What it was actually like, from someone who was there
You can look up how a tank’s main gun works, what the current CPR guidelines say, or the checklist a software quality-assurance team might use to test new releases. What you can’t look up is how a tank crew kills time waiting in a port for their equipment to arrive, how they feel and think guarding a checkpoint while the war happens somewhere else, what an ambulance crew is doing at 0300 between calls, or how the room feels in an early morning stand-up to a QA team when everybody in the room knows the ship date is a fantasy.
That’s what I offer: the lived texture that makes a scene read as true, and feel lived-in for the reader.
My experience
- Armor, Cold War and Gulf War-era US Army: tank crew member with the 3d Armored Division in the Fulda Gap in Germany 1987–1989, and with the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment just before and during Operations Desert Shield, Storm, and Sabre, 1989–1991. I wrote the memoir With It or in It: Desert Shield and Desert Storm from the Loader’s Hatch.
- Software QA and the tech workplace: test engineer, including contract work at a very large US technology company, 2000–2003, now an indie app developer.
- EMS and ambulance life: EMT 2006–2008, Paramedic 2008–2014, and as a CPR and ACLS/PALS instructor teaching everyone from laypeople, to ED and ICU physicians and RNs, to flight crews.
My experience comes from specific eras. If your story is set in 2026, I’ll tell you what has probably changed, and what probably hasn’t.
Packages
- Quick Question: $35. One scenario, one written answer of roughly 300–500 words. Delivered within about 5 business days of payment.
- Scene Review: $100. One scene, up to about 3,000 words, with notes on what rings false, what’s missing, and what a person there would actually notice.
- Longer works: custom quote. Several scenes, a running thread, or a manuscript. Tell me the scope and I’ll quote it.
How it works
- Fill out the form below. Don’t send your manuscript yet.
- I’ll reply within 3 business days to accept, decline, or quote.
- If we go ahead, you’ll get an invoice with a card payment link.
- Once it’s paid, send any scene or pages by email, and I’ll get to work.
What this isn’t
Medical, tactical, or legal advice. It is not a substitute for a current protocol reference when what you need is the exact procedure for a medical intervention, or the specific steps of bug reproduction and isolation.
I focus on what the person experiences and not the underlying science, which changes all the time. I may decline any request, including ones that seem more focused on real-world harm than storytelling.
Your work stays yours
I don’t share your manuscript or questions. With your permission (it’s a checkbox on the form below, unchecked by default), I may anonymize and generalize a question for a public post, but never your text and never anything that could identify your project.
Before you fill this out
For a Quick Question: Describe the scene or situation and what you want to know. The best questions are about the experience—what the character would be doing, noticing, feeling, or saying—not the exact procedure or protocol.
For a Scene Review: Tell me what the scene is, where it falls in the story, and what you’re worried rings false. Don’t paste the scene here; I’ll ask for it once we’ve agreed.
For a Custom Quote: Help me scope it. In a few sentences, cover: (1) what the work is and how long it is overall; (2) how much of it involves my areas: a few scenes, several chapters, a running thread; (3) what you want from me—answers to specific questions, notes on flagged sections, or a read of everything relevant; and (4) your timeline.