Mike Champion graduated from PA school in 1980 in Cleveland, Ohio after serving as a 91B medic on active duty (1972-77). He re-entered active-duty the day after his PA school graduation and PCS’d to Fort Ord, CA 7th ID. Fort Bragg, NC was his next assignment where he worked at Womack Army Hospital and deployed to Honduras in 1983.He went on to earn a BS degree from the University of the State of New York in 1983. While stationed in Berlin, Germany (1984-87) he earned a Master of Education from Boston University. He returned from Europe in 1987 to attend the Clinical Perfusion training program at Penn State Hershey with a second year of training at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC. He served as chief PA-perfusionist at Letterman Army Medical Center and then on to Madigan Army Medical center after the 1989 earthquake damaged Letterman. He retired from active duty as a Captain in 1994 after serving as an enlisted medic, Warrant Officer and Commissioned Officer. He continued to serve in the Texas Military forces and retired in 2019 at the rank of Colonel.