Charles E. Clark Sr

Charles Edward Clark Sr. (born in Philadelphia, PA. on 2 May 1976) is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-entered memoir "I Know How It Feels" and an active duty U.S.Navy Sailor serving the, United States Atlantic Fleet. Earlier in his career, as an Information Systems Technician, he was selected as the naval communicator for the Deputy Commander-in-Chief U.S. Joint Forces Command, Vice Admiral Martin Mayor, from September 2001 to August 2004. In 2004, Clark became the Military Member of the year representing the United States Navy for US JFCOM.

Early life, Family, and Education

Son of the late Denise Clark-Abron, who was also a creative writer of many different poetic languages, studied Literature at the University of Tennessee and mother of six; Clark grew up in the tough streets of North Philadelphia in the economically hard hit sections of the East Falls Housing projects near Crestwell St. and the Happy Hollow neighborhood in Germantown. Spending a period every summer with his great-grandmother in the Vestal community of South Knoxville, TN, he would eventually later move to Knoxville where his rugged street mentality and crime ridden lifestyle piloted to his run-ins with the law before being adopted and raised by Knoxville native and long-time community activist Aleda Douglass who enrolled Clark into school. For a short period of time, he attended Whittles Springs Middle and Holston High Schools. After being reunited with his maternal grandparents Luel and Carolyn Clark, then relocating back to the Greater Philadelphia area in 1991, during his junior year in high school, Clark became interested in athletics which became his alternative to a life filled with crime. His natural talents along with the academic guidance and focus from educators and mentors at school, gained him attention from many colleges and universities across the nation for track, basketball and football offers within top collegiate programs. Following his senior year at Delsea Regional High School in Franklinville, NJ, he spent the next two years at Widener University (Chester, PA) studying Accounting and was as a member of its football team and African American Student Cultural Committee. After a series of ups and downs, his mentor encouraged him to apply for the Montgomery G.I. Bill. Accepted for the Naval Reserves in 1996, Clark reported to Great Lakes, IL as a Seaman Recruit on 14 Nov 1996 and later finished up college at ECPI College of Technology and graduated cum laude with a degree in Computer Networking Technology.

Military career

^[1]Following completion of Navy Recruit Training, Clark served onboard USS Elrod (FFG-55) before going active duty and attending the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Command School at Dam Neck, Va. Beach from February 1997 to May 2001, then serving at USACOM later renamed U.S. Joint Forces Command USJFCOM Norfolk, VA from July 2001 to September 2004. While there as a result of the 9/11 attacks, he assisted with the initial standup of the Homeland Defense computer network which was eventually revamped into the Department of Defense’s Homeland Security. As a result of his performance, he was later selected as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief’s personal communicator, lead technician for the command’s over 1200 computers migration and secure network infrastructure certification and selected as Military Member of the Year. Upon completion of Tomahawk Planning Systems training, Clark was assigned to Afloat Planning Systems Atlantic where he was attached to the Strike Planning Cell onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and participated in pirate strikes off the coast of Africa and several major campaigns in support of the Global War on Terrorism during 2 of his 6 deployments within the Southeast Asia region. From November 2007 until September 2010, Clark served onboard USS NASSAU (LHA-4) in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Combat Systems (C5I) Department, where he once again was called upon to deploy in support of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. January 2010, while assigned to temporary additional duties onboard USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) he was scheduled for a routine six month humanitarian mission in support of several African nations, but was temporarily rerouted and proudly arrived with boots on the ground as one of the first responders, just 3 days in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake which registered 7.0M^[2] and shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In October 2010, Clark was assigned to a shore duty assignment where he is currently studying Internetworking Technology.

Published works

• I Know How It Feels by Charles E. Clark. (Xlibris: May 24, 2010).

References

1. ^ The below section is based on Charles E. Clark's Official U.S Navy Record of service
2. ^ 2010 Haiti earthquake

External links

• Xlibris
• Charles E. Clark
• [1]

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Name	Clark, Charles E., Sr
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Date of birth	2 May 1976
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