Earl served in the USMC from 1984 to 1991 as an 0311. He was with G/2/6 from 1986 to 1988, MSGDetachment Moscow (88), Hong Kong (89-90), Mogadishu (90), Desert Storm 1991. He joined theReserves in 1991 and then transferred to the FL National Guard in 1993 and retired in 2006.

"The FVC has been rewarding in that they provided a grant for our first dairy goat operation to buy the milking stands and vacuum pump to upgrade our operation. FVC has also provided advertisement and recognition of my FVC status with logos and decals. They are a great help with information and connecting with other farmer veterans."

Earl's agriculture business is a homestead type where they raise dairy goats, and use the milk for goats milk soap and skin care products. They also offer raw milk, eggs from free range chickens, seasonal produce and fruits such as blackberries, muscadines and plums.

Earl lost a well paying job in 2008 that required his family to drastically cut their expenses. They started with 12 chickens. Those 12 soon became 60 and they enjoyed what they were doing and decided to move from town to a five acre farm in 2014 and eventually had over 400 chickens.Then came goats by accident. Three goats became six within a few days. In 2019, their five acres became too small and they moved to 10 acres. More goats, less chickens, then raised bed gardens, hydroponics and row crops.

"The military teaches discipline and hard work. That is applied to farming. It takes a lot of discipline to get up each day to milk, weed, feed, garden and all the other routine chores. The work is physically demanding and you have to plan ahead for each season and make changes as necessary. Like the military, we don't get to quit when things are hard or not going our way. We improvise, adapt and overcome."