Hey you, this is me...

I learned how to use the PRC-119 in a class at The Basic School in Quantico, VA (the Crossroads of the Marine Corps) back in 2000. And I remember one of the motivated sergeants say, "Hey you, this is me...." And so, this entry is a little intro about who I am and where I came from.

I am a Marine. But I didn't always start out that way. I was born in Los Angeles and raised in the OC. After I graduated from UCLA, I attended Officer Candidate School. I graduated second in my platoon and was commissioned a 2^nd LT in December of 1999.

I served on active duty from 1999 to 2003 and I was a Public Affairs Officer. My job was to tell the Marine Corps story to the public. And I loved it. It was an honor to be both a leader of Marines and a spokesperson for the Nation’s 911 force. I got to see so many different aspects of the Marine Corps and then share it with others. It was an awesome job and I had a great time.

When I first joined the Marine Corps, I was well-aware of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. And I believed that all that mattered was that I would be the best Marine I could be and I didn’t need a personal life. And it’s funny how life doesn’t quite work that way.

My Marines would often talk about their significant others and I would be the boring lieutenant, who was a workaholic. While I was deployed to Iraq in 2005, I bumped into an officer in Ramadi, who told me, “You were the best lieutenant I ever had.” Go figure that.

I left active duty in 2003 to go to graduate school and to escape the stress of living under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I somehow managed to get admitted to Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and earned a MS degree. But then something interesting happened, in 2004, I was activated to go join the 5th Civil Affairs Group to go to Falluja and Ramadi Iraq.

My friends wanted me to "tell," pull the gay card so to speak. But it was my duty to go and I wanted to go. War is what Marines train for and Marines always want to serve side by side with other Marines. So I went and I am so glad that I did.

Currently, I am a Los Angeles Police Officer. I graduated at the top of my class in Feb 2007 and am currently patrolling the streets of LA. I am a Marine, news junkie, public servant, Bruin, hiker, biker and sometimes skateboarder....and fighter against social injustice.