I am deeply grateful for the support, advice, and love of my family and friends, especially my wife Katie, who supports me in all my endeavors, both brilliant and not so. To my father, Doug, who taught me to never quit and my mother, Jean, who loved me no matter what. To Lizanne and Kristie for being the best big sisters a guy could ask for. Thanks to you two, I never had to face anything by myself growing up unless I chose to go it alone. I would also like to add my sincere gratitude to the following: John Mack, without whom this book would not have been pub- lished. Thank you for your years of support for our firm’s military reservists.
The men and women of the Wildhorse Squadron will never forget that you, and James Gorman flew all the way to Indianapolis to see us off on our deployment and never sought a word of recognition. Thank you both for making our firm a great place to work. Eric Lupfer of William Morris Endeavor, I knew that the son of a retired armor officer would get results, and you did. Your advice and counsel have been a tremendous resource, and I cannot thank you enough. My wealth advisory team, José Negrete, Deborah Marcom, Joel McConnell, and Ryan Gilbrech, as well as David Lawrence, David xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Fritz, Curt Petersen, Nick Gormley, and Melissa Gutknecht.
Thank you all for your support. I could not have done this without your efforts. David Darst and Congressman Mark Amodei for your advanced praise for Combat Finance. Thank you for your trust and confidence. Dr. Ty Cobb and Ted Stoever for your advice and unwavering friendship. The men and women of the Wildhorse, 1-221 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, both past and present. Your dedication, dis- cipline, and professionalism will live with me for the rest of my life. It was an honor to serve with you and to command such a fine group of men and women. Major General Frank Gonzales, Major General Giles Vanderhoof, Brigadier General Bob Fitch, Brigadier General William Burks, Colonel Jerry Bussel, Colonel Dennis George, Colonel John Morrow, Colonel Steve Spitze, Colonel Lou Cabrera, LTC Scott Cunningham, and all of the past commanders of the Nevada National Guard and the 1-221 ARS, thank you for your leadership and support.
I could not have asked for a finer group of mentors. Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Paul Kinsey for taking me under your wing as my squad leader when I enlisted as well as serv- ing with distinction as my CSM during my last year of command. Who would have thought those two young grunts would be the com- mand team some day? Thank you for teaching me how to take care of soldiers and their families. Command Sergeant Major (CSM) James Richardson for your outstanding service as the first CSM of my command and for all of your support and friendship in Afghanistan. I could not have made it through without you. I would have fewer Bruce Springsteen and Celine Dion songs stuck in my head, but it would have been harder to bear the tough days. Chaplain Hal Woomer for getting me through some of the dark- est days of our deployment and Chaplains William Ohler and Aaron Oliver for their dedication to our cavalry troopers when we returned.
Master Chief Warrant Officer 5 David Anderson, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Glynn, Major Randy Lau, Major Blain Holmes, Major Doug Seymour, Captain Scott Adair, Captain Nick Soapes, Captain Nick Moran, Captain John Minnich, Captain Michael Schiemer, Acknowledgments xiii Captain Patrick Arizmendi, Captain Joseph Claros, Captain Andrew Coughlan, Captain Thomas Hopper, Captain Paul Adcox, Captain Phil Gingrich, and Captain Gerry Morris. Thank you all for your service and friendship over the years. Brigadier General John Sherman Crow and the entire Blackhorse Association for all of your support during our deployment. I hope we made you proud.
Drill Sergeants Johnson and Dalton, thank you for convincing me that there’s nothing to it but to do it and whenever possible not to be a soup sandwich. Finally, to all those with whom I have served over the last 23 years. You were the foundation of all that went into Combat Finance. I owe you more than I can ever repay. I loved serving with you in the military; especially being in a combat arms unit affiliated with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR). No matter what the task or how good we were at that moment, we all wanted to be better, and we worked hard to improve ourselves. We all wanted to be the best troopers we could be, to be in the best tank crew and fire top gun on Table VIII or win the next battle against Blue Force in the central corridor at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California. Regardless of the situ- ation, our mantra was that we are only as good as our next fight. We also understood that one of the best ways to get better at anything is to learn from our mistakes, but that it was even better to learn from someone else’s mistakes.
There is no need to walk into an ambush in the Brown and Debnam pass if you have seen others make that mistake before. It seems we all make enough mistakes on our own, so why add to the count with ones we can avoid by being observant? These were powerful life lessons that I feel so fortunate to have been exposed to. We were also fortunate enough to be in a regiment that rewarded drive and initiative. We were always praised more for showing initiative with a bold or dar- ing effort than we were for playing it safe, so long as we did not violate moral, ethical, or known safety guidelines in doing so. Without the spirit of initiative and constant self-improvement that the Wildhorse Squadron and the Blackhorse Regiment instilled in me, I would not have had the experience necessary to write Combat Finance. Allons!