From COO to CPT?

Who knew Dynamic Logic COO Tom Deierlein graduated from West Point and, once-upon-a-time, was an Airborne Ranger? A lot of his industry colleagues discovered these tidbits this week, after Tom came home to a packet of military orders in his mailbox. In an e-mail to contacts, Tom wrote:

No joke.

I am being called up to serve for 545 days reporting first to Fort Jackson and then to Fort Bragg and then likely to Iraq. Yes, I guess it has gotten so bad they are calling up 38 year old, beer bellied has beens…. Something told me not to fight this but rather to embrace it and go ahead and serve my country with honor, dignity, and pride.

Tom’s been in the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve for 12 years but hasn’t worn a uniform or done any training since October of 1993.

I’ve known Tom for a bunch of years now. Our paths have mostly crossed at industry cocktail parties, where we’ve chatted about everything from industry issues to whether a woman in the room should get her eyebrows waxed (remember, Tom?). Nowhere in there did he mention his elite soldier past, so this took me by surprise. Our best to Tom as he shifts roles from COO to CPT (Cadet Captain).

So far as Dynamic Logic goes, Tom is taking a leave of absence and transitioning duties to CEO Nick Nyhan and others.

Tom attached a copy of the Ranger Creed to his e-mail, and requested I link to it in my blog entry about his story. “It helps explain why I answered the call and threw my tidy little life up into chaos,” he said.