Michael was born in Illinois (1961), attended Catholic grade school
(Champaign, then Philo Illinois), Unity High School (Tolono Illinois), and
a couple of years at the University of Illinois before joining the Air
Force in 1985. Michael served as an electronic warfare specialist at
Mountain Home Idaho, before attending the Defense Language Institute in
Monterey California. After graduating the Russian linguist program with
honors, Michael and his new wife Kathleen, spent two years in Germany.
After a little more than seven years in the service, Michael returned to
Illinois where he worked for Norfolk Southern Railway then the US Postal
Service. Michael now works for Hewlett Packard in Corvallis Oregon where
he has lived for nearly ten years. While working full-time, he completed
an accounting degree from Oregon State University, where he graduated cum
laude in 1999. He then attended Willamette University, for an accelerated
MBA from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, where he graduate in
2000 magna cum laude. Michael has been married to Kathleen for 17 years
with two children, Stephan 15, and Emily 13. Michael plays tuba in
community band, enjoys mountain bike riding, and would like to go fishing
if he had more time.
Education in detail;
* MBA, Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University
o Emphasis on operations and statistical analysis
o Graduation summa cum laude, May 2000
* BS Business, Oregon State University
o Accounting emphasis
o Beta Gamma Sigma, academic honorary
o Graduation magna cum laude, June 1999
* AA Accounting, University of Maryland, May 1997
* AAS Avionics Systems Technology; Community College of the Air Force,
November 1992
* AAS Communications Applications Technology; Community College of the Air
Force, May 1992
* 1979-82; University of Illinois
Military service in detail;
* 1990-1992; Russian linguist / Intelligence Analyst. Detachment 2, 26th
Intelligence Wing, Lindsey Air Station, Wiesbaden Germany
o Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year, 1990
o Levitow Award; 17th AF NCO Leadership School. December 1990
o Air Force Commendation medal
o Army Commendation medal
o Rank at discharge = E5
* 1989-1990; Defense Language Institute. Basic Russian course
o Honor Graduate
o Faculty Book award
* 1986-1989; Electronic Avionic and Warfare Equipment Specialist. 366
Tactical Fighter Wing, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
o Maintenance Professional of the Year, 1986
o Air Force Commendation medal
* 1985-1986; Electronics School, Lowry AFB, Denver, Colorado
o Honor graduate
Previous Governmental Experience;
* 1993-1994; Village Trustee, Garrett Illinois (population ~200)
Personal Narrative;
I was born to middle class/working class parents James and Carol Smith in
August of 1961, in Champaign Illinois. My father was a struggling
businessman who ran a fledgling fishing lure company into bankruptcy when
I was 15, while my mother, a registered nurse, worked nights to make ends
meet.
The eldest of three children, I attended catholic grade schools in
Champaign Illinois, then Philo Illinois, before attending Unity High
School in Tolono Illinois, where I attained a reasonably good education,
and fairly mediocre grades. Upon high school graduation, I gained
admission to the music education program at the University of Illinois,
where I envisioned a career as a high school band director.
My college years were a struggle and minimally productive at best. I was a
music education (piano) major, working nights at a local hospital
pharmacy, and playing tuba in the UI Marching Illini. I found that I
enjoyed playing in the marching band, drinking beer, and general laziness
over studies and after several years in and out of school I decided to
join the Air Force for training in electronics.
The structure and focus of the Air Force turned my life around. I attended
electronics school at Lowry AFB in Denver for nearly a year from mid ‘85
to early ‘86, learning basic electronics and avionics systems. I graduated
with honors and was assigned to Mountain Home AFB where I worked on the
electronics jamming equipment of the EF-111. I was assigned to deployments
to England, the Philippines, and South Korea, and was named Maintenance
Professional of the Year for 1986.
I applied for retraining as a Russian linguist and in March of 1989, began
the language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey
California. Michael & Kathleen weddingIt was there, while playing in the
Monterey Community Band, that I met my future wife Kathleen Murphy, who
was playing trombone. While my studies progressed, our friendship
developed and we married in November of 1989 in Carmel California. After
graduation from language school in February of 1990, we spent several
months in San Angelo Texas, where I attended intelligence training, then I
began my assignment to Germany.
We arrived in Germany in August of 1990, with Kathleen about 4 months
pregnant, along with the news of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. We
immediately fell into local German culture where we both played in a local
“oom-pah” band, and Kathleen played cello with the local orchestra. As
preparations for the first gulf war grew, I was continually reassured that
they didn’t need Russian intelligence analysts in the gulf. Our son
Stephan was born just several days after Christmas of 1990, and our unit
was hurriedly summoned to the gulf about 3 days later.
Since I was relatively new to the detachment, and not fully trained and
qualified on our intelligence systems, I was not selected for deployment,
but was instead put in charge of procuring the various mobility gear
needed by our detachment. I wrangled tents, cots, body armor, M16s, etc.,
and I’m somewhat proud of the minor swindle I accomplished in attaining
two new deuce and a half trucks for deployment. The fleet manager who
“loaned” them to me wasn’t happy, but I figured you don’t send people to
the dessert with dilapidated transportation while there are perfectly good
new trucks sitting in Germany.
By 1992, the ongoing contraction of the Soviet empire was making my job of
Russian linguist increasingly irrelevant so I petitioned for early
discharge with the intent of resuming my education. I left the Air Force
in August of 1992.
After several months of looking for work, and running up too much credit
card debt, I was hired as a lineman for Norfolk Southern Railway. Started
in January of ‘93 on a territory that ran form Detroit to Kansas City. The
work alternated between digging ditches (trenching phone cables through
railyards) and climbing microwave towers. Thankfully it was only a 4×10
workweek. We bought a big old farmhouse in Garrett Illinois sitting on an
acre of land. My daughter Emily was born in Fall ‘93.
After a couple of months the “mayor” recruited me to serve as village
trustee. The village had government-backed loan funds to put in city
water. As water lines were installed and tower erected in ‘94, I spent
most village meetings arguing with the contractor about missed deadlines.
Had to resign board in Summer ‘94, but I got the job of meter reader for
$1/meter. $75 for about 2 hours work – not bad.
I was hired on as an electronics tech for US Postal Service in Summer ‘94.
No more ditch digging for the RR, but working evening shift. Eventual goal
of USPS job was to transfer to Pacific Northwest, and in ‘96 the
opportunity arose to take a position in Eugene Oregon. The move had to
come out of our own pocket, so we loaded everything in a big Ryder truck
and hit the wagon trail.
We arrived in Eugene in April of ‘96 and scrambled to find an apartment
and a storage unit. I started my new position at the Eugene mail handling
facility working the night shift while Kathleen settled the kids into a
routine. Thankfully I was only to work the night shift for about 4 months.
My brother was working for Hewlett Packard in Corvallis Oregon, and
through contacts made at a backyard BBQ, I was soon recruited to work as a
technician in the wafer manufacturing fab. For the next eight months I
commuted from Eugene to Corvallis, but at least I was on the day shift,
albeit weekends.
One of the prime attractions of HP for me was the generous tuition
assistance program. After moving to Corvallis in ‘97, my first goal was to
get back into school and finish the accounting degree I had begun in the
service. For the next couple of years I worked a full-time weekend
scheduled (12hr shifts Fri, Sat, Sun, and alternating Mon), while
attending OSU with a full academic load. I graduated with honors (cum
laude, and Beta Gamma Sigma) in June ‘99, just in time for my high school
20th reunion that summer. What I may have lacked in speed, I hope I made
up for in persistence.
MBA GradIn the meantime, I had moved from a technician position at HP, to
a supervisory role. I was still working weekends, but a bit more flexible
noon-midnight time slot. I wanted to continue my education with an MBA,
but HP’s tuition assistance program faltered somewhat. Luckily enough I
had an excellent score on the GMAT test and the Atkinson school at
Willamette University offered me a full scholarship and acceptance into
their accelerated program. I graduated from the Atkinson Graduate School
of Management, at Willamette University with honors (magna cum laude) in
May 2000. I soon moved into the marketing group at HP as a long-term
worldwide ink demand forecaster.
During this time in Corvallis, the rest of the family settled in nicely.
Corvallis is a great town to raise a family. Stephan and Emily both
attended Jefferson elementary school about three blocks from where we
lived. Kathleen worked a stint with the State of Oregon as a case worker
for the state’s welfare to work program. She eventually left the state to
work with the local youth symphony association as an elementary strings
teacher. She enrolled back to school in 1999 to finish her music education
degree and finished her MAT in 2003.
With everything apparently running smoothly, I had the bright idea to rock
the boat – I took a work assignment to HP’s site in Ireland. We sold the
house, the cars, and most of the household to take what we thought would
be at least a two-year adventure to Leixlip (just outside Dublin),
Ireland. Kathleen and I had thoroughly enjoyed our time in Germany when I
was in the service, and we were convinced it would be a great exposure for
the kids to experience a difference culture and see the world. As with
many great plans, it’s the unintended consequences that provide the
challenges. We moved to Ireland in June ‘03.
As I mentioned before, Corvallis is an incredible place to raise a family.
Ireland (at least Lucan/Leixlip) was not. The limited parks are filthy and
full of petty thuggery (broken glass and drunken teenagers). The schools
are rigid and autocratic (A, E, I, O, and U are the vowels, and don’t get
cheeky and suggest “Y”, no matter that they spell tire; “tyre”). Pools,
libraries, and kids’ programs are hard to find. The cultural differences
were frequently comic – a school carnival had a bottle of whiskey as a
raffle prize, and the teachers frequently use the “F” word in conversation
to the students. (“Look at these test scores; you’re all so ‘f***ing’
stupid.”) We did have some great times, and the kids look back on it now
as a fun adventure. We took many side trips around the countryside and a
couple of jaunts to England, Scotland, and Wales. But it became apparent
that the family couldn’t serve out the entire two-year job assignment, so
we returned to Corvallis in June of ‘04.
