User:Mcdtexdc

I was unfocused at 21 and got some fatherly-advice, "Matt, you're a fireball of energy but you have no direction, what you need is a shot of boot camp" and sure enough, Dad was right, I was next in Army and jumping out of planes, rappelling from helicopters, got beaten up, and kicked-ass too… I missed Desert Storm and the (Black Hawk Down) experience though, because I was in hospital for six months with a concussion and skull fracture from a training accident. Yeah, you get beat up in the army in terms of the training regime but you are young/rough/tough and fearless, invincible, and along the way you find out what a sense of accomplishment feels like. And it can be the wake up call (the harshness of life some people desperately need) and I needed it at that point in my life. The Army was a big change from my spoiled life. What I'd previously thought was hard suddenly seemed pale in comparison to the military life, especially being an infantry grunt. After recovering from several accidents and injuries, I got reassignment options of Hawaii, Italy, or Alaska… and I chose Italy because it sounded great. We conducted support missions varying from humanitarian relief, disaster recovery, to fighting terrorism. I was based in Italy from 1994-1996 but my CRT (Combat Reconnaissance Team) spent most of that time in other places, like Rwanda… yet another wake-up-call for me, and realized I had enough of war zones. I wanted to do something less life-threatening, so I then became a civilian in Italy. As much as I loved 'la dolce vita', I was offered an attractive job package in Germany and then I spent the next four years on a career fast-track in IT/Communications industry.

The money was good and the job was rewarding but something still wasn't quite right, so at 32 I took a year off to do full-time Masters in Business Administration at the European School of Economics, paid for with my military education entitlements from US Department of Veterans Affairs under the International Studies in Higher Education Act. After being awarded my degree from Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Michael Spence at graduation, I became a Management Consultant and examined emerging markets with case studies and economic research in such places Shanghai and Hong Kong. I'd always been curious and wanted to know what's going on in the Middle East, so Dubai was next, plus I had a girlfriend I from Italy who was living in Dubai selling helicopters and yachts, so I came over to visit her and check the place out at the same time. My point of entry in Dubai was drafting my Master's Thesis into a revised research paper for the Department of Economic Development, based on various Middle East Emerging Markets industries with reference to Dubai's Competitive Edge. Now I'm Director of GVP Regions (Global Village Partnerships), we publish the renowned BEST OF DUBAI as part of an international annual book series which illustrates economies and success stories.

If you think I've said too much, then get ready for this... there's more.