• First Jump: October 12, 1985
• Licenses:
  • A-8854
  • B-18211
  • C-18554
  • D-13761
• Ratings:
  • AFF/JM (since July 1994)
  • AFF/I (since July 1996)
• Awards:
  • Falcon 3096
  • Double Falcon 1656
  • Silver Falcon 217
  • Eagle 1514
  • Double Eagle-961
  • Gold Freefall Badge 3497
  • Gold Wings 5020
• Jumps:
  • Overall: 1600
  • AFF: 500
  • Tandem 200
• Freefall Time: 21 hours

I've been skydiving for a couple of years now (well, actually, more than a just a few). My first jump was at North East Pennsylvania Ripcords in the scenic Pocono mountains. I took off two years near the beginning, but that was a long time ago. It's been quite a trip so far. I hope that it keeps on being so.

I've been living in the Washington D.C. area now since 1991. I have made the rounds between all the dz's in the area, but finally ended up at the best. Skydive Virginia!

As part of my ever continuing quest to improve myself. In 1994, I acquired an AFF JM as my first jumpmaster rating. It brings with it a whole different drive for the sport. My AFF rating is a whole world of work, but it's the most fun I've had at working in a while. Can you imagine? They pay me to skydive? Does life get any better than that? It's a good thing that getting through the AFF camp experience was so hard because it's appreciated that much more.

In 1996, I got my tandem rating as well. I believed that I could introduce more students to the wonderful world of skydiving if I could get my tandem rating and that appears to be the case.

Further more, making an AFF jump for your very first skydive is a stressful situation for the average student. I mean, after all, the majority of the many hour course for AFF First Jump Course is spent on all the things that can go wrong even though 99.99% of the time nothing will! Tandem skydiving alleviates some of that stress. You're paying someone to handle the situation should it arise. The tandem master has a vested interest in making sure that the student lands on the ground safe and sound--they're connected together!

For the longest time, I was aware that that I drove my car to airports every weekend. I asked myself, "self, why are you driving to airports every weekend?" Well, on April 17, 1995 I decided to do something about that. I purchased a little cherokee. She was not a cheap date, but worth the money! That was fine and dandy for a while, but after a while I upgraded to my current fine machine which carries several hundred pounds more at nearly twice the speed. I definitely needed that with a growing family! Melissa was born in 2000 and Nathaniel in 2002.

I've gotten the opportunity to jump with way cool folks during my time. See if you recognize anyone? Remember, the skydiving world is a way small world indeed.