Hello - and I'm glad you've taken the time to visit. My goal is simple - I want to ensure that your book or your stage, screen or television production is as accurate as possible when it comes to action scene choreography, the employment of weapons (historical or modern) ranging from slingshots to long range missiles, cyberwarfare and cybersecurity and tactics. Perhaps a little bit about my background might explain just what I bring to the table.
My background includes more than 25 years of experience with weapon systems including small arms, artillery, armor, area denial systems and precision guided munitions. Additionally, I am an accomplished small arms instructor, editor, literary consultant and co-author of a recently published work on the production of rifles in the United States for Allied forces during the First World War.
I grew up in New York City - and it is perhaps due to that municipality's draconian restrictions on the ownership of firearms that I became so interested in the history and technology behind small arms and military weapons; forbidden fruit and all. Just so we're clear - I was never the kid who wanted to shoot everything with a Sten gun - I was the kid who wanted to know how the Sten gun WORKED.
I attended Yale University on an Army ROTC scholarship, and upon graduation, became a commissioned officer in the Army’s armor branch, and was assigned to a cavalry squadron. (If you ain't cav....)
After active duty I transferred to the National Guard and went to law school. Why law school, you ask? I think it was equal parts "I'm not sure what else to do" and "It's what I am supposed to do." In either case, I don't regret going to law school at all - it helped to refine what was already an analytical approach to the world, which in turn makes me a better consultant.
I graduated from law school and was admitted to a number of state and federal bars and practiced law in New York. During this time, I continued to pursue my interest in firearms and firearms education, attaining instructor certifications in rifle, pistol and shotgun, among others. Additionally, I began what was to be a seventeen year tenure as a licensed firearms dealer.
In the mid-1990s, I left the practice of law and began designing military command and control and planning systems for warfare areas including naval mine warfare, combat engineering and amphibious maneuver warfare. For the last four yearsI've been responsible for the complete re-engineering of the systems that plan, initiate, control and evaluate one of the nation’s most important long-range precision strike and power projection weapon systems. As a result of this work, I developed expertise in arms export control regulations such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
(This, as you might imagine, makes me a hit at cocktail parties. I can put an audience to sleep in about six minutes flat...)
I've been providing general and technical editing services to authors and publishing houses specializing in firearms books since the early 2000s. Additionally, I provide literary consulting services to fiction authors including action scene choreography, technical vetting and technical editing. In this line of experience, I've had the fortune to work with well known authors including Shannon McKenna and Elizabeth Jennings.
I look forward to hearing about your works in progress, your questions and your thoughts. All the best,
Adam
