I’m Michael Wales - a programmer, a father, an aspiring author, and an award winning Airman. I am a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force with plans to seperate in April 2009 at the end of my enlistment. I am currently finalizing my resume and looking for new career opportunities in web development or systems administration.
A Programmer
In August 1999 I wrote my first PHP script, the infamous “Hello, World!” Since then web development, across numerous languages has been a passion of mine. Although I still primarily focus on PHP I have intermediate knowledge of Python and Ruby and I continue to learn and expand my knowledge of these languages.
By 2000 I was accepting freelance jobs through various freelance for hire websites. Since then I have worked with hundreds of companies and government agencies to include OGaming.net, IGE, Gamespy, and the State of Florida.
In December 2005 I hit my first true web success, with WoWCensus. WoWCensus collected in-game demographic information via a plug-in for the outrageously popular Blizzard title World of Warcraft. WoWCensus collected over 300MB of raw data files from players daily and parsed this data into easy to understand demographic information including graphical charts. In March 2006, all WoWCensus assets were sold to IGE.com.
Now, and for the past 3 years, I have been focusing the majority of my time on the open source PHP framework CodeIgniter from the guys at EllisLab. I am one of the most consistent contributors to the community, having released numerous libraries and tutorials, as well as one of the most highly sought after freelancers within the community.
A Father
In September 2006, my wife Shannon and I welcomed our little girl Tiara to the family. Since then our lives have involved a lot less sleep, a few grey hairs and a whole lot of laughs. It was around this time we also “adopted” another family member - our teacup chihuahua Tyson.
An Airman
In April 2003 I enlisted in the United States Air Force and headed to Eielson AFB, AK, for my first duty assignment (which is where I met my wife as well) and then on to Vandenberg AFB, CA, in August 2006. During my enlistment I’ve visited Germany, Japan, Turkey, Thailand, and Qatar, as well as deployed to Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, and Iraq for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. I was also named the Air Force’s “Information Manager of the Year” for two consecutive years, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 (we use fiscal years for our awards).
While at Eielson AFB my job was to develop web-based applications, primarily transitioning paper-based processes to utilize today’s technology. I developed the first ever real-time maps of the Alaskan wildfires, a mashup of Google Maps and National Weather Service data. These maps were used by the military, civilians, and state government agencies to plan evacuations, analyze and predict the path of danger, and survey damaged areas. I also developed a customer relationship management tool for our Help Desk that tracked a customer’s recurring issues, aided in the discovery and solution of a customer’s problem, and tracked corrective actions across the base as a whole. This application was applauded by the Commander of Communications at Pacific Air Forces. These, plus many more applications I developed, are estimated to have saved Eielson AFB, and the Air Force, over $30,000 annually in man-hours and supplies.
While deployed to Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait (the first time), I served as a Client Support Administrator - the first line of defense between a user and the Help Desk. While in Kyrgyzstan I was the primary focal point for the migration of 130 computers to Windows XP from Windows 2000. In Kuwait, I identified and patched 24 security issues across the 98 computers under my administration. I also volunteered to convoy into Iraq to support laptops so troops stationed throughout the country could complete college coursework. At both of these locations I built XBox and PC networks for the troops to use for morale purposes (gaming tournaments, multiplayer games, etc).
I am now currently deployed to Kuwait (again) for convoy operations in Iraq (March - November 2008). Already I have reorganized our unit’s network drive, decreasing our footprint on the server by 38% while making information more readily accessible and maintaining historic records.
Although this deployment is a far cry from what I am used to (come on, a computer nerd driving tractor-trailers) I am looking forward to this unique experience. It may not prepare me, vocationally, for the future but all of my deployments and experiences within the Air Force have formed me into the person I am today…
And I’m kind of a big deal.
