Phil Charles
| THEN | NOW |
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| Current Residence: | Charleston, SC |
| Profession: | Chief Systems Engineer, DoD |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Number of Children: | Martha ('95), Chesapeake ('97) & George ('99) |
| My Best Clayton Memory: | Lots of sports related memories... undefeated freshman football; beating mighty Berkeley 7-0 the next year; winning the Ladue invitational as a team our senior year; also enjoyed Latin and French class, and believe it or not, drama class. I'm sure I'll think of a million more after I submit this. |
| My Worst Clayton Memory: | Don't really have a bad memory. |
| What will I never forget about CHS: | I'll never forget Mr. Hovda, my counselor and coach. He taught me a lot about leadership, commitment, and friendship... things that will last a lifetime ...... and I'll never forget that I was so busy with sports that I didn't have time to hang out with some of the very cute girls in our class... some of you know who you are... some of you don't. |
| My Best Friends at CHS: | John Nimock, and most of my team mates. |
| Where did I go after CHS? | Long story. I turned down several scholarship offers after high school to join the Marines, although I played football, boxed, and wrestled on the all Marine team. I was on President Carter's honor guard for several years, and routinely worked at the White House and Camp David, and got to witness lots of historic events, like the signing of the Camp David Accord between Sadat and Begin. On one occasion, President Carter almost got me shot by the secret service. After the Core, I went to U of Mo for a few semesters (Pre Med) and then went on vacation to the Caribbean where I stayed for 4 years working as a scuba diver and bouncer. There, I was almost eaten by an eighteen foot great hammerhead; almost got my arm ripped off when I got sucked into an underwater cave; and almost got chopped in half by a machete wielding Rasta. (My friend did get his thumb chopped off). I also took classes at the College of Virgin Islands until it was time to come back to the real world. In '85 I went to Rutgers University and got a degree in Electrical Engineering with emphasis in Biomedical Engineering... still planning on Med school. My senior year, I had to live in the woods because a friend asked me to lend him some money, and then he disappeared without paying me back. (I later found out he was hiding from the mob.) It turned out to be a great experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, although winters in New Jersey can be chilly. From there I was hired in '87 by the department of defense near Washington D.C. to engineer some of our war fighting systems. Once I started making money, I never made it back to med school, although I did get a Masters degree in engineering management from Florida Tech in '90. In '94 I got married, and in '97 I moved to Charleston, SC to become the Chief Systems Engineer for the Space and Naval Warfare Center. The job has been great, offering the opportunity to travel the world. I've had one book published and several articles, all technical. I'm working on a non technical book now. While I've seen a few classmates from time to time, the only person I've really kept up with is John Nimock. |
| E-mail Address: | PhilCharles@CHS1976.org |
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| Personal Website: | . |