Military Veteran

United States Air Force 1996 - 2000
West Virginia Air National Guard 2002 - 2005

I served in the US Air Force and specialized in Aviation Management. I completed multiple deployments and obtained an Associate of Applied Science degree in Aviation Management

Ironically, my herbal medicine career began because of the military.
I completed two enlistments and was deployed to several locations that required mandated vaccinations—one of which was anthrax. I received multiple series of the shots. During my second enlistment, I was in the Air Guard and activated back to full-duty status because of the 9/11 bombings. Our C-130 unit was tasked with deploying to the sandbox, and since my job was Aviation Management, I went.

But this round of anthrax was administered in unison with typhoid and smallpox. My body reacted to the vaccines at extreme levels, and I found myself severely ill for six months. Even after returning to the States, I remained sick. After dozens of visits to the VA Medical Center without relief, I sought help from an herbal clinic near Baltimore, MD.

By this time, I was walking with a cane, had eliminated all scented detergents, shampoos, and bath products, and could barely tolerate anything synthetic against my skin. I followed my herbalist’s instructions to a T—and within one month, I was practically healed. By three months, the entire ordeal was behind me, and I was on my way to living more naturally.

The herbalist who helped me was Bevin Claire. The clinic was at Tai Sophia Institute, now Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH). 

References

Clair, B. (2025). Retrieved from https://www.bevinclare.com/. 

Notre Dame of Maryland University. (2025). School of Integrative Health. Retrieved from https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health. 

Wikipedia. (2025). Maryland University of Integrative Health. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_University_of_Integrative_Health. 

The gift of fireworks - What was a nice gesture to celebrate the 4th of July, became a big problem in the war zone.

Gandhi & War - Hiding the cover of my book on peace while on a plane full of Marines heading to war.

Chemical Warfare Training & the Ambulance - They stopped the training to take me out in the ambulance because of extreme heat exhaustion. 

Practicing yoga poses while in the trench & killing our own during a Chemical Warfare Training

Shammy jumping from the roof

Afterhours in Turkey

The creepy crabs in Oman

Breaking the speed limit on the Autobahn in Switzerland

Kicked out for not getting naked in Germany

Small world - Hometown friend at deployment in Germany

Casualty collection point & Dire Straights

Neal McCoy

My ride & not a party

The dormatory: Pet lizards, pet snakes, microdots in the towel rack, the roof & hidden cutout door

Hurricanes & flipped jets

The SP & his girlfriend

The Colonal and his cigar

Captain Denny and my future

Bubble readers & handwritten flight schedules

Testing my knowledge - "i"

List of my deployments & locations