need it. >> you are a former army infantry officer. >> yes. >> you spent ten years in the army, multiple tours in iraq. you have a silver star, is that right, or two? >> silver star. >> you have a silver star and two bronze stars. >> right. >> there are many people in your -- basically similar to your shoes, they're former military and they're taking their skills to spirit of america. why did you decide this was something you wanted to do? >> yeah, so a little bit of background. after i got out of the military i worked in the outdoor industry around environmental health issues. i spent a lot of time mountaineering, living a hippie lifestyle. about four or five years ago, i looked around and saw problems in syria, afghanistan and israel. i went back to grad school and found out about spirit of america by a friend of mine. what drew me to spirit of