A bit of background to get us started
I was born in a small Texas town and grew up with the kind of freedom only a Gen X childhood could offer. I played football for the Tom Bean Tomcats and spent my days outside—riding bikes without helmets, trying dangerous stunts we saw on TV, and hydrating straight from the water hose. I was a Boy Scout, a fan of the outdoors, and my soundtrack was a steady mix of alternative rock blaring from a cassette deck. It was a time of scraped knees, simple fun, and lessons learned the hard way.
Growing Up
It Was Time To Step Up
Looking for a way out of my small Texas town and eager to build something of my own, I joined the U.S. Army and served for seven years as a Surveillance Systems Specialist. My career took me across the globe—from a year in Uijeongbu, South Korea (where I discovered a love for bibimbap), to Fort Stewart, and then to Germany. While stationed overseas, I deployed to Kosovo in support of NATO operations and later to Iraq in 2003 in support of the Global War on Terror. Working in military surveillance technology, I developed a strong foundation in electronics, systems maintenance, and real-time operational support. Beyond the technical skills, my time in the Army gave me global perspective, lifelong friendships, and the experiences that helped shape me as a husband, father, and professional.
On to Nerdville
After leaving the military due to injury, I explored several jobs—from security to healthcare—but I eventually found my true calling in technology, which had always been more than just a hobby. I had been building PCs for myself and family for years, setting up home servers, experimenting with 3D printing and laser cutting, and answering every tech question that came my way. In fact, I’ve earned the family nickname “1-800-CALL-SCOTT.” Whether it was cracking open my mother-in-law’s laptop to upgrade her RAM or custom-cutting Cat6 cables for clean, high-speed connections, I’ve always enjoyed solving problems hands-on. Today, my homelab runs at 10-gigabit speeds between servers and workstations, and I’ve even built a DNS-based ad-blocking router on a Raspberry Pi to protect the entire home network. Tech isn’t just what I do—it’s who I’ve always been.
