Prior to my service in Iraq I recieved a B.A. in International Studies from Wheeling Jesuit University with a focus on the Middle East. The summer of 2000, I went to the University of Aleppo, Syria where I studied politics of the Middle East.

In January 2003, my Army reserve unit was mobilized and sent to the Middle East to serve with the 3rd ID. I crossed into Iraq the first day of the ground war and served with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, 3rd ID, and V Corps over the course of my one year tour of duty in Iraq. After the Invasion, I served one month in Baghdad, 6 months in Al Anbar, finishing my tour in Balad, Iraq. Although I was a combat engineer (bridge crewmember), my missions varied greatly as the war progressed, with my company performing engineer tasks, manning check points, munitions recovery, security details, and transportation missions.

After returning home, I enrolled in the Universty of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. The summer of 2005, I returned to Damascus, Syria and conducted research to examine if the war in Iraq had negatively influenced internal Syrian Identity politics (which it has). I have since graduated with a Master's in Public and International Affairs majoring in Security and Intelligence Studies with a focus on the Middle East.