Steve is a Michigan native who graduated in 1986 from Belleville High School in Belleville, Michigan. After graduating high school, Steve followed in his older brothers’ footsteps by joining the United States Marine Corps.

Steve was assigned to squadron VMFA-235 “Death Angels” as a hydraulics technician on the F/A-18 Hornet, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August of 1990, Steve’s squadron was deployed to Shaikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain, in support of Operation Desert Shield. Once Desert Shield transitioned to Desert Storm, VMFA-235 shifted to offensive roles, flying more than 800 sorties from Shaikh Isa and expending over two million pounds of ordnance in strikes against Iraqi command facilities, airfields, and defenses, as well as providing close air support and suppression of enemy air defenses for the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Half of the squadron’s F/A-18 sorties were allocated to the Joint Force Air Component Commander, contributing to the broader 3d Marine Air Wing effort of more than 18,000 fixed-wing sorties. Specific actions included escorting A-6 Intruders armed with AGM-88 HARM missiles and conducting a pre-offensive show-of-force mission along the Kuwaiti border. No aircraft or personnel losses were recorded for VMFA-235 during the campaign.

Steve transitioned from military life in the Marine Corps in 1991 to an accomplished 32-year career in federal law enforcement. The majority of that time was spent serving as a Special Agent with the Department of Health and Human Services, investigating Medicare fraud, and later with the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General.

Steve married one of his high school sweethearts, Iris, and they have two sons, Steven and Matthew. Steven followed in his father’s footsteps and served in the United States Marine Corps for five years and is now pursuing a career in civil aviation. Matthew has recently started a position as a Special Agent with the Department of Homeland Security.

Steve is now retired (maybe), and enjoys spending time with his family—especially his granddaughter, Viviana. He stays active by playing lots of golf, doing Pilates with his wife, teaching firearms skills with 2 Vets Development Group (https://2vdg.org), and skydiving at Skydive Tecumseh. If he’s not on the golf course, look to the sky.