I am a life long Salvationist having been born to Salvation Army Officer Parents in 1943. I was born in the East (PA) but my parents moved to California in 1955 and I spent until the early 70's living in (mostly) Southern California. In 1959 I got my Amateur Radio License and was totally involved in Electronics and Ham Radio. After Graduation from High School (1962) I joined the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Henry B. Wilson, DDG-7 and made two tours to Viet Nam.
After leaving the USN in 1968, I went to work in the Electronics field as an Engineering Technician. During the years that followed I educated myself finally obtaining a BSEE degree, and worked my way into the Design Engineering field, primarily working with CRT displays and digital systems. I worked for some years, at JPL in Pasadena and was part of the team the sent spacecraft to Mars. Somewhere along the line I slipped from designing, to maintaining equipment and I found great rewards in walking into a site where equipment was down and people near panic, and being able to be the hero and get them back up. This work took me to all sorts of exotic places where I worked on electronic equipment of the most interesting kind. I've worked on the space program, with computerized knitting machines, observatories, secret spy stuff, hospital operating rooms, you name it, a most interesting time. My final position in industry was as a Regional Manager for an electronics systems manufacturing firm, where I was responsible for all service operations in the 13 Western United States.
Over the years I became very interested in computers and learned to program with FORTRAN on a DEC PDP-6, then while at JPL programmed on a CDC-3100. When Radio Shack came out with their Model 1 computer, I got one and that was the start of a real love affair with computers. I learned major programming skills in several languages including Basic, Z80 Assembly, and C and even had a couple of commercial programs I wrote. I programmed on the Model 1, 3, 4 and color computers, favoring the OS9 operating system.
About 1985 I started getting very uneasy and I felt like I wanted to do something with my life that had lasting meaning. My opportunity came when the company I worked for started to fail, due to the inability to compete in a niche market, falling prices, and rising cost. I found myself out of work as whole layers of management were cut. I decided, after much soul searching, to go into full time ministry. My wife and I, with our two small children took an appointment to assist the large Salvation Army operation in Boise Idaho. We were there only 8 months but it quickly became clear that one cannot spend so many years as a technology person, and suddenly turn it off and become a social program kind of a person. I was very unhappy, my wife was unhappy, my children were unhappy and I knew we had reached the end of our road. In looking for how to move back to California, and what to do for a job, I was alerted to a new position with The Salvation Army, in Phoenix Arizona. While there were not many computers yet, the job was to be the person responsible for all computer operations in the Southwest Division (AZ, NM, Southern Nevada and Northwest Texas). I took the job and found my place. I am able to do the work I love, and at the same time help guide The Salvation Army into the Computer and Information Highway age. I now have between 130-200 computer systems I watch over and support everything from stand alone PC systems to major systems with large networks. I support several types of computers including the ever popular PC to a number of mainframe systems from Alphamicro Computer Systems. I do hardware repair as well as software support.
First and foremost I love my Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, and that is what comes first in my life. My family is my next priority and that is followed by The Salvation Army and its mission.
My favorite Bible verse is found in Joshua 24:15; Choose this day whom you will serve, but for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
I worship at the Mesa Citadel Corps in Mesa Arizona. I play EEb Tuba in the band, sing in the Songsters, and between my family and myself, we hold many Local Officer positions. My wife, two daughters (college age) and I all play musical instruments.
UPDATE
Since the above was written a number of years ago, there have been many changes.
Both of my daughters have married, I have a bunch of grandchildren now. My Son has married, moved
into the area and also proved me with two grandsons.
Job wise, the IT department grew to 5 people maintaining over 400 computer systems and a very complex wide area network. I have moved out of the position of Director of Information Technology and accepted a new position as Director of Administrative Services where I still have many technical duties as well as lots of administrative work (read "paperwork"). I've changed my Amateur Radio callsign from N6WA to K7CWA and my wife Lorraine has become K7LAA. Heather, my oldest daughter, is KD7IQQ and my son is KD7RYT. I'm still working on my other daughter to get her to study for the test.
We still live in the same place and attend the same Salvation Army Corps. Life goes on and retirement is not that far away.