A Southern California native, Mike came to the Academy after spending two years with the girls at the beaches while attending UCLA. We're still puzzled as to why with his UCLA experience, he had to join several of his classmates on R-Flight, repeating a 4th class course instead of going on summer leave, according to Mike “Freshman English” just wasn’t his cup of tea. His academic recovery was quick, and during the remainder of his Academy days, Mike was on the Dean's as well as the Commandant's list. A member of 14th and 24th Squadrons, Mike enjoyed the sports of soccer, squash and field hockey plus going on skiing trips.

After graduation, it was off to graduate school at Stanford, getting his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering Design. Following graduate school, Mike embarked on an Air Force career in engineering, first as a development engineer with the AF Contract Management Division at the North American Rockwell plant in California where he worked with NASA on the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, followed by working with NASA again at the Martin Marietta facility in Denver where he worked on the Deorbit and Terminal Decent engines for the Viking Lander. In 1972 Mike was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington DC as a Staff Development Engineer and after a two years went across the river to HQ AFSC serving in the Directorate of Science and Technology where he managed the Manufacturing Technology Program. After his HQ AFSC assignment, Mike attended the University of Oklahoma, where he worked on his PhD in Aerospace Engineering, the problem he advisor gave him turned out to be unsolvable after two years of trying, Mike noted to his advisor, who disagreed, that the basic equation was flawed, Mike was proven right a few years later. Mike’s follow-on assignment was to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at WPAFB OH as an instructor of aerospace engineering.

In 1980 Mike became reacquainted with Regina, whom he dated in high school in California and soon they were married, bringing together a family of five sons and a daughter. After his AFIT instructor assignment, Mike was back in California working in the Ballistic Missile Office at Norton AFB as a Senior Staff Development Engineer, then as Systems and Survivability Program Manager and then as the Manager for the “Instrumentation and Range Safety System” subcontract for the Small Missile. Retiring in 1988 as a Major, Mike's first position was with Maxwell Laboratories, Inc. of La Jolla CA as Group Manager and then as Vice President, where he managed “Nuclear Weapons Effects” projects. In 1992, Mike and Reggi relocated to Falls Church VA where Mike was a manager with Tetra Tech, Inc. Staying on the East Coast, Mike was with The Fortier Group before joining the Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T) in 1997.

Mike retired from BB&T in 2008 as the Vice President of Information Technology. Mike and Reggi’s dream was to live in an RV and travel North America, so in 2008 they sold their home in Rocky Mount NC and purchased a fifth-wheel trailer and Ford F-350 truck. As Reggi says, "we are Bohemians" who pull our home behind us, intent on seeing as much of the USA and other places as possible. Now into their 4th year "on-the-road", Mike and Reggi have been to 46 states, including driving to Alaska, Western Canada (Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon Territory) as well as Eastern Canada (Toronto, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador), driven more than 50,000 miles and visited some of the best places in our country. Also, during their travels they have been able to reconnect family and friends. Click here for the Trailer Travel Tales with Reggi and Michael.