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Today's Featured Biography

 
Mark Gould

Oh where to begin....

After high school I went to the UofA for a year, then enlisted in the Air Force. Went up to Minot AFB, ND to fix cruise missiles and got into competitive shooting. On a whim, I applied for an AFROTC scholarship and somehow I got it.

So, back to school at the UofA where I met my wife Jill. December 1997 was a busy month: I graduated the UofA with a degree in Computer Systems Engineering, and received my commission as an officer in the USAF a day later. A few weeks later, Jill and I married in Springdale. Then a month later we moved out to Hill AFB, UT for my first assignment as an officer and we had our first sone, Douglas.

I had continued my competitive shooting during college and was selected for the USAF International Rifle team while in Utah.

After 3 years of testing F-16 software in UT, it was off to Los Angeles, CA to build space stuff that we don't talk about and we had our second son, Timothy. The work in LA was good, but the "leadership" was a challenge. Made some good friends though and got an MBA out of the way.

I got into a really tough shooting club in LA and climbed the ranks of competitive shooters. I don't remember where I finished nationally, but I started to set Air Force records in the 50m Smallbore, and 300m Standard Rifle events. The Air Force asked me to be the team captain of the International Rifle Team, shortly before leaving LA.

Four years of building satellites was enough and the Air Force sent us to Maryland to work at Fort Meade.

After a year in Information Assurance Research, I moved over to my new office to be Chief of Counter-IED Research. Can't go into details, but we've deployed several capabilities for our guys in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I was also flight commander for 75 Airmen and started another masters degree; this time in Systems Engineering.

I recently started a new job in the DC area; where I'm basically a Systems Engineer.

I'm still team captain for the Air Force Int'l Rifle team and we've been having a good year. I was the top AF Shooter at the 2008 US Olympic Trials and placed 14th in the Nation. Unfortunately they only take 2 to Beijing, so no Olympics for me this year. Oh well, I'll try again in 2012. Nationals last week was good and bad. First day was bad, but fired a world-class 596/600 the second day and set another Air Force record. Wish I'd have done that on day one too.

All-in-all, it's been a great ride. I have a great family that puts up with me being out of town a lot. The kids are too smart for their own good and Jill is a great wife and mom. My job is great; there's nothing like going home knowing that what you did today is going to save someone's life. My shooting has been going very well too. My performance at Olympic trials raised some eyebrows (I was the top ranked part-time competitor) and I currently hold 13 National and several, I can't remember how many, Air Force records.

So, I've changed. Kind of.... It's still me. I still laugh a lot, still look about the same (minus a lot of hair), I'm still in school, and I'm still going to Slayer concerts (although I've been listening to a lot of Opeth lately).

I was great seeing everyone at the reunion. Shortly after the reunion, I headed over to Iraq. Well, it was a good time and I'm back safely, but I still have a lot of friends over there (and some in AFG too). I have pictures on Facebook, so email me there.

I've started a new job, but we're still in the DC.

Drop me a line if you get a chance. [email protected] or [email protected].

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