 In 1983, he moved with his family to Lake St. Louis, MO.A 1985 graduate of St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, MO, he attended the University of Missouri where he was commissioned a U.S. Army Reserve Officer in May 1988 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Military Science in December 1988.He received his Master of Arts in Security Management from Webster University in St. Louis, MO in 1995.