Michael S. Kearns

Michael S. Kearns (April 14, 1958 - ) was a 2010 candidate for Colorado's 6th congressional district, running on a "Grassroots Leadership" platform, which promotes a Direct Democracy Self-governance Consortium for advancing fully transparent Internet Socio-political consensus decision-making functionality for participative legislation at the U.S. Congressional District level. Kearns garnered a total of 5 write-in votes, or 0.00001% of the electorate.

For Kearns, an ex-Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tiffin University in Ohio, "The U.S. Constitution dictates a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time" [Article I, section 9, clause 7], and I contend the Internet should function to provide a window on the soul of partisan politics, such that James Madison's call for creativity in the moderation of political faction (Federalist No. 10) can finally be realized."

Further, Kearns contends, "Full transparency, accountability, and due diligence in politics is Internet-based self-governance at the Federal level. We are at a stage in modeling and simulation technologies wherein our own learned helplessness in American Politics can begin to transform into the post-Industrial era, and away from the mindless self-aggrandize tyranny of tax and spend we find ourselves in today."

Kearns is a quiet leader, with a vision for a more prosperous future. He believes that oftentimes the best leaders are not those “in charge,” but those who contribute from within, and he is actively contributing and changing the way leadership in this country is executed.

Early years
Michael Shawn Kearns was born and raised in Dundalk, Maryland, home of the U.S. Army's super secret "Spook School" at Fort Holabird (See:"Super Spook Training in Dundalk during the Vietnam War."). He is the great great grandson of Father Moses "Mogue" Kearns, hero of the 1798 Irish Rebellion, and Grandson of Michael Anthony Kearns, participant in the precursors to the 1916 Irish Rebellion, and WWI combat veteran. He is the son of Richard A. Kearns (1926–2003), a master electrician and general contractor (owner of Bayside Electric Company, and Chief Electrician at Fort Howard Veterans Hospital), as well as WWII, US Navy combat radioman, and Janet E. (née: Horn) Kearns (1925–2004) a public school administrative secretary and librarian.

A 1976 graduate of Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts, Kearns performed as one of the Patriot mascots, often commemorating the State of Maryland Defenders Day, Battle of North Point (The turning point of the War of 1812, and name of Michael's junior high school). Whilst in the Boy Scouts of America's Aviation Explorer Program, Michael learned to pilot glider aircraft in the US Army Reserve's Summer Career Interest Program. He made his first parachute jump in 1976 (against the advice of his parents).

Early military career


Michael Shawn Kearns enlisted in the Maryland Air National Guard in January 1977 as an Intelligence Specialist and was trained as an Air Intelligence Operations Specialist at Denver, Colorado's Lowry Air Force Base, where he received advanced training in Evasion and Escape (E&E) operations. He was initially assigned to the 104th Fighter Squadron, and later cross-trained as a C-7 Caribou Aircraft Loadmaster with the 135th Airlift Group supporting the 20th Special Forces Group and test and evaluation elements of the National Security Agency. Michael Kearns attained the rank of Sergeant in 1980. Upon being commissioned in 1982 as a second lieutenant, Michael was assigned to Air Force Headquarters and served as an Air Staff Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy, Targeting (warfare) Intelligence Officer where he was responsible for the review and certification of US operational war plans. In 1985 he was selected to be the Aide-de-Camp to the Director of the Defense Mapping Agency (now the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency). He then completed a brief Joint Chiefs of Staff assignment in the Joint Special Operations Agency at The Pentagon, and was subsequently assigned to the Joint Services SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) Agency (JSSA) [] at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, Washington where he served as the "Special Survival Training Program" Operations Officer and Master Instructor. During this assignment Michael worked alongside Major (Doctor) John Bruce Jessen (Psychologist) one of the two key architects of the Bush Administration's Torture Program Torture Accountability - Bruce Jessen. His last US military posting was in Washington, DC, where he served on the Headquarter staff of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) providing technical support to operational US forces in the Gulf War Operation Desert Shield. His last assignment in DMA was as Liaison Officer to the Intelligence Community (IC) Staff where he conducted the Geoscience Intelligence Systems and Requirements Study as part of the design for the IC's Future Imaging Architecture. He was retired from the US Air Force in July 1990 on a service-connected injury.

Early public service career
Subsequent to his military career, Kearns joined the US Civil Service as Chief of the Defense Mapping Agency School's Department of Geophysics, International Training Division, where he facilitated the migration the DoD's Inter-American Geodetic Survey's Cartographic / Photogrammetric program from Panama, Central America, to Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He also aided expansion of the Defense Department's Geo-sciences International Military Education and Training Program into Former Soviet Union, Eastern Block Nations, helping create mini ex-Soviet centers of excellence in the mapping sciences.

In 1994 Kearns moved to Coronado, California and later was employed as the inaugural US Naval Special Warfare Command's Force Historian within the Office of Special Operations Plans. In this position, it is notable, he was supervised by Navy SEAL Captain Everett Greene.

Corporate career
From the time he was old enough to pull wires, Michael Kearns worked as an apprentice electrician in his father's sole proprietorship, Bayside Electric in Dundalk, Maryland. As a young man, whether selling greeting cards, seeds, or convincing local businesses to promote his Aviation Explorer Boy Scout Post, Michael had a hankering in sales, business development, and marketing. Eventually, in 1997, after establishing the US Naval Special Warfare Command's (Navy SEALs) Office of History within the Special Operations Plans Directorate (NSWC-N5), Michael's lifelong experience in business went to good effect, when he joined the $4Billion computer visualization giant, Silicon Graphics, Inc. Kearns was the Senior Marketing and Business Development Manager in Federal Business Development, and was responsible for placing teaming arrangements together for top corporate organisations and SGI.

In 1997 Kearns left public service to work in Silicon Valley for Silicon Graphics, Inc. as a Senior Marketing Manager in the Modeling and Simulation and Geospatial Imaging (MS&I) areas. Kearns was responsible for not only world-wide marketing and business development in advanced MS&I with major corporations like Space Imaging (the first commercial high-resolution satellite company which Michael helped negotiate place SGI's logo on the launcher—to the 1997 Mars Pathfinder project, where Michael gave briefings on the technological solution JPL employed for the Rover lander). After the dot.com bust of 1999, Michael was part of the initial group of ten employees who started-up a high-tech Silicon Valley corporation, Terrain Experts, Inc. (DBA: TERREX) with a seed money from Electronic Arts (EA). TERREX was sold in May 2005 to Canadian Simulation giant, CAE Inc. ($1.4B). It's TerraVista software became the core visualization engine for the US Special Operations Command's SOFViz 2/3D Mission Planning software.

Thereafter, Kearns was able to effectively apply his talents as the CEO of his own high-tech consulting company start-up based in McLean, Virginia, Meta-Matics, Inc., working primarily in the Middle East, and within Australia-Asia.

Education and awards
Kearns is a graduate of the US Air Force's (USAF) NCO Leadership Academy, the USAF Squadron Officer School and the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College.

His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal (for an act of bravery), the Air Force Combat Readiness Medal, the Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Australian Defence Medal. Unit awards include the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with one oak leaf cluster), the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, and he wore the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge. In 1978, whilst in Air Force ROTC, Cadet Master Sergeant Kearns was awarded the Daughters of Founders and Patriots ROTC Medal, and the American Society of Military Engineers Award. Captain Kearns' official Department of Defense form DD 214 lists the following foreign service awards: Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Israel, China, Hungary, and German Democratic Republic Airborne parachutist wings, China Special Warfare Badge, Republic of China General Staff Badge, Parachutist Badge, Enlisted Aircrew Badge, Information Management Badge. The DD 214 also lists the following official training courses: Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy Officer course (12 weeks, 1983), and Staff Course (2 weeks, 1991), Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course (18 days, 1989), Dynamics of International Terrorism Course (5 days, 1988), DoD High Risk Training Course (5 days, 1987), Hostage Survivor Course (5 days, 1987), Special Survival Training Course (5 days, 1987), Combat Survival Training Course (17 days, 1987), Intelligence Applications Officer Course (680 Hours, 1997), Fundamentals of Intelligence Course (304 hours, 1987), Battle Staff Course (3 weeks, 1984), Modular Architecture for the Exchange of Intelligence Analyst course (40 hours, 1984), Strategic Intelligence Course (5 days, 1984),

Post-secondary education and academia
While he was Sergeant, Michael Kearns accepted an AFROTC scholarship to the University of Maryland, College Park in August 1980, and he was graduated in 1982 with a BSc degree in Cartography and Remote Sensing. Kearns also earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from the Community College of the Air Force in Intelligence and Imagery Analysis in March 1982.

At the University of Maryland, Michael was inducted into the Gamma Theta Upsilon honorary Geographical society, and the Sigma Chi Social Fraternity. Notably, Michael earned his own living expenses working for Pinkerton's as a private investigator in an undercover position, and volunteered as a firefighter at the Mount Rainier, Maryland, Fire Department, where he lived in-house.

After being commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force as a Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy officer, Kearns attended the Defense Intelligence Agency College and Georgetown University National Security Studies Program during the period 1982-84. In 1987 Captain Kearns was the class leader for the first class to graduate the Air Force Intelligence Officer training program at Goodfellow Air Force Base, graduating with an 90.4% average. He also was a 1991 graduate of the Gonzaga University Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program, where he specialized in Cognitive Psychotherapy in Resistance to Interrogation Training, as well as Spatial Cognition and map-reading skill. The Gonzaga University Organizational Leadership Program is recognized as one of the first leadership graduate schools in the United States, and employed the Harvard University Case Study Methodology to James MacGregor Burns' theories of transforming and transactional leadership.

Kearns held several appointments as an academician at various colleges and universities in the United States and Australia. He was Lecturer of the course "History of Espionage" at the University of San Diego (1995), an Assistant Professor (adjunct) of Geography and Leadership at Vincennes University (US Navy campus in San Diego) (1995–96) where he co-founded the Leadership Studies Minor Program; Lecturer of Physical Sciences at National University in San Diego, Senior Lecturer of Business and Management at Lord Fairfax Community College in Virginia; an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Geography at Tiffin University, in Ohio (2002); Lecturer (adjunct) at Terra Community College in Ohio; and an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Leadership Studies at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in Kansas (2005), and a Lecturer of Business and Management at Red Rocks Community College in Denver, Colorado (2008). Whilst at FHSU, Michael protested the University's policy to reject the Governor's (then Kathleen Sabelius) directive to have Veteran's Day as a mandatory holiday. In a Nationally syndicated New York Times "Times Talk" lecture, titled, "War... What is it good for?," Kearns accentuated the issues of one's service to one's country and the issues of military strategy in war. Kearns organized and officiated a Veterans Day ceremony at FHSU on 11 November 2005 at 11:00am.

Kearns is presently all but dissertation in a PhD in Leadership from Andrews University in Michigan, where his dissertation chair is James Tucker, PhD; Distinguished Professor, and McKee Chair of Excellence in Educational Psychology, and founding director of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's doctoral program in leadership and learning. Michael is also a Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, in Canberra, Australia, where he is researching Organisational Learned Helplessness. 

Memberships, associations, and certifications
Special Operations Association (#949 Life), Air Commando Association (Life), Association of Former Intelligence Officers, Association of Old Crows (Electronic Warfare and Information Operations, Life), National Military Intelligence Association (Life), International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, California Association of Licensed Investigators, American Society for Industrial Security, American Association of University Professors.

California Licensed Private Investigator, Florida teachers' pre-certificate 6-12 Social Science, Certified Law Enforcement Thermographer (1995–97), Certified Tax Practitioner (CPTx).

Kearns as adventurer
Michael is a calculated risk-taker. He is the first person to have parachuted over all seven continents. Uniquely, on December 6, 1997, Kearns was the sole survivor of the world's first four-way skydive over the geographic South Pole. His military and parachuting exploits were chronicled in MAXIM Magazine (May 1999), The Washington Post (Style Section, May 1998), Outside Magazine (Dispatches, February 1998), and Business Inc. (May 1998). Kearns also appeared on National Public Radio's Morning Edition by Bob Edwards (January 5, 1998), and various sports-talk programs in the Washington, DC area. The Washington Post calls Kearns, "...the clean-cut Boy Scout type who does everything by the book," and Business Inc. notes, [Kearns'] "...professional background reads like the protagonists from best-selling authors Robert Ludlum or Clive Cussler."

Master Parachutist with over 1,250 skydives and 24+ hours of free-fall time, Kearns was a military and civilian jumpmaster and earned over one dozen military parachutist insignia from Countries across the globe: Israel, Guatemala, El Salvador, Canada, The Republic of China, South Africa, Australia, Holland, Myanmar, Chile, East Germany, Hungary, and Thailand. He participated in one military parachute jump during combat operations in El Salvador (1988), and was with the first (and only) handful of US and Allied military parachutists to make a military parachute jump with both the East German and Hungarian military forces, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 (while they were still communist countries). Michael earned the US Navy / Marine Corps parachutist insignia in 1985 by participating in parachute operations with the US Marine Corps 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company in 1988, and has enjoyed parachute demonstration jumps with the U.S. Navy SEAL's "Leap Frog" parachute team (1996), and the Australian Army's "Red Beret" parachute team (1999).

Michael's work with foreign military special operations forces has appeared in Soldier of Fortune (magazine). In the October 1984 issue's feature article "Winning Israeli Wings," then Lieutenant Kearns appears in a photograph on page 56. In the June 2001 issue article "SOF Jumps with South Africa's PARA Bats," Michael is featured in a photograph on page 46.

Kearns' philanthropic activities
University of Maryland Governor's Award for Civic Action (1980), and Knighted in the Royal Order of Scotland in 1995.

Kearns' recent sporting activities
Kearns studied Malaysian Kuntao Silat with Dato Cikgu Abdul Mijid Mt Esa, President and Master of the Pertubuhan Silat Seni Pusaka Guyong Malaysia (PSSPGM) in May 2010 where he was awarded the honorary title of Pendekar (Warrior), and 3rd Degree Yellow belt. Michael is presently a student of Huc Chung Kuntao Master Guy Savelli of Staring at Goats fame.