Michael Pace:  

It's amazing that, now, almost 50 years have passed since high school and walking across the stage on the football field to accept my diploma. East Henderson. Class of 74. Incredible. A short bio: I graduated from Appalachian State University in 1978. I was in the Peace Corp in Togo as a school construction volunteer. I later joined the Army and stayed in service for 23 years, retiring in 2002 as a Chief Warrant Officer in Military Intelligence. I only retired to accept a federal government civilian job; otherwise, I would have stayed in for 30 years. In January 2002, I accepted a job and joined the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service in 2002 and served as a Management Officer until 30 April 2021 when I had to retire at 65. During my second career, I served in Bogota, Colombia; Baghdad, Iraq; Kolonia, Micronesia; Conakry, Guinea; Islamabad, Pakistan; Kabul, Afghanistan; Kinshasa, Congo; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Basrah, Iraq; and Nairobi, Kenya (my last post before retirement). Married and divorced, I have since remarried. I have two grown sons from my first marriage, both of whom are college graduates and fully successful. Neither had any student debt upon graduating. My oldest son is an Information Management Specialist in the Foreign Service; like father like son. He has the gypsy in his blood. My youngest son now works for one of the largest makers of casino gambling equipment in the U.S. as a programmer in Las Vegas. He was also a globe-trotter for two years until COVID brought him back to the USA. While traveling, he designed computer games and worked out of a backpack, underwriting the cost of his international travels. In sum, I am a proud father. I remarried in 2006 to Helen Estudillo. We met while I was on official business in Manila, Philippines. Like a good trooper, she's accompanied me on all my subsequent tours to include service in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As of this moment, I am comfortably ret...Expand for more