I grew up in a very small dairy/logging town in Washington State that presented no real opportunities for me. I decided the best thing I could do was to go as far away as possible and start completely on my own. One day, I left the local farm I was employed at as a dairy milker and headed straight to the recruiter’s office. I ended up enlisting for six-years without talking to any of my family or friends about it beforehand. I didn’t want anyone to bias my decision either way, so I only let those close to me know what I had done after I had already contractually committed to it.
I began my career as a Navy Deep Sea Diver. I attended Navy Dive school in Virginia Beach, VA in 1990 and was 1 of only 9 people to make it through the course. Our class originally started with 39 candidates, so graduating provided me with a huge bump in confidence, which was something I needed at the time. I spent 9 years a Navy Deep Sea Diver, attaining the qualification of Saturation Diver (which basically means we did very deep, very long dives), and completed a 305 meter dive that lasted for 22 days in 1994. Shortly before my ten-year anniversary in the Navy, I decided I wanted a change in careers.
I looked at Navy EOD, SEALs, Air Force Pararescue, and Air Force Combat Controller. Because I felt it had the most transferable skillset to a post-military career, I ended up choosing EOD. Navy EOD operators are also divers, and because I was already dive qualified, I was able to bypass the dive school portion and go straight to the academic portion. Navy EOD are also qualified Naval Parachutists, so after EOD school I attended Army Airborne school in Fort Benning, GA. I spent the next 18 years in EOD, as both an enlisted operator (Chief Petty Officer/E7), as well as a commissioned officer (I retired as a Lieutenant Commander/O4). I deployed all over the world, including combat deployments in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I completed dozens of military specific schools during my time in, and also completed my undergrad and two master’s programs right before I retired: A Master of Business Administration from The College of William and Mary, and a Master of Human Resources Management from Cornell University.
I’m not involved in combat, diving, parachuting, or blowing things up anymore, so I need something challenging to stay motivated. I’ve found that sales can do that surprisingly well. Especially when you win awards. I also maintain a very patriotic part of me that truly believes in bringing the best products to the war fighter, first responder, or medical and/or security personnel, and Micro-X products fit well into all of those categories.
I love the technology and the aggressive engineering philosophy. I am also impressed by what I’ve witnessed with regards to culture. From the top down, Micro-X employees take their jobs very seriously, but also keep employee engagement and satisfaction as a top priority. Not many companies succeed in balancing these two things appropriately.
I think they are always surprised to learn I grew up in the country. Farming, logging, hunting (although, I personally don’t hunt anymore), are all an intrinsic part of my life that stemmed from my unique, rural childhood environment.
Try harder in school. Don’t wait until your 40s before you finish college!
I grew up in a very small dairy/logging town in Washington State that presented no real opportunities for me. I decided the best thing I could do was to go as far away as possible and start completely on my own. One day, I left the local farm I was employed at as a dairy milker and headed straight to the recruiter’s office. I ended up enlisting for six-years without talking to any of my family or friends about it beforehand. I didn’t want anyone to bias my decision either way, so I only let those close to me know what I had done after I had already contractually committed to it.
I began my career as a Navy Deep Sea Diver. I attended Navy Dive school in Virginia Beach, VA in 1990 and was 1 of only 9 people to make it through the course. Our class originally started with 39 candidates, so graduating provided me with a huge bump in confidence, which was something I needed at the time. I spent 9 years a Navy Deep Sea Diver, attaining the qualification of Saturation Diver (which basically means we did very deep, very long dives), and completed a 305 meter dive that lasted for 22 days in 1994. Shortly before my ten-year anniversary in the Navy, I decided I wanted a change in careers.
I looked at Navy EOD, SEALs, Air Force Pararescue, and Air Force Combat Controller. Because I felt it had the most transferable skillset to a post-military career, I ended up choosing EOD. Navy EOD operators are also divers, and because I was already dive qualified, I was able to bypass the dive school portion and go straight to the academic portion. Navy EOD are also qualified Naval Parachutists, so after EOD school I attended Army Airborne school in Fort Benning, GA. I spent the next 18 years in EOD, as both an enlisted operator (Chief Petty Officer/E7), as well as a commissioned officer (I retired as a Lieutenant Commander/O4). I deployed all over the world, including combat deployments in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I completed dozens of military specific schools during my time in, and also completed my undergrad and two master’s programs right before I retired: A Master of Business Administration from The College of William and Mary, and a Master of Human Resources Management from Cornell University.
I’m not involved in combat, diving, parachuting, or blowing things up anymore, so I need something challenging to stay motivated. I’ve found that sales can do that surprisingly well. Especially when you win awards. I also maintain a very patriotic part of me that truly believes in bringing the best products to the war fighter, first responder, or medical and/or security personnel, and Micro-X products fit well into all of those categories.
I love the technology and the aggressive engineering philosophy. I am also impressed by what I’ve witnessed with regards to culture. From the top down, Micro-X employees take their jobs very seriously, but also keep employee engagement and satisfaction as a top priority. Not many companies succeed in balancing these two things appropriately.
I think they are always surprised to learn I grew up in the country. Farming, logging, hunting (although, I personally don’t hunt anymore), are all an intrinsic part of my life that stemmed from my unique, rural childhood environment.
Try harder in school. Don’t wait until your 40s before you finish college!
After years working in the defence sector, Peter moved to Micro-X to make a meaningful impact on people's lives.
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