Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party Central Committee; County of Alameda; Assembly District 16

Mark Briggs: My Life Experience

• I was born in Corona, CA in June 1957. At the time, my father, Harold, was a career US Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton. Janet, my mother, owned a camera shop. At the age of three, we moved to Little Rock, AR where my father was a recruiter. In 1962 my parents separated and by 1964 my mother, brother, sister, and I had settled in Sacramento, CA. I saw my father once as a child and did not meet him again until I was an adult.

• Life in single parent household in the 1960's and 70's proved to be difficult. But, my mother, coming from a solid blue collar Kansas family, instilled in me the proper work ethic that I would need to succeed in life. She also taught us that service to one's country was an obligation that needed to be taken seriously.

• I found myself becoming active in politics from the age of 13 on. The War in Viet Nam had provoked an awareness in the young people of the time. I participated in protests on the war, nuclear weapons, poverty, etc.

• I was educated in public schools and graduated from Elk Grove Sr. High at the end of my junior year in 1974. Four months later, while still 17 years of age, I joined the US Navy. The Navy trained me as an Operations Specialist (radar operator) in Great Lakes, IL. I was then transfered to the USS Kitty Hawk ported out of San Diego, CA. I made two WEST-PAC cruises on Kitty Hawk and then left the Navy in 1978.

• In 1979-81 I attended Sacramento City College where I earned an A.A. degree in Music. I then transfered to UC Santa Cruz where I earned a B.A. in History in 1983. By 1985 I had decided that I wanted to travel more, so I re-enlisted in the Navy.

• My second tour with the Navy had me attending schools in Florida, Tennessee, and California to be trained as an enlisted aviator operating sensor equipment in the Lockheed S-3A/B aircraft. I was then transfered to VS-24 at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL. While with VS-24, I served on the USS Nimitz in the Mediterranean Sea and sailed around the continent of South America. We sailed through the Straights of Magellan on my 30th birthday. Our airwing was then transfered to the USS Roosevelt where we sailed above the Arctic Circle to the Norwegian Vestfijord. From 1987 to 1991 I trained in the Caribbean Sea, went to the Mediterranean twice more, and participated in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. During this tour I was recognized as being among the best in my field receiving many awards and medals for my work. I was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal, and later the Naval Air Medal for 29 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm.

• Upon returning to the United States in 1991, I once again returned to civilian life. I returned home to California planning to earn both a Masters and a Doctoral degree in Political Science. My intent was to become a college professor. But, sometimes life gets in the way of living. Struggling in the economy of the 1990's found me barely eking out a living and eventually having to give up on my graduate studies even though I had completed 48 units toward a Masters degree at San Francisco State University.

• Eventually, I found work as a Commercial Insurance Inspector. This is an independent contractor position which I have been doing since 1995. I have built this vocation into a reliable source of income. My work involves doing loss control inspections of everything from small apartment buildings to major factories, agricultural concerns, and airports, etc. I travel the entire state performing my work and often engage in political conversations with persons in remote parts of the state.

• I began to be politically active again upon returning home in the 1990's. I performed volunteer work for both Clinton campaigns. In 2003 I joined the Dean campaign and even went to Des Moines during the caucuses. I was present at the Scream" speech, but had a completely different take on the event than that of the media. In 2004 I traveled to Phoenix to be a poll monitor with Election Protection for the general election. In 2005 I was elected as a delegate from the 16th AD to the CDC and became a founding member of the Progressive Caucus. As a delegate, I have helped to make the party platform more progressive, and pass resolutions against the War in Iraq, for veteran's rights, and in support of many progressive values. In 2007 I was elected as the executive board delegate from the 16th AD. I am continuing to support progressive candidates and values in the state party. Recent campaigns I have volunteered for are Sandre Swanson for 16th AD, Debra Bowen for Secretary of State, Jerry McNerney for the 11th CD, etc. I also worked with our local unions during the "Special Election".

• I have tried to do my best to be of service to our country, state, and local area. I am a life long Democrat who will continue to do what i can to bring progressive values to the forefront.