User:Mattmabe

I'm a former Army officer, dabbling journalist and current student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, I graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2002. I subsequently served for five years as an engineer officer in the United States Army, stationed for most of that time in Bamberg, Germany. From Germany I deployed twice to Iraq, once in 2003 and again in 2005-6. In 2007, I left the military to pursue a career in the news business. I earned a Masters in journalism at Columbia University and went on to work at various newspapers and magazines in New York and Europe. In 2009 I was recalled to duty from the Army reserves and deployed for a year-long tour in Afghanistan. When I returned home in 2010, I decided to go back to school one last time. I'll graduate from the Kennedy School in May, 2011.