In May 1964, his F9F8 fighter crashed during a carrier landing accident. He was thrown from the jet, suffered a broken back, and was medically retired from the Navy.
Trained at Shattuck Military School in Minnesota. By the age of 16, he won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Following the premature end of his naval career, he studied at the Harvard Business School and pursued a career in investment banking, becoming Vice President for First Western Financial Corporation.