yes with great enthusiasm. See in the Army, Military Police Investigators should be the rank of E-4 or above and here I was an E-3 with about six months in the military. I then interviewed with the CID Commander on post, a Colonel (full bird) and was approved for investigations.
This I truly enjoyed. The work was awesome. I felt a satisfaction that I was there to help and protect society. We were busy as we all, the MP Investigators, in the office were so busy. I also saw the reality of Law Enforcement and was introduced again to unfairness and incompetence. One Military Law Enforcement Agency separate from Military Police Investigations was very adept to being incompetent. The could not investigate themselves out of a paper bag, even if both sides were open. I also saw how the judicial system worked in the military and felt that it was too lenient. The punishment was so soft, it really didn't deter crime. One reason I felt this way was because 90% of the soldiers that committed crimes were busted to the lowest pay grade and lost their last pay check, then kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge or less than honorable. They were then sent back out into the civilian community with a criminal record that the civilian law enforcement authorities can not find out about. The military does not dispense criminal records to civilian authorities. The criminal is now the problem of society. That made me mad. What the heck was I catching the bad guys for and the bad guy's punishment was a grey hound ticket back home! Come on now!
After I left the Military, I resigned my commission as a Second Lieutenant in a National Guard Military Police Unit, I applied for a California Private Investigators license. I passed the exam and received my license in 1991. I have been doing this work sense and have not regretted it. The road that got me here was long and rough. With out the support from my immediate family, especially my wife, I would not have made it this far.
Now you know the road I traveled. I learned a lot along the way an bring that experience to the table.
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