Multnomah County ARES

I grew up in Klamath Falls. My grandfather was an electrician and fostered in me a fascination with all things electrical. I studied electronics all four years in high school. Remember vacuum tubes? I took a shot at a degree in electronic engineering at OSU, but discovered I hated engineering.

I was working for ODOT at Government Camp in 1983. We were using CB radios but couldn’t get around the mountain. We needed more power, so the crew and I got ham radio licenses.

I started my electrical apprenticeship in 1990, was teaching the program by 1993, and got my journeyman license in 1994. In 1998, I became a Master Electrician and got certified as an electrical inspector. By this time I was working on traffic signals for ODOT in Portland. I went to the Bridge Shop in 1999. I started working with County Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and in 2006 I was one of the first in the area to become a COM-L. I tried for years to learn Morse Code so I could get my General ticket but, dang it, I just couldn’t learn CW. As soon as they dropped the code requirement, I got my General and then six months later my Extra Class ticket.

I became the ARES Deputy EC in 2010. I retired as Multnomah County Senior Bridge Inspector last year. I am still employed part-time with Multnomah County Emergency Management as their COM-L and Amateur Radio Coordinator.

I have been married to my lovely lady, Meri, for over 40 years now. We have two kids. Brittany got her English degree at PSU, is married and lives in Portland. Spencer earned his master’s in music at Juilliard and is an opera tenor headed to Zurich, Switzerland with the young artist program.

I grew up in a small dusty town outside of Lubbock, Texas. Growing up out there, my dad and several other family members were on the Lubbock Fire Department and that must be where my interest in emergency response grew up. Most of my memories from growing up out there revolved around the incredible thunderstorms and tornadoes we frequently had. As a firefighter, my dad would often have to go out to give field reports as my mom and I huddled indoors. In fact, my earliest memory is of the time I was playing outside with our next door neighbor, and suddenly running inside to tell my mother that the “sky didn’t look right” only to have our house directly hit by a tornado seconds later.

A couple years later, my dad bought me an electronic experiment set, which included instructions for building your own AM receiver. To be able to put together a few parts and be able to pick up radio signals blew my mind, and I spent my teenage years trying to pick up radio signals from greater and greater distances.

Fast forward to 1997, when I started college in Dallas, Texas. My best friend and I decided we wanted to start chasing and photographing storms, particularly lightning and tornadoes. After risking our lives doing that for a couple of years, I learned about the NWS Skywarn program. I couldn’t sign up fast enough, so in 2000, I studied for two weeks and got my ham radio license and joined the South Plains Storm Spotting team. This team was unique in that we covered 19 counties in West Texas, and along with working directly with the National Weather Service, we also worked with the Severe Storm Research teams at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State University, and several local TV stations.

About a year later, after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, a couple members of the city council came to our ham radio club and asked us to put together the first ARES group in West Texas, which I was honored to assist in doing.

Eventually, I moved up to Oregon and due to the lack of exciting storms, my activity level in ham radio drastically diminished, until last year when my schedule finally provided me the time to dedicate to the Multnomah ARES unit. I am excited and honored to be working with a team of people that are so well organized, dynamic, and awesome in order to provide the county & state with what I consider one of the top ARES teams in the US!

Outside of ham radio, I am currently trying to finish a communications degree at PSU and am in the process of restarting my photography business. I also do security consulting, risk and threat assessments, and a little executive protection. I love camping, shooting, and am excited to announce that my wife and I are expecting our first child this fall.