Hi, I'm Anth
They/Them · Veteran · Builder · Cat Dad to Luna
The Short Version
I'm a queer, non-binary, tattooed, disabled veteran, content engineer, and full-stack developer based in Portland, Oregon. By day I write and manage technical documents for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. By night I build web applications, train AI to review engineering documents, and develop tools that help my fellow veterans navigate the VA system - all from my home office, where Luna (the softest, most beautiful therapy cat I could have ever hoped for) keeps a close eye on the code.
I served over ten years in the Oregon Army National Guard, deployed twice to Afghanistan, earned an MBA in Sustainable Business, and somehow ended up building AI-powered applications that run entirely in the browser. The through-line? I like solving hard problems - whether that's managing a $2M inventory of spare parts at Blount Inc, wrangling 12 compliance frameworks into a single cross-map, or figuring out how to run a large language model in a web browser with zero server calls.
Beyond the Resume
I'm mostly a homebody - happiest with music playing, Luna nearby (she's the real QA team - nothing squashes bugs like a well-timed keyboard walk), and a project on screen. But I get restless in the best way. I walk to clear my head. I started hula hooping fifteen years ago and joined Portland's ecstatic dance community eleven years ago. Love and light and all that, ya know? I grew up in the forests of the Pacific Northwest and still feel the pull - something about old growth trees puts everything else in perspective.
I'm also the founder of Firearm Safety Team - a firearm familiarization service for Portland's LGBTQIA+ and allies community. When the attacks on the constitution and the federal workforce started, something that had been dormant for a long time woke up. I talked it through with my therapist, made a plan, leaned into my Supply Sergeant roots, and started building an arsenal - twenty-one pistols, three rifles, and three shotguns - all for the sole purpose of passing on safe firearm skills to my community. The oath I swore never came with an expiration date.
That same drive to be useful shows up in Vet-Rate.org - a fever dream development cycle born from wanting to help my fellow veterans navigate the VA disability claims process. It runs AI entirely in the browser so no personal data ever leaves the device. No server calls, no data collection, complete privacy. That project came straight from the heart.
And yes, I'm a D&D nerd - currently looking for a group to join. The fact that I'm building an entire RPG game engine in Unreal Engine 5 probably tells you everything you need to know about how that obsession landed. If you know of a Portland-area table with an open seat, I roll a mean cleric.
I've been tinkering with technology since a DOS 286 in the early '90s. Over 35 years later, I'm building agentic AI systems and custom automation toolkits. What excites me most right now is the agentic paradigm - the ability to describe what you want to build and actually build it. I have more ideas than hours in the day, and for the first time, the tools are fast enough to keep up with the imagination. The medium changes; the curiosity doesn't.
I'm a proud dad - my two sons are growing into fine and kind young men, and I couldn't be more proud of them.
Where It All Converges
Most people pick a lane. I kept merging them until they became one road.
Service
Over ten years in the Oregon Army National Guard, including six as the armorer for my combat engineer company - maintaining everything from M9 pistols to a Browning M2 .50 cal mounted on my 5-ton supply truck. Two combat deployments to Afghanistan as an embedded tactical trainer for the Afghan National Army, teaching soldiers from various tribal groups with everything communicated through an interpreter. Going to war solidified how much of a peaceful person I am. After leaving the Guard, I transitioned into federal service at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, turning engineering chaos into clean, compliant documentation for over seven years and counting.
Business
MBA in Sustainable Business. I run Structured For Growth, where I build web applications and compliance tools, and Firearm Safety Team, where I teach safe firearm handling, marksmanship fundamentals, and maintenance to Portland's LGBTQIA+ and allies community. Before that, nearly 14 years in manufacturing at Blount Inc - from receiving on the shop floor to maintenance planning and project administration, managing a $2M inventory of spare parts and supplies. At USACE, I cut my teeth as a Technical Services Analyst handling $6.1M in contracting actions before moving into technical writing, where I've been ever since. I lead through service, not authority.
Technology
Full-stack developer and agentic AI engineer. I built Vet-Rate.org - an app that runs AI entirely in the browser so veterans never have to send their personal data to a server. I've written a 362-file C++ game engine, created a custom MCP toolkit with 369+ automation commands, and deployed 4-stage CI/CD pipelines with SAST, DAST, and SBOM generation. I incorporated GenAI.mil (Gemini) into the editorial review process at USACE, achieving 24% cost savings.
What I Work With
📝 Technical Communication
- Document lifecycle management & editorial leadership
- Section 508 accessibility compliance
- Work Product Standards & Author Guide development
- CMS platforms (ProjectWise, SharePoint)
- Contributing Author Training program design
🤖 AI & Agentic Development
- Multi-agent orchestration & autonomous tool use
- Custom AI toolkits - MCP servers with 369+ commands
- Browser-based LLMs (WebLLM, Wllama, Hugging Face Transformers)
- RAG pipelines for domain-specific retrieval
- AI guardrails - prompt injection defense & output validation
- Voice orchestration - speech-to-text, TTS, multimodal interfaces
- On-device inference - zero-server AI preserving user privacy
- GenAI-assisted editorial review (24% cost savings at USACE)
🌐 Development
- React, Next.js, Vite, Express
- Node.js, TypeScript, Python, C++
- Unreal Engine 5 (Gameplay Ability System)
- 4-stage CI/CD (SAST, DAST, SBOM)
- PWA, offline-first, service workers
🔒 Compliance & Security
- NIST 800-53, 800-171r3, CMMC, FedRAMP
- SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS
- OSCAL - machine-readable compliance
- Zero Trust Architecture (NIST SP 800-207)
- 10-framework cross-mapping engine
The Journey
Oregon State University
Technical Writer Certificate - formalizing what I've been doing for years
Structured For Growth
Content Engineer / Owner - building web applications, compliance tools, and agentic AI solutions
Firearm Safety Team LLC
Certified Instructor / Owner - firearm familiarization for Portland's LGBTQIA+ and allies community
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District
Technical Writer-Editor (Engineering) - managing the document lifecycle for civil works and military construction
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District
Technical Services Analyst - $6.1M in contracting actions, federal acquisition support
The Tech Academy
Software Developer Bootcamp - the spark that lit the coding fire
Marylhurst University
MBA, Sustainable Business - because profit without purpose is just extraction
Marylhurst University
BS, Business Management
Blount Inc (Oregon Cutting Systems)
From the receiving dock to Maintenance Planner II - nearly 14 years in manufacturing, inventory management, and project administration, managing a $2M inventory of spare parts
Oregon Army National Guard
Supply Sergeant (92Y20) - over ten years, two combat deployments to Afghanistan, Combat Action Badge
Clackamas Community College
Associate, General Studies
Molalla Union High School
Graduate - small-town kid from the forests of the Pacific Northwest
Recognition
Military
Combat Action Badge, Army Achievement Medal (2x), Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (2x), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2x), Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/ M Device (2x), NATO Medal, Multinational Force and Observers Medal - 12 awards across two deployments and over ten years of service.
Federal Civilian
Civilian Service Achievement Medal, eight ratings-based awards, and seven non-ratings-based awards across two roles at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District.
Want the Formal Version?
Everything above, but structured for HR departments, hiring managers, and portfolio reviewers.
View Full Resume →Let's Talk
Whether it's a project, a collaboration, or just a conversation about AI and old-growth forests - I'm always up for connecting.
Get in Touch