Occupation: I’m the manager at Core Fitness in Newtown. I track appointments, schedule clients, and everything that goes into the business. I’m a personal trainer there, too. As a side project, I’m involved in the Marine Corps “poolie” program. That’s physical training for delayed entry Marine recruits. I’m a Marine veteran, and served from 2006 to 2010. I was deployed to Iraq from August 2007 to March 2008, and again to Afghanistan in 2010, for six months, until I was injured July 4. There’s a benefit to me in personal training and the poolie program. I really like to help these kids. You help to bring the best out of people. That’s awesome, and rewarding.

Family: I’m married to my beautiful wife, Tara. We celebrated our first anniversary on May 17.

Pets: I have a dog, Dingo. He’s a service dog and a rescue dog that I found in Wilmington, N.C. We have a Persian cat, named Simba. He’s hilarious and we love him. We have a new member that came with our new house. It’s a cat that lives under the house. She comes out twice a day to be fed, and we’ve named her Cocoa. She’s very shy, but friendly.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We’ve lived here only a month, but I’ve been working here since August 2014.

What do you like to do in your free time? The number one thing that I love is the Tough Mudder competitions. I’ve done six of them, and I want to do the World’s Toughest Mudder. That’s my goal. I like to exercise, honestly. It’s very beneficial to readjusting to the civilian life. It bridges that gap. I like to read, and I like being outdoors. I go running at Tarrywile Park in Danbury and up at Fairfield Hills. I love to go to professional football games.

What have you read recently? I read Redeployment by Phil Klay. It’s a tough book, and a lot of parts are hard to read. I have also read American Sniper. The book was 100 times better than the movie.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? I don’t know if I’ve found my favorite place yet. I’ve been to the Dominican Republic and Cancun, and we went to Disney World last year. That’s always guaranteed fun. My dream vacation is to go to Bora Bora. That would be the most incredible trip.

What is the best thing about Newtown? The people, honestly. They are very friendly. Everybody is just happier than where we lived before.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? That’s tough. If it’s a who, it’s Sgt Ramlal in the Marines, or Dr Kukk in college. Both were great mentors. Sgt Ramlal taught me to really be a Marine, and Dr Kukk taught me how to learn, and how to make the transition from a combat to a college mindset. If it’s a what, I’m motivated to work against seeing people in pain.

Did you have a favorite toy, growing up? What I remember the most from my childhood is the Mighty Max toy, the “guy version” of Polly Pocket. They were little tiny action guys.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Chocolate — milk chocolate, the worst kind. When you exercise intensely, you get a sweets craving, and I stuff myself with chocolate when it happens.