Paul Vann is one of ten children born to two amazing parents, there are five girls and five boys. Paul is the second oldest child and first-born son who grew up in abject poverty. His parents were part of the working poor, both tobacco company workers, however neither parent earned their high school diploma, Paul is a first-generation high school graduate, and college graduate, and he earned two master's degrees while serving over twenty years of military duty in the United States Air Force. Paul served over twelve consecutive years in the DoD working for high-ranking military officers and federal executives. He was competitively selected to work for a member of Congress as a Capitol Hill Fellow assigned to the House Armed Services Committee. Paul shares his journey from working for tobacco farmers to earn money, to paying for his way through college with no student loan debts, to graduating with academic honors to being commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF, until he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Paul overcame a lot of obstacles in his life and he shares them during this session.

Target audience includes new military personnel, mid-career personnel and civilian personnel. Keynote address.