In September 2001, I was a Navy reservist and beginning my second year at the University of San Diego School of Law. The events of 9/11 had a great effect on my life. My father had several friends on one of the flights, and I lost Naval Academy classmates and friends that day and in the following conflicts.
This was a large part of my motivation to go back to work for the government, then with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in San Diego. Since then, I transferred to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where I serve as the staff lead for a set of requirements that were imposed on nuclear power plants in the U.S. to make them better able to deal with threats similar to 9/11.
Bowman is a senior project manager, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington.