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Today's Featured Biography

James Samuelson

Upon leaving CDMHS I joined the U. S. Marine Corps. I first served as an Infantry (machine-gunner) with the 2nd Battalion 9th Marine Regiment, RVN where I received several decorations. During this tour overseas I also met and married (purchased) my first wife in Olongapo, Republic of the Philippines. We were together for a little over six months and separated when I returned to the US.
I then made a career change to aviation and was trained in Basic Helicopter maintenance at NAS Millington, TN followed by assignments to Marine Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 at Camp Pendleton, and Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 367 at Marine Corps Air Field (MCAF) Futenma, Okinawa, Japan. During that assignment I participated in three shipboard deployments in Operations Eagle Pull (Evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia), Frequent Wind (Evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam), and the Retrieval of the SS Mayaguez.
Returning to California I was then assigned to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro Search and Rescue and became a Crew Chief. I also met and married my second wife (first in the US) while getting drunk at the Enlisted Club. That marriage lasted about a year before booze and her closet lifestyle ended it.
My collateral duties at MCAS El Toro and excessive drinking resulted in my assignment to the Airfield Operations Office. I also managed to graduate from the MCAS El Toro Noncommissioned Officers Leadership School and the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defense (NBCD) ‘B’ School.
My drinking and marriage problems contributed to my being transferred to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 at Marine Corps Air Station (Helicopter) (MCAS (H)) Tustin, California, as the S-3 Operations NCO and NBCD NCO. During this assignment I began my final six-month deployment to Marine Corps Air Field (MCAF) Futenma, Okinawa, Japan where I got sober and have been that way ever since.
My final assignment as the Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare Defense NCO for the Marine Wing Headquarters at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro concluded with an honorable discharge.
Returning to civilian life I went to work for Fluor-Daniel in Santa Fe Springs, CA. Then started at TRW as a non-exempt Pricing Technician with TRW Inc., in Redondo Beach, and was promoted to an exempt Pricing Specialist/Manager over an eight-year period. I also met and married my third wife (second in the US) at the AA convention in San Diego. We later moved to Huntsville, Alabama where I became the Pricing Manager for the TRW Huntsville Operation.
In 1994 that marriage ended due to both of us learning we needed to grow up, especially me. The next year I was laid-off by TRW and then had a heart-attack. But I stayed sober and began a journey through several firms and locations that has been very beneficial. I worked for several small firms including International Space Systems, Inc., (ISSI) and opened my own consulting firms on two occasions. I also spent time as a nationwide consultant for Steven Myers and Associates the largest Proposal Consulting firm in the country. I spent considerable time at Raytheon (Boston, MA), Boeing (Huntington Beach, CA) and GEC Marconi (San Diego, CA).
Through all of this Huntsville, AL remained my home-base and in 1996 I met and in 1998 married my fourth (third in the US) and hopefully final wife. I have also become the developer, coordinator, and primary instructor for several highly successful continuing education programs at the University of Alabama - Huntsville and the Director of Contracts for Applied Data Trends, Inc. (ADT). After over twenty years in the Defense/Aerospace industry I finally managed to get my BBA and MBA. Thought I should before my step-daughter graduated from Birmingham-Southern College and my step-son received his GED.
My Daughter Nicole is getting Married in October and my Son became Pfc A. J. Selvidge USMC last December and is now a Motor-Transport Operator at Camp Fuji Japan.
Life is great and beyond my wildest dreams today and today is all I have.

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