I had to learn the core elements of advanced survival to do my job as an aircrewman, ultimately deployed onboard one of the Navy’s last tactical carrier-based jets to require an enlisted member of its permanent flight crew. After training I served on multiple continents and off Somalia's coastline I witnessed the horrors of life without the rule of law firsthand. Just like I used my military mindset and training later in life as a private investigator working high risk cases, you can ‘stack the deck’ against death. Later, as a licensed New Mexico Private Investigator, years of urban and rural private investigation required a sixth-sense of danger, particularly when interacting with known felons such as drug dealers, commercial burglary and murder suspects. Writing over 200 investigative journalism articles on cybersecurity and helping to launch a Department of Homeland Security award-winning community initiative were highlights of my ongoing cybersecurity experience.