I'm not impressed. A West Point graduate who left the regular Army after 12 years with the rank of Captain O3 is a red flag situation in my eyes. Promotion to Major 04 after 10 years is virtually automatic, especially for a West Pointer. Almost all officers who serve out a full 20 year term make it to Lt. Colonel 05. I respect his service to our country, but his military record appears on the surface of things to be less than stellar, and his website is sort of thin on details about what he did for the vast bulk of his adult life while in the military. Leaving the Army with the rank of Captain after 12 years means that you have been "passed over". If I'm not mistaken 80% of those eligible to make it to Major are granted the promotion.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/promotions/l/blofficerprom.htm

After what looks like several short stints at a variety of business endeavors, it looks like he now owns two Postal Annex franchises. It doesn't say much about the other two candidates if this guy looks tempting.

as I say, to me he appears to be a viable alternative.

Maybe he decided he just didn't like the Army, especially if he served during the 70's, which he looks old enough to have.

I think I saw something about him graduating from West Point in 1977. Yes, the military was in a deep funk during the Vietnam War period in the mid to late 70's, but it definitely got it's mojo back in the early 80's during the Reagan administration. Sometimes officers and NCO's get busted for pulling stupid crap early in their careers, and they can never shake it off down the road. (As an example, I have a person who is very close to me who was busted in his barracks room because his idiot roommate was smoking weed in the late 70's/early 80's while he was a low level enlisted person, and he later found out that no matter what, due to this relatively minor blemish on his record, he could never become a senior NCO.) I'm not saying that's what happened here to Mr. Altizer, but he put in 12 years on active duty, and there was something in his military file that held him back career wise. He then went on to serve another 8 years as a reservist, which was a smart move because it will entitle him to some sort of retirement benefits down the road. He could be a great guy, and there is a possibility that he is victim of a bad set of circumstances. It is notable that he has an Honorable Discharge, which means he wasn't drummed out of the service through something more serious like formal court martial proceedings and the like. All in all he seems like an upstanding citizen and a productive member of society who creates employment opportunities in the community.

His leaving the service after 12 years isn't a deal breaker for me.
Not all ring knockers stick it out on active duty, many leave for private business and also continue as reservists.
The current TAG for the Oregon Guard is a West Point grad who left active duty to return to Oregon and go to law school.

Usual Kevin-- you should look at promotion time & percentages at the time he was in the Army, current numbers are far different due to the last ten years of war and need to fill slots. Rates to Major hit north of 95% in the last five years. That's not the norm.

Tankfixer. Maj. Gen. Reese and this guy are two completely different story lines about ringed ones who transitioned from active duty to the reserve component...so don't even go there. http://www.oregon.gov/OMD/AGDD/tag_bio.shtml