I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended St. Ambrose High School. In 1959, I joined the Navy and served aboard 6th Fleet Oilers in the Mediterranean. They were the USS Truckee, USS Neosho, and the USS Mississinewa AO-144, which was my last ship.

I married Brenda in 1962, then joined the Detroit Police Department the same year. As a police officer, I worked at the 12th and 5th Precincts. In 1965, I accepted a position with the new Tactical Mobile Unit (TMU). During my tenure with DPD, they awarded me more than twenty citations and commendations.

In 1970, after a short stint with the Sterling Heights PD, I was sworn in as a Special Investigator with Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Division of the IRS. Charleston, West Virginia would be the first of thirteen assignments requiring a transfer-—a record I think. At the time, Firearms' and Explosive's crimes were rapidly surpassing moonshine violations.

Then in 1971, I volunteered to fill a vacancy position in Los Angeles California with ATF's new Bomb Squad. Two years later, I was promoted as the Resident Agent in Charge in Phoenix, AZ. By this time our family had grown to seven people.

They asked me to take over the enforcement group in Los Angeles in 1975. As was my practice while in Phoenix, the Los Angeles office concentrated on complex investigations. Case-quality, complexity of investigations and the impact on crime were high. Complicated conspiracies usually breed cooperative defendants!

Unfortunately, "numbers" are too often the only measure some bureaucrats emphasize, or require in several instances. However, resource intensive efforts to tie in as many conspirators as possible usually translate into greater defendant numbers. The method breeds more experienced investigators, better cases more suited for Federal Court, and extremely satisfied bean counters!

During the next twenty years I served as the Special Agent in Charge in New Orleans, Kansas City, Detroit (twice), Phoenix, and Los Angeles. As an honored member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), I gained exposure to other branches of government: Congress, CIA, Customs, IRS, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, INS, Border Patrol and the Departments of Treasury, State, and Justice.

During my career as a law enforcement professional, I had the honor of working with many fine people—those who wore their badge proudly after swearing the oath, "To Protect and Serve." Many of those officers, deputies and agents, from many departments and agencies have passed on. Those men and women have not been forgotten by me, nor, by those of us who remain to greet the new blood. The Job—it's what you make of it! Nurtured and allowed to positively influence your efforts, it will make you a better person by the end of your career.

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