He received an Artium Baccalaureus from Stanford University in 1952 and was a lieutenant in the United States Army during the Korean War, from 1952 to 1954.

He returned to the military as assistant staff judge advocate, U. S. Army Artillery and Missile Center, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1959–1960 and then as assistant staff judge advocate, Headquarters, U. S. Army Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa, Japan), 1960–1964.

He was in the Thirteenth Career Class, TJAGSA, 1965, and was a member of the faculty of Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 1965 to 1968.

He was a military judge for the U.S. Army Trial Judiciary in Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, from 1968 to 1969, and at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii from 1970 to 1972.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 10, 1985, and received his commission the following day.