There is this guy i met in 1985. He was a second class petty officer, a nuclear machinist mate. He was the Pacific Fleet Sailor of the Year. He had finished high in the military division of 1982 Iron man Triathlon in Hawaii.

Yesterday was his 59th birthday.

Amazingly, he worked for me, the top Leadership, Management, and Education (LMET) enlisted course on the West Coast. I was the Director of the LMET Department, my twilight tour in the Navy. He was on his way to becoming a Limited Duty Officer, which led to him retiring a bunch of years later as a commander who would have made captain if it had not been for Navy politics.

He is currently the Senior Vice President, Federal Solutions Group of Life Cycle Engineering, is married to a beautiful Scottish Lass named Sandra, and they have two beautiful daughters married to two impressive young men.

He has run innumerable triathlon’s, marathons all over the world, and been the number one over-50 Xterra Triathlon athlete (did i get that right, Peter?) in the country. He won the US Military European Golf Tournament four times.

i could go on…

And you know what? He is one of the nicest guys in the world. He even put up with me playing racquetball and golf.

Best of all, he considers me to be a good friend.

Happy Birthday, one day late, Peter Thomas. Keep on chooglin’.