Treasury Application

Essay 1

How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government?

My commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired me to pursue this role due to my dedication to service to our country. My entire family (going back generations, and including all 4 of my sons) have supported the US government & military. "We The People" – my family and yours - are one side of a Social Contract. The government is responsible to us as the other. My family and I do our part to provide support for both sides - both demand and ensure certain unalienable Rights we have been endowed with.

I was in B-1B Bomber maintenance and operations on 9/11/2001, when I first felt real patriotic pride in my contributions to our response readiness. I have provided Air Traffic Control services at MacDill AFB (home of NOAA and SOCOM), and interacted with many nationalities on a professional level, representing the US. After I got out of the military, the VA put me into engineering and I began supporting the US Government as a contractor. As my career progressed, I was honored to mentor many young engineers, bringing common sense systems engineering back to government service. I believe in my commitment to the Constitution.

Essay 2

In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness?

I would use my skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness by starting with a Systems Engineering Black Box (spec-based) methodology. I'd first identify the inputs and outputs of the 'black box' systems, and identify the artifact dependencies for each signal. Then, systemically decompose the 'black box' into a transform function, and break it into tiers of interactive layers. Then rinse and repeat.

Once the analysis is completed, I would begin rearranging the algorithm. This strategy allows for modern methods and new technologies to re-enter the discussion. Then, continued parallel development will eventually lead to a few 'final' MVPs. Those are developed to ~80% and get business analysis for comparison at PDR. With stakeholder buy-in, one is selected for full development and execution.

Change starts with collecting data, filtering out noise, and seeing the problem clearly. Then effective plans can be developed. AI makes development go very quickly now - but master application of established Systems Engineering standards, methodologies, and approaches is an experience-based, decision-making and very human skill.

Essay 3

How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?

EO 14247 and EO 14249 focus on 'Modernizing and Protecting America's Bank Account' and are of significant interest to me. EO 14247 mandates a shift to fully electronic federal payments and collections. EO 14249 strengthens Treasury's capabilities to identify improper payments, prevent fraud, and manage disbursement operations.

Governmental systems have not been re-imagined in a long time, and new learnings beg to be utilized. By moving past archaic technologies (like fax machines) and toward smart security and design, we can make our systems more robust against manipulation, more accurate to law and policy, more honest for American citizens, and more cost effective for the taxpayer.

I would help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities by leveraging my years of experience providing liaison with various government agencies. I would help implement these specific EOs by personally approaching each management tier and working with them to resolve all their speedbumps. I would set a hard NO-PAY date on discontinued services. I would initiate an investigation into fundamental overhaul of the entirety of 'America's Bank Account' to depend on modern technologies.

Essay 4

How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements?

I have a very strong work ethic: I believe anything worth doing is worth doing well. And if it worth doing well - it is worth doing exceptionally well. As a matter of fact, if you've got to do something - you should do it to the best of your ability, regardless of why. The things we create are what we become known for - and no one wants to be known as a snake-oil salesman.

Honest work is actually the easiest work. Learn about your stakeholder, discover what they actually need. Then transparently work and do your best to deliver it. Involve your stakeholder - give them skin in the game. When they win - we all win.

I have developed my work ethic more and more over the years, and have exercised this exact playbook over and over to deliver real solutions to real stakeholders. My dedication to success has led me more and more to be mission-focused, and driven to effectuate tangible effects in efficiency and strategy.

My core values are my faith, my completionism, and my work ethic. My professional, academic, and personal achievements all boil down to the following three sentences: "Do it. Do it right. Do it right now."