Lieutenant Colonel David J. Gearhart is a native of Erie, PA, and a 1978 graduate of Iroquois High School. Upon earning his B.S. in Engineering Science in 1982, he was commissioned in the United States Air Force. Lt. Col. Gearhart served as a project engineer for two years before being selected for fulltime graduate study. He received his M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1986, and he was assigned as a weapon systems analyst and ROTC instructor before leaving active duty in 1992. While a reservist, Lt. Col. Gearhart worked in industry as a systems analyst in the fields of public utilities, steel,

healthcare, and retail. As a reservist, he was a liaison officer for the United States Air Force Academy where he was responsible for recruiting future Air Force officers in northwestern Pennsylvania. He was voluntarily recalled to active duty in 2003 and currently serves as a software engineering instructor for the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB. Lt. Col. Gearhart is an IEEE Computer Society Certified Software Development Professional and a member of the Software Engineering Institute.

Lt. Col. Gearhart married Carol A. Labrozzi, also of Erie. The couple has one son, James Dominick, who is 4 years old.

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