I am a retired U.S. Navy Veteran. I served on two ships. The USS Oldendorf (DD-972) and the USS Yorktown (CG-48). I was temporarily assigned to the Office of the Provost Marshall which technically means I also served in the US Army—which would make my father proud.

I have always been interested in amateur radio, but Morse code always scared me away. I found many reasons to not get a ham license over the years. On February 15, 2015, a fiber optic cable was cut in Phoenix cutting all phone service and Internet to northern Arizona. I decided, then, to get into radio communications. I downloaded the questions and answers to the test.

That’s right. They give you the answers.

While I studied for my amateur radio license, I obtained a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license in September 2015. My call is WQWI485.

I passed the Technician exam in October of 2015 receiving the call sign of KG7YDJ. I failed the General because I was still confused about the exam process. I studied and returned in December of 2015 to pass the General and Extra exams. Fortunately some of my Navy training kicked-in.

From there I studied and became a volunteer examiner through the Amateur Radio Relay League®. I also became a member of the Coconino Amateur Radio Club Amateur Radio Emergency Service®. Recently I have been teaching the ARRL® courses and registered instructor.

This helped me understand a lot about the amateur radio service, but I am by no means an expert. I do not have the money to get into HF, so I have essentially been operating within the Technician license privileges.