Zero Day Gear is Born
Posted by ZeroDayGear.com on Apr 15th 2017
Today marks the day which Zero Day Gear is officially launched.
This site, this endeavor -- this business -- has been a long time in the making; 14 years to be exact. While this project was not even a thought in my mind during the summer of 2003, the actions I took all those years ago lead directly to the formation of Zero Day Gear in the Spring of 2017.
Going back to the summer of 2003 there have been moments of great success, extreme happiness, and personal accomplishments for which I am extremely proud of. On the flip side of that, there have been times of sadness, regret, failure, and disappointment. Let's begin from the start... let's begin from Zero Day.
Lets go a bit before 2003 -- lets start in the fall of 2002.
I was a young hotshot attending college trying to figure out where I belonged in the world. College life... loads of fun. But it wasn't for me, I needed to do something more. For those who remember this time of the US history we as a country were getting ready to invade Iraq for the 2nd time and it just so happened that our US Armed Forces were accepting volunteers. So that "do something more", like my uncle and grandfather before me, turned out to be enlisting in the United States Air Force. That's where this story starts.
In the summer of 2003 I would alter my life and embark to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas to start United States Air Force Basic Military Training, or "Basic", as most would call it. I didn't know what to expect, didn't know what would happen. I was excited. I was happy to go. And maybe even young hotshot me was a little bit scared.
Landing in Texas, grabbing our gear, being yelled at immediately in the airport-- what a wake up call. Wow! It's on.
In these first few hours in Texas I quickly discovered to pay attention because I didn't know how to do anything the correct Air Force way.... I knew that I would learn, it would be a journey, and I would be better because of it. This journey starts with Zero Week -- the first week of Basic Training. So here I was on Zero Day of learning, absorbing information, beginning a journey. This first day is what ultimately started me on a path which lead us to Zero Day Gear.
That's only part of where the name Zero Day Gear comes from. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Zero Day "0day" is what you'd call a security exploit that is just released into the wild. The exploit is so new that it's a 0Day [Zero Day] exploit. Interestingly enough, Zero Day Exploits also lines up with my path in the US Air Force. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to my first choice Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC or MOS for those of you not in the Air Force) of Computer Cryptographic "crypto" Technician! Naturally, when maintaining our nation's crypto there is an inherent need to ensure a high level of security. And that need for security brings us again right back to Zero Day Gear.
After fulfilling the terms of my enlistment, I set off on another journey which ultimately did not end well... I was in bad shape and quite simply not where I should have been. If it weren't for family pulling me back the situation would be completely different. Because of the hardships gone through this website is then, of sorts, a rebirth.
Lessons learned going back to where this journey began -- Zero Day -- have been incorporated into this site. Mistakes and failures of old have been built upon to ensure they are not repeated. The passion and drive has been restored, focused, and sharpened with one goal in mind: To provide the best possible service to