How a Drilling Engineer Ended Up in a War Zone Closing a $30 Million Deal

In January 1991, while most Americans were watching Desert Storm unfold on CNN, I was on a plane to Saudi Arabia.

I was 33 years old. A year earlier, I'd been a headhunter in Los Angeles. Then I met an Iraqi businessman living in Malibu who was looking for someone to scout business opportunities in the Middle East. He offered me a 100% commission deal — no salary, no safety net. Just a handshake and a chance.

I took it.

The Cold Call That Changed Everything

I arrived in Dhahran at about the same time the U.S. military landed. The region was chaos — 125,000 troops pouring into the desert, and the infrastructure couldn't keep up. I didn't have a plan. I had instincts.

So I did what I'd always done: I went looking for a problem to solve.

I found U.S. Army procurement officers working out of a tent. Not an office. Not a building. A tent in the Saudi desert.

I walked in and made a cold sales call.

They had a problem: 125,000 soldiers needed ice, and the two local factories could only produce 100,000 pounds a day — about 20% of what was required. Troops were overheating. It was a logistics nightmare.

I told them I could solve it.

I found additional ice production 200 miles away in Riyadh, arranged refrigerated trucks to haul it across the desert, and closed a $3.8 million contract to keep American soldiers supplied with ice for six months.

Building a $30 Million Operation

With the ice contract as my foundation, I started looking for other problems to solve. The military needed generators — I found them. They needed laptop computers — I leased them. They needed supplies that weren't making it through normal channels — I figured out how to deliver.

Over the next several months, I parlayed that first ice contract into roughly $30 million in military contracts. Every deal started the same way: find the problem, build the relationship, close.

Recognition from the U.S. Army

On April 1, 1991, I received a Certificate of Achievement from the Department of the Army, signed by Lieutenant General William G. Pagonis — the commander who ran the logistics for the entire Desert Storm operation.

Life in a War Zone

When you're operating in an active military theater, you see things most people only read about. I flew evening helicopter missions over the desert. I worked alongside soldiers, pilots, and officers who were putting their lives on the line.

What Desert Storm Taught Me

Desert Storm wasn't just a chapter in my career — it was a masterclass in everything I still do today: find the problem no one else is solving; build relationships fast; execute when others hesitate; parlay every win into the next opportunity.

These are the same principles I bring to every executive I work with today. Your job search is your Desert Storm — unfamiliar territory, high stakes, and chaos everywhere. You need someone who's operated in those conditions before.