[hider=Senator David A. Barnett]
[center][img] http://i.imgur.com/AGW2uZj.jpg?1 [/img]

[h2] David Alexander Barnett [/h2]

[sup][h3] 58 (May 3rd 1958) [/h3][/sup]
[sup][h3]Republican Party[/h3][/sup]
[sup][h3]Pennsylvania [/h3][/sup][/center]

[u]Biography[/u]: Barnett grew up in the industrial surroundings of Scranton, Pennsylvania in a family filled with soldiers and steel workers, homemakers and secretaries. His life and youth in a working class environment was generally careless (bar the odd street fights). Barnett was apolitical in his adolescence in the mid-70s, more concerned with disco, damsels, and the gym. However, it was during this time that the manufacturing industry which held up America from Green Bay to Philadelphia started slowly but surely falling apart. With that it came huge trouble in his immediate circles, with much of his family, and the family of his friends losing their job and practically seeing their communities gutted. Instinctively he started affiliating himself with the Democratic Party. After all, they were the party of the little guy, the labourer, and of the liberals which Barnett, as a young man, was instinctively drawn to. And the Nixon/Ford overtures also gave it a push. 

With opportunities in civilian life not being as good as they used to be, to say the least, Barnett entered college in 1976 and with a bachelor's degree in Pre-Law from the Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State, Barnett enrolled in the ROTC program and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in Aviation in 1980. He took his Aviation Officer Basic Course at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. He was qualified to fly both the UH-1H Iroquois Medium Lift Helicopter and the AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter. He served with the 18th Aviation Company, 269th Aviation Battalion, an XVIII Airborne Corps Asset at Ft. Bragg, NC from 1981 - 1985. While with the 18th Avn Company, he saw action against the Cuban Army on the island of Grenada in October 1983.

In 1985, Barnett was promoted to Captain and re-assigned as Company Commander of A Company, 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment in the 7th Infantry Division (Light) at Ft. Ord, CA. In this unit, he would fly the brand new UH-60 Blackhawks, which he was excited about flying. They weren't Attack Helicopters, but they were brand new and that made them extra special. 

In 1987, Captain Barnett was re-assigned as the Battalion Personnel Officer (S1) which took him out of the helicopter and into an office job. He flew a desk for two years until he was promoted to the rank of Major and assigned as the battalion's Executive Officer. In late 1989, Major Barnett's 1-228 Aviation was deployed to Panama with the 7ID (L). He and his battalion conducted a few Air Assault Operations carrying Light Infantry into several hot Landing Zones in the Panama Theatre of Operations.

In 1990, Major Barnett was re-assigned to the 1st Armor Division in Germany where he was able to fly another brand new Aircraft, the AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter. He was assigned to the 1st Attack Battalion 501st Aviation Regiment "The Pisoleros".  He was assigned as the Battalion's Operations Officer (S3) and deployed with the 1AD to Saudi Arabia in the Fall of 1990. He saw action from the cockpit of an Apache during the Gulf War.

Two years after the conclusion of combat operations in Iraq, Major Barnett opted to leave the military and return to school. This time, he would attend the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. In 1998, he received his Juris Doctorate of Law (JDL) and later that year, he passed the Pennsylvania Bar Exam. As a member of the bar, he became active as a legal adviser to various companies, large and small, in Pennsylvania.

After leaving, Barnett was left with a law degree, a decade's experience having a cool job in the army, but also a set of gifts. He was always quick on his feet in discussions, he had a poet's heart and a way with words. Whenever he was writing remarks, or a speech, the words would seemingly come streaming out of his fingertips. He was also a very different man in a very different political scene. During his time in the army he became a Republican and NAFTA was signed, something he resented as it in his view gutted the community where he came from. Restlessness and dissatisfaction led to him becoming politically involved for the State's Republican Party as a speechwriter, coordinator of groundwork for elections, and campaigning. A fast-rising star in the party, Major Barnett became Senator Barnett in 2004 after winning the Class 3 senate seat for the state in the wake of Arlen Specter's retirement. Generally a social moderate but a hardliner on issues such as illegal immigration, Barnett has always been a more-than-averagely known senator due to his staunch opposition to free trade. This has made him the odd man out before, but with the new administration his time to shine may have come.

[u]Personal information[/u]: Since leaving the army, Barnett has been a resident of St Marys, Pennsylvania with his wife Katherine (47, May 9th 1969| Married 1989) and their youngest daughter Grace (17, October 27th 1999). Their four older children, Michael (27), Diane (25), Nicholas (23) and George (20) have already moved out. Barnett is a devout Roman Catholic.

[u]Positions[/u]: Speechwriter/Groundwork Coordinator, Pennsylvania Republican Party, 1995-2003
Commissioned Officer in the United States Army (1980-1993, left as Major)
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