I was born in Hawaii and raised in American Samoa and Central California. I am married and I have two biological and two step-children. I have lived all over the United States and traveled extensively throughout the world during a military career spanning three decades which ultimately brought me here to San Antonio where I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston and assigned to the San Antonio Military Medical Center in 2008. Almost immediately it was decided that Texas was exactly the State that we wanted to permanently live in and San Antonio was where we wanted to settle down and make our home for the rest of our lives. Today we are Proud San Antonio Residents and Texans Citizens.

 

During the past three decades I continuously attended military and civilian courses and continuing education programs in leadership, supervision, organization, and management; special warfare and counter-insurgency operations; training and advising foreign security forces; airborne and air assault operations; all-source intelligence collection and analysis; counter-threat and force protection activities; foreign languages and cultures; law enforcement operations and correctional activities; disaster management and incident command; firefighting; flood-control; hazardous materials; search and rescue; academic instruction and curriculum development; nursing and allied healthcare services; earth studies and environmental conservation; political science and public administration; jurisprudence and legal assistant studies; and naturalization, immigration, and resettlement services.

 

In 2016 I retired from the military service after serving almost 30 years in the United States Army Regular, United States Army Reserve, and the California National Guard as a Healthcare Services Non-Commissioned Officer and Combat Medical Specialist. I served in both combat and combat support units, including assignments and attachments to Special Operations Forces, Airborne and Air Assault Units, Forward Surgical Teams, and Combat Support Hospitals. I have also served in Army Medical Centers and Community Hospitals and aboard the United States Navy Hospital Ships Mercy and Comfort during disaster relief and humanitarian assistance missions. My military leadership positions include Company First Sergeant and Detachment Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge, Platoon Sergeant, Department and Section Leader, and Squad and Team Leader. I have also served in special assignments and additional duty positions that included Battalion Intelligence and Security Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge; Counter-Threat and Force Protection Technician; Courts-Martial Bailiff and Security Guard; Military Prisoner Transportation Security Guard; National Guard Counter-Drug Operations Support Program; Foreign Security Forces Trainer and Advisor; Military Occupational Specialty Training and Continuing Education Program Instructor; Curriculum Development Contributor; Military Recruiting and Retention Support Services; and Subject Matter Expert in Support of the Special Immigrant Visa Program for Foreign Nationals with United States Government Affiliations. I have deployed in support of multiple combat campaigns and humanitarian assistance missions from which I have been awarded numerous commendation and achievement awards during my military career with the United States Armed Forces.

 

As a civilian I was employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse and as an Emergency Medical Technician in Emergency Departments, Urgent Care Clinics, Family Practice Clinics, and in Dialysis Clinics. I was also employed as a Government Contracted Extradition Agent and Correctional Transportation Officer, Private Security Guard, and during my teenage years, I was employed in fast food where the work was hard and the pay was low, which motivated me to enlist in the United States Armed Forces.

 

During the past 30 years, as my military duties and civilian employment permitted, I served the community as a Volunteer Fire-Fighter and Emergency Medical Technician. I have also served the community during the past 30 years by working with the American Red Cross and several other religious and secular humanitarian assistance organizations as a volunteer nurse and emergency medical technician. I served for more than ten academic years with the Army School Partnership Program where I mentored at-risk youth. I have also frequently volunteered with multiple religious and secular community service organizations such as the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity where I worked in the construction and renovation of affordable housing and performing homeless shelter operations, as well as working in community kitchens and food bank projects. I fully recognize the immense value of volunteer community service for both the community and the volunteer, and in this regard I am a very strong supporter of reserve law enforcement, volunteer fire-fighting and emergency medical services, as well as volunteering with the many other religious and secular based charity and community service programs.

 

I am the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Allied Freedom Project, a Texas based Non-Governmental Humanitarian Assistance Organization that facilitates and assists with the immigration and resettlement of foreign nationals who were employed by, on behalf of, or otherwise assisted the United States Government or a Coalition Force in support of the Global War on Terrorism and Oversea Contingency Operations. With a small cadre of volunteers and a self-funded budget, the Allied Freedom Project has grown from a small group of initial clients and their family members to a worldwide case load of over 25,000 clients and their family members, from which the Allied Freedom Project and our Volunteer Affiliates and Supporters has to date assisted well over 10,000 United States Armed Forces Sponsored Special Immigrants, Refugees, Asylees, Parolees, and their family members immigrate to and resettle in the United States. I am a very strong supporter of those foreign nationals who served side-by-side with the United States Armed Forces and our Coalition Forces Partners in the Theater of Combat Operations and risked their lives and the lives of their family members to fight against our common enemies. These Brothers and Sisters in Arms who served shoulder-to-shoulder with our Hero Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, Sailors, and Coast Guard Members, have my prayers and my greatest of respect and appreciation.

 

In 1996 the Presiding Judge of the California Superior Court in and for the County of Madera appointed me to the Madera County Grand Jury for the 1996-1997 Term of Service. In this capacity I was sworn and charged with the solemn duty to inquire into and investigate public offenses committed or subject to trial within Madera County and to render criminal indictments or a “No-True-Bill” in appropriate cases and to examine all aspects of state and local government situated within Madera County to guarantee that these public entities were being governed honestly and efficiently and that governmental funds were being collected fairly and expended judiciously. During my term of service with the Madera County Grand Jury I performed my duty with passion and due diligence and ensured that criminal perpetrators were indicted and promptly brought to trial and that those whom were innocent of wrongdoing were spared the time and expense of needless judicial proceedings. In addition, as a Member of the Madera County Grand Jury, I also ensured that the state and local government and its public officials and employees within Madera County were held responsible and accountable to the people through the proper application and consistent enforcement of the Grand Jury Civil Oversight Function.

 

I have dedicated my life to national, state, and community service, and I seek to continue my public service to the People of Texas as their Representative in the United States or Texas State House of Representatives.