DENNIS DUROST

I did not have any specific career goals in high school other than simply graduating (which I barely accomplished). Actually, HS was pretty much of a blur. When I look in the yearbook I only recognize about 25% of the faces and names.

After HS, my uncle got me a job on the night shift in a book binding factory in SF. The work was ok but when the manager went home around 6pm, the folding machine operators I worked for would go down to the local store and bring back a load of beer. The lesson learned from that experience was to never follow a career path involving working the night shift, using heavy machinery, with a bunch of drunks.

I then tried my luck at CSM but only lasted two semesters with my highest grade a B in weight lifting. After receiving my preliminary draft notice in 1961, I was lucky enough to get accepted by the Air Force in early 1962. Accomplishments during the first four years included getting married and having two kids. When it came time to get out, I had a family, no education or marketable skills, and we owed $600 to Montgomery Ward. Thus, I decided to re enlist. All in all, I spent eight years in enlisted status, with duties as an instructor in Aviation Physiology and achieved the rank of Technical Sergeant. During this time I was fortunate to have two fellow workers who had come into the service with some college. They encouraged me to get back into it and I finally got my degree in 1969. After graduation, I was accepted into Officer Training School and spent the final 12 years of my career as an Administrative Officer and Internal Auditor. I retired from the Air force in 1982 with the rank of Major. After the military, I held various positions as an internal auditor spending the last 20 years as an auditor and audit manager with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in Dallas, Texas. After retirement in 2003, I continued operating a business I started in 1998, manufacturing and distributing magnetic water treatment equipment (http://www.scalefighter.com).

My formal education includes the aforementioned stint at CSM; a degree (with honors) in business (BBA) from Texas Christian University (TCU) in 1969, and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 1978.

While still in the AF in 1980, I obtained a certification as an Internal Auditor (CIA). In 1982, as a senior auditor in a bank in San Antonio, Texas, two young ladies who worked for me became Certified Public Accountants (CPA). One of the ladies, who I didn’t get along very well with, proclaimed one day that she didn’t think I was smart enough to pass the CPA exam. Soon after that the bank went belly up and I went back to work for the Air Force as a civilian auditor. In 1983 I did pass the CPA exam and yes, I did send the lady a post card to that effect. In 1986 I passed the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam and in 2003 I became a Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT). Other than the internal auditor certification what did I do with all those certifications? Absolutely nothing! Go figure.

After leaving California in 1962 I never returned to live. This probably explains why all my neighbors who moved here from California don’t have mortgages and I do! Places we lived included Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Dallas, TX; Biloxi, Mississippi, Balikashier, Turkey, Lakenheath, England, Denver, Colorado, and Munich, Germany. My wife of 46 years and me, along with our two house cats and three feral cats currently reside in a 55+ community in St George, Utah.

I am an active member of the Elks Lodge. For recreation I enjoy tennis, pickle ball and working out at the gym. Hobbies include wood sculpting, playing cards, video poker, RVing and playing the stock market with Phil’s Gang.

I judge a movie’s greatness by the number of times I’m willing to watch it. My favorite movies (in no particular order) are:

Pulp Fiction
Saving Private Ryan
Silence of the Lambs
The Green Mile
Full Metal Jacket