I started out life in the Navy as a Navy kid; living in Navy houses, on Navy bases, and around Navy ships. Mom got all of our groceries at the Commissary. I remember getting my first tour of a nuclear submarine when I was 3. It was the Kamehameha; a brand new boat at the time. My grandparents were visiting us in Hawaii; it was their vacation of a lifetime. After that I moved through 4 other states and 7 schools before moving to Washington in the Summer of ’79. We ended up driving pretty much across the whole state from Spokane and west. I remember thinking it didn’t look anything like the pictures and 16 mm films I had seen in school about what Washington was supposed to look like. Finally after hours on the road (it was the 55 mile/hr speed limit back then); it started to look like the pictures after we passed Ellensburg.
I spent my 3 years in Silverdale going to Central Kitsap High School. After a few years at various jobs, I started in the Shop 31 Apprenticeship in 1991. After surviving all of the RIF’s and rightsizings; I started with the FMA about 8 years ago. I was soon the Shop 31 rep, then got elected trustee a few years later; and then Vice President this year. It has been rewarding to see some of our legislative priorities come to action ie: Self-plus one health insurance; and reinstatement of full Per Diem reimbursements. I have attended one of the Regional Conferences (San Diego) and look forward to our local one here in November.