Born in Lake Forest, IL; graduated Bradley University in Peoria, IL, with a B.S. in business management and administration (1975); commercial pilot, amateur radio operator, and 30-year USAF master navigator and combat veteran on KC-135 jet tankers and C-130 cargo aircraft; retired as full colonel and vice commander of the 168th Air Refueling Wing in Fairbanks, AK (2000); 11-year veteran and retired Moscow, Idaho, police officer; Christian conservative; life member of the NRA, Military Officers Association of America, VFW Potlatch Post #10300, and the Farm Bureau of Benewah County; spouse: Maria, married for 48 years; seven children; 20 grandchildren.