Carl Kurfess is a born and raised Seattle native. He attended Army ROTC at Seattle University and was commissioned a 2nd LT in Infantry in 1983. He attended Infantry Officer Basic Course and Airborne school and was stationed in Germany as a Mechanized Infantry Platoon Leader. He joined theReserves in 1986 in Seattle and served in various Army Reserve Units. He was mobilized for Operationin2003 much to his surprise. He was lured to the dark-side, branch transferred to Civil Affairs and volunteered for and completed four tours in Iraq; 2003-2004 at Camp Victory, 2005-2006 in the Green Zone, 2007-2008 at Camp Victory and 2009-2010 at FOB Warhorse as a Civil Affairs specialist, working with local Iraqi government officials in reconstruction efforts. He retired from the Army Reserves in 2011 with 28 years of service.