Julius grew up in SW Michigan where he spent much of his free time fishing with his grandfather, hunting with his father or trapping with his older brother. After a few years working factories, construction and commercial driving, Julius decided it was time to take a similar path as his father and brother by joining the U.S. Navy.

Julius spent eight years in the Submarine community before becoming a Navy Diver at 30 years old. As a Navy Diver Julius had a unique career path that enabled him to make combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, repatriate WW II MIAs in Palau, work as a saturation diving human test subject and be an underwater demolition instructor. After 21.5 years of dedicated service his injuries caught up to him and he was medically retired in 2019 with a Master’s degree specializing in adult education.

Having his military career cut shorter than he intended, Julius found solace in the outdoors through fly fishing and hunting. His passion for the outdoors has been rekindled after a 22 year break with the help of programs like Heroes Harvests. He understands the importance of providing positive outdoor experiences and has a strong desire to give back to the veteran communities.