Michael is first and foremost a husband and father, and attributes his life's journey and successes to the credit of his family and faith. He entered into cybersecurity in 2012 after discerning to discontinue Air Force pilot training for a career that would afford him more time with family and stability. His journey began at Edwards Air Force Base as the Deputy Chief of Operations, managing a $75M network as well as protecting the network of several aircraft systems. He also led his team to secure USCYBER Command's highest-ever audit score to date for the Air Force. While at Edwards he also completed his Krav Maga instructor journey and attained his blackbelt in 2014. His next chapter in 2015 led him to New Mexico State University, to coach, develop, and train over 75 future officers to serve in the Air Force. His next assignment in San Antonio in 2018 included serving as incident response for the Air Force Cyber Defense system, the executive officer for the 26th Cyber Operations Group, Senior Duty Officer for Air Force Cyber Command and Control, and planning for joint cyber defense operations across all military branches. In December 2021, Michael left the Air Force and has been serving in the Healthcare Tech industry ever since. He now serves as the Director of Security Operations at Veeva Systems. He believes that this line of work allows him to continue answering the call to serve his country by protecting millions of patients' healthcare data, enabling Americans to continue to carry out their way of life.