I joined the Commissioned Corps February 12, 1990. I joined because I came out to the National Institutes of Health in 1988. And my mentor back at the University of Utah, Paul Wender, was a Commissioned Corps officer. I also grew up in a military family, and I knew the system, and I was very comfortable with it. My father was in the Air Force. My uncle was in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and was a top turret gunner in a B-17. He flew 31 missions, he made it back alive. My grandfather was a forward observer in the artillery in World War I. And my mom would tell stories about how he couldn't talk about the war. When they would ask him to tell stories about what he did there, he would shake his head and shed tears, and say I can't do it. And so, coming to work for me feels like coming home. And being able to do something for people like my family. It is a unique program. It helps on several levels. First of all, it helps deliver care. Department of Defense needs mental health providers to take care of folks coming home with post-traumatic stress disorder. It's a very treatable disease. Everyone has their breaking point. Given enough time under fire, one will reach that breaking point. And what we try to do is bring people back to feeling normal again, not like they're under fire. On another level, the program helps maintain the medical force for the Department of Defense, and the Public Health Service offers them an opportunity to continue what they're doing. What they know how to do, and what they're good at. And for me, it was satisfying because I was able to follow what I thought I could do best. In 2001, September 11th, the Commissioned Corps became very active in disaster relief. Not long after September 11th, the hurricane seasons kicked up, and we went down as a group to help with disaster relief after the 2004 hurricanes in Florida. 2005 was Katrina. That was the worst disaster in American history. After 2005, the Commissioned Corps was asked to organize predetermined teams of disaster health care providers. And I had the opportunity to organize and lead a deployable mental health team that consisted of 2 mental health providing officers. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses. And that was one of my life's greatest adventures. The nice thing about Corps is that you can do things that really do feel good. I'm an amateur musician. I play organ at church. And what I found was that the Corps was interested in us putting together a vocal ensemble and instrumental ensemble to play ceremonial music, and I didn't realize how much the Commissioned Corps would value that. As far as home life, they want us to be well-balanced people. And so they really want us to have a life outside of the Corps. My wife and I both come from farming communities. Our ancestors crossed the plains and settled in the West, near Utah, Mormon pioneers. So we both come from farming backgrounds. So living out East, you know, we both feel the itch to dig in the dirt and grow stuff. And so this year, we put together our own little urban farm. The best advice I have for somebody who's considering joining the Commissioned Corps is, do it. It's really an adventure. I can't see that I've had, or could have, a more exciting career than I've had. I've worked in research, regulation, patient care, disaster relief. There is no other place that you can do all of those things in a career besides the Commissioned Corps.