| VFW Connections |
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Although Donald had been familiar with the VFW organization for many years, he held off joining as a member due to longstanding medical issues. After his retirement, he heard wonderful stories about Post 1503, so he signed up as a Life Member in August of 2024.
Since then, he has become a regular fixture at the post. Donald feels it is very important to give back to the community, and he is looking forward to volunteering at some of our many VFW activities. His wife Lorraine—also a veteran and an Auxiliary member—is always by his side, and the two of them have quickly made many friends at Post 1503.
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When Donald was a baby, his father was in the Air Force and stationed in England as the base’s weapons specialist. It wasn’t until much later in life that Donald learned this, but he was adopted after being born in Covington, England, in April of 1963. His birth mother was a hairdresser and was separating from a British Army officer. As she felt like she could not afford to raise an infant, she offered him to Donald’s parents, the couple who would raise him as their own. For most of his life, his hometown was Chattanooga, Tennessee.
His family was stationed in Las Vegas at the Air Force base while Donald was in kindergarten. They didn’t have much money and lived in a trailer. The next year, they moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and were able to stay in a rental house his grandparents owned. After finishing his time in the Air Force, his father was hired by a defense firm in Fort Worth to work on writing technical manuals for the newest Air Force fighter bomber, the F-111. However, Donald’s father found that he didn’t enjoy this type of employment and decided to pursue his education. His father was accepted to an undergraduate program, so they transitioned to Amarillo, Texas, where Donald attended grades 2-6. Education was extremely important to his father, and he ended up completing two undergraduate and three graduate degrees, focusing on biology, chemistry, and psychology.
When Donald was in 6th grade, his grandfather died. His father wanted to be close to home again, so he found a guidance counselor job and relocated the family to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1976. Although Donald did enjoy some typical activities for a young boy, like football, he quickly found a passion for military history, endlessly reading any books he could find about the Civil War. As he was smaller than the monstrous boys who were on the junior high football team, Donald transitioned from playing football to running cross country and track—while he continued learning about the historical battles of the United States.
At 13 years old, Donald worked as a volunteer at Chickamauga National Battlefield in the summer of 1976, then afterward as a seasonal employee through 1980. His parents supported his passion after they noticed how much he enjoyed visiting and watching Civil War reenactments. However, his parents were not going to drive the 36-mile round trip to the battlefield each day. Instead, his dad got him a 350 Honda street bike for his commute. Donald also worked as a bag boy during the school year for money to pay for his reenactment equipment, clothing, and weapons.
Throughout high school, Donald wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do after graduating. He did know he wanted to be in the US military, but didn’t know what specific branch of service would be best. He also knew that his family wasn’t going to be able to afford to pay for college, but he also wasn’t entirely sold on his father’s dreams for him to join the Air Force. After reading about the valorous tales of Marine Corps combat officers, he had "illusions of grandeur” and wanted to make a life for himself. During his junior year, he went to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) and signed up for early entry to a reserve unit for the Marine Corps the day after he graduated from high school.
He was 6’1” and only 150 pounds when Donald walked the Parris Island footprints for basic training in 1981. After his time there, he completed the School of Infantry (SOI). He was thrilled when the University of Tennessee offered a "mini-quarter” so he could start on his studies immediately. Donald received some education grants and started a condensed, accelerated program so he could complete his schooling as quickly as possible. One of his friends told him about an Army ROTC offer that would allow him to sign up for classes to compress his junior year through the Tennessee Army National Guard. The Marine unit was fine with this opportunity, so he made the transition in 1982.
Donald continued his training with an armored cavalry tank unit in Clinton, Tennessee, and later in Fort Stewart with a full gunnery. He also participated in the summer Annual Training with the Tennessee National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, while going to school full time. (He credits his great professors who were willing to work with him while he attended training). During his summer ROTC training, he hoped to do Ranger School, but he was told cadets were not eligible for this course. Instead, he went to Fort Lewis in Washington for ROTC advanced training followed by Airborne and Air Assault courses. The Army ROTC at the University of Tennessee was ranked #1 in the country.
However, Donald’s independent nature showed itself throughout his training, sometimes earning him negative reports. For example, he had gotten in trouble at boot camp a few times for laughing at the drill instructors for what he found to be "stupid stuff”: the same sort of hard-line tactics his father had used growing up. During his later training, Donald delegated the singing of "Jodies” (the cadence songs of running) to another member of the group, as he hated singing. His ROTC Advanced Camp Cadre did not like this and gave him a bad leadership evaluation. But Donald had always insisted upon being true to himself in doing things "his way,” even if that was during military training.
He graduated in December of 1984, just three years after beginning his studies at the University of Tennessee with dual majors in history and education with a minor in shop. His parents were immensely proud of him, and Donald looked forward to his active-duty military career.
From there, Donald headed to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for the Armor Basic Officer Leader Course (ABOLC). In July of 1985, he completed Ranger training and then headed to the Republic of Korea. After arriving in ROK, he served two years at Camp Casey with the 2nd Infantry Division, spending a significant amount of time training in the field as a tank platoon leader, tank company executive officer, and scout/sniper platoon leader. He also attended more schooling, the 2nd Infantry Division sniper course, and the Republic of Korea Army Ranger course.
With the ROK tour completed, Don headed to the National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, California, as a first lieutenant. Donald became the Scout Platoon observer controller (OC) for the Dragon Live Fire team that oversaw five days of brigade-sized live fire exercises with 14 rotations per year. After a year as Scout OC, he then spent the next year as a staff trainer OC. It was there he was promoted to Captain and got to know the then-commanding general of Fort Irwin/NTC, Brigadier General Paul Funk.
The general hoped that Donald would consider being his aide-de-camp, but Donald asked if he could take the Chief of Reconnaissance for the US Army’s world-famous Opposing Forces or OPFOR. (They replicated a Soviet Motorized Rifle Regiment.) The general agreed, and Donald took over what would become his favorite of the three company commands he would have in his career.
It was also during his time at Fort Irwin that Donald met Lorraine at a party. She was an Army operating room technician who was getting ready to conclude her time in service. However, she became rather upset with Donald when he made a comment about her being from Ireland, as Lorraine is Scottish. Eventually, they became friends for a year, and then they dated for nine months before becoming engaged. They married on March 17, 1990—to ensure Donald wouldn’t forget their St. Patrick’s Day anniversary date!
Donald was selected by the Army to represent them at the USMC Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico, Virginia, from 1990-91. He was the first student who became a student/instructor, receiving many commendations. He ranked second out of 187 students after the 10-month course. It soon became known that the lack of a first-place ranking was because of military branch rivalries.
During this time, the Gulf War began. Donald desperately wanted to go, but when he graduated in May of 1991, the drawdown had concluded. Instead, the military moved them to Germany, and Donald was immediately deployed with a special task force. He commanded one of the tank companies in order to support the UN mission along the Kuwait/Iraqi border after the war. (Despite a lack of media reporting, the conflict had continued.)
Upon his arrival in Germany, Donald was given a tank company command deploying to Kuwait to conduct Operation Positive Force to support the UN along the Iraq border. For this five-month deployment, he received a glowing Officer Evaluation Report (OER). But upon their return to Germany in January 1992, he fell back under command of their German-based 8th Infantry Division. His new Brigade commander was an infamous man known for his temper and lack of flexibility. This commander preferred to be in the company of "yes men” who agreed with his every decision.
Although Donald would only fall under him for four months, it was enough for this martinet to destroy his career for providing the commander with honest opinions and advice. Donald had glowing reviews from all his previous commands, but after receiving a great command OER from Positive Force, he received an average Officer Evaluation Report. This was considered a degradation of his performance and it stuck, despite two appeals and several character letters.
At the end of 18 months as a tank company commander, Donald was ready to retire from the military and pursue a law enforcement career. However, Lorraine encouraged him to continue and push for systematic reforms. Within the battalion he was currently commanding, a headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) slot opened up in Mannheim, Germany, so Donald commanded for another 19 months. At the end of his HHC command, they were ranked as one of the top companies in Europe, and their mess section, supported by the entire company, won the DA Connelly award for best field mess.
When the unit was preparing a permanent move to Fort Lewis, Washington, Donald asked to be part of that transition process. During his time in the three Army commands, Donald ended up with an unprecedented 52 months of company command time. For the next 18 months, Donald was a National Guard trainer in Yakima, Washington.
While on duty, Donald completed a graduate degree in German military history from American Military University. After this achievement, he became the historian for the Operational Test and Evaluation Command (OPTEC) in Alexandria. Then, after 18 months at OPTEC, he entered a military history program at Duke in 1998/99. Donald got to continue his studies while simultaneously supporting the university’s ROTC program.
Upon completion of a year at Duke, he received an offer to transition to the Georgetown ROTC program in the summer of 1999. Upon arriving, he saw that the content for the cadets was all about the "obedience to the process” rather than a genuine growth and learning opportunities. Donald rewrote the entire curriculum, and the program went from 250th to 1st in three years. He won the top ROTC instructor in the nation once, then a second time for his ROTC region/brigade in 2002-2003, and 2004.
It was also during this time that Donald’s many years of physical injuries caught up with him, including collapsed foot arches from numerous deployments, bad knees, and five concussions. His doctors told him he needed surgery to rebuild both of his feet, requiring a year of healing for each. He was placed on non-deployable status and started the long process of repeated surgical procedures and rehabilitation. He credits Lorraine for caring for him and driving him everywhere while he recovered. As he was able to, he continued teaching and building the program at Georgetown.
Despite fearing that he wouldn’t be able to find a job after his time in the military, TRADOC Commanding General, General Kevin Burns, met with him to collect information about how the ROTC programs were not properly preparing cadets for their time in the Army. After having time to review the information, Donald was hired for a position focusing on leadership development and personnel reform at Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) Forward in Crystal City, traveling around the country to teach. The program eventually faced budget cuts in December of 2012.
In January of 2013, Donald decided to leave ARCIC Forward due to his eliminated travel funding. As a military historian, he wanted to stay abreast of the latest US Army Campaign in Afghanistan, so he took a job with DynCorps International. In late 2014, due to contractor cuts in Afghanistan, he returned to successfully run his own business at home for a few years before being asked to return to Afghanistan set up courses to train the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior for DynCorps International.
In the fall of 2015, he returned overseas and developed educational programs that he was passionate about before returning to Quantico, Virginia, for leadership consulting in August of 2018. Despite Donald’s perspectives and methods not always being embraced when he called for needed reform, he devoted his career to implementing changes where he saw they were necessary.
Today, Donald is retired and prioritizing his physical and mental health. From 2023-24, Donald had eight different surgeries, but all were successful. Donald and Lorraine enjoy spoiling their two dogs, Lily the chihuahua and Frank the Boston terrier. They also have two rescue parrot conures. Additionally, Donald continues to lead Civil War tours in the area.
- Throughout his life, Donald always felt that he looked different and there was some sort of distance between him and his father that his brother did not share. It wasn’t until both his mother and father passed away, and he was going through a stack of papers in the back of a cabinet at the house in 2005 when he learned the truth of his origins. He discovered his birth certificate and realized he was adopted. He learned that his other family members had been sworn to secrecy until his parents died. His parents had tried to conceive, but fearing they would not be able to have biological children, they adopted Donald when the opportunity presented itself in England. Eventually, they did have Donald’s brother, who was a year and a half younger. They kept this secret for the rest of their lives, and Donald is content knowing everyone involved had a reason not to share this information openly.
- Donald’s family didn’t have much when he was growing up. However, his father worked hard and took on additional jobs as a mechanic to be sure they could take some trips and have presents at Christmastime. Donald’s dad prioritized road trips at locations with a pool so the boys could learn how to swim and enjoy themselves.
- While most children his age focused primarily on sports, Donald loved military history so much that he would squirrel away his lunch money to purchase plastic soldiers to recreate battles on a vacant lot by his house. Even during the wintertime, Donald spent hours outside developing winter warfare scenes. Although his teachers were worried that he wasn’t eating lunch, he wanted to spend every precious cent on building a plastic army.
- When Donald was younger, he received additional tutoring and services for a learning disability. Although he’s not quite sure of an exact diagnosis, he suspects he had processing limitations, especially for writing. Therefore, when he received the second-highest ACT score in his high school, everyone was stunned. His father brought him for an interview with a panel for a full Air Force Academy scholarship. However, when the Air Force leadership told Donald that they really needed scientists, he felt that this was not a good fit for him and turned down the offer. Donald and his father drove the two hours home in total silence after he declined the opportunity.
- Although Donald excelled and chin-ups and road marches during his initial training, he discovered that he had flat feet. Due the arches of his feet collapsing, he had learned how to adapt to running, but it caused him severe pain afterward.
- As money was tight during college, Donald and his father put their mechanical know-how to good use, fixing up a "junker” car so he could have transportation at school.
- On July 18, 1992, Donald miraculously survived a severe injury that could have ended his life. His parents had come to visit him for their first vacation in Germany. As his father was also a history buff, he asked to visit one of the WWI battlefields. Donald decided to bring them to Fort Vaux in Verdun, France, about an hour away, as he had also considered taking his battalion on a staff ride to this location in the future. After touring for a bit, his parents decided to rest with a coffee in the lounge while Donald and his stepson continued to roam around outside. While inspecting some of the mounds and potholes left over from the heavy artillery in 1916, they saw a gate to the observation post with an elevator shaft. Although he doesn’t remember exactly what happened next, he believes he slipped down the shaft. His stepson ran back for help, but there was a language barrier in trying to explain the situation. Eventually, one of the tour guides understood there was an emergency and called the authorities for help. They rappelled down and found Donald 32 feet down the shaft, upside down, with severe face and arm injuries that were bleeding out. In the meantime, word got back to Lorraine on their house phone, and a neighbor agreed to take her to Verdun. (Unfortunately, this neighbor brought her to a different Verdun in the south of France, and they had to keep driving many hours through the night to the correct location.) Donald slipped in and out of consciousness in the 24-hours after the accident, but he stunned everyone by talking and walking the very next day. Although his baffled doctors were hesitant about having him leave, he insisted on heading back home. He quickly returned to his command, defying everyone’s expectations. The group even visited Fort Vaux at Verdun again, although this time the elevator shaft was gated. Despite not being able to explain it, Donald had an out-of-body experience where he could see and hear everything that was happening. He was not in pain following the accident, although he later learned that this fall was likely one of the compounding factors for traumatic brain injuries that resulted in PTSD. Donald’s incredible survival gave him a sense of a greater purpose in his life and a reminder that he has a reason to be here.
- Donald greatly admired his father for his generosity, especially when it came to helping children. At his father’s funeral, many community members came out to share their fond memories of how he had helped them. Donald even learned that his father had purchased an entire set of computers for his childhood classroom when he learned that all the students had been sharing a single device.
- Donald is the author, editor, or contributor to 11 books and over 100 articles focused on leadership, Maneuver Warfare, and Mission Command. His expertise is in constant demand by US companies, NATO, Ukraine, and Taiwan for his experience in leader development and organizational effectiveness. While he is limited by his medical issues, his books continue to have an impact on others.
