David Croke:  

king at national parks and resorts. In 1999, after a brief stint at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, I opted for something different and spent a summer in Alaska working for Gray Line Tours. That summer of "99 sold me on The Last Frontier and I have been a resident since then. So now begins a new Era; I now manage accounts/inside sales for Graybar Electric Inc. We are currently living in Anchorage Alaska and expecting our first baby this summer. Where my career path leads next is still up in the air, but it is looking good now! Military After the university/college life proved unfulfilling, or more accurately I didn't kow what the heck I wanted to do, I figured I would get a good training in the Marines and come out with a clearer mind of who I am and where I want to go. One of the first things i leaned is that the military life wasn't for me as a career. I served proudly, however, and will continue to support my brethren Devil Dogs both at home and overseas whereever their mission takes them. I was an Avionics technician on the A-4 skyhawk, a single engine fighter that was originally designed for one way nuclear munitions deployment if we were to ever to engage in a nuclear conflict. It's versatility(speed/manueverability vs power/size)quickly changed that mission to that of ground support and air to air interceptor in both Korea and Vietnam. Thus we were working on relics. A workhorse of a jet, a sportscar of sorts compared to the tricked out cadillacs it takes a pilot and F.O. to operate now. but a relic nonetheless. So I became a Marine in Parris Island, South Carolina in April of 1987. I went to basic avaition electronics school in Memphis, TN. A great town for Blues I might add. After that I went to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro,CA, for advanced aviation electonics training. Now, southern California can be an awesome place for a single man..and it was! I got into hiking and hitting the beach and picked up some really kickass knowledge about electronic countermeasures so "Secret Squirrel" that they gave me a security clearance--Woo-hoo!. Alas, but all good things must end, and I opted for the reserves and returned to Jacksonville, NAS Cecil Field and another shot at college. I was in VMFA-142, the reserve compnent of MAG 42,Det. A. Which is code for Marine Air Group 42, Detachment Alpha. Bravo was in New Orleans. We were all part of a MAG that was HQ'd in Atlanta (go figure). This closed the military chapter of my life, as I went to the reserves and began attending college again while pursuing work in the "real world". Anyways it was all good, I am proud to have served and wouldn't have done a whole lot different.