During the summer alumnus Lieutenant Christopher Whong (B.S. 2003) visited the department. Chris was featured in Geografitti for Spring 2006, where he reported on his service in Iraq. He was placed in charge of an Army platoon conducting truck convoys and traveled all over Iraq.

He found his geographical training very useful in ensuring that the convoys always took the right roads. Making the wrong turn in Iraq can of course have far more serious consequences than in Maryland. Chris finished that tour of duty and returned to the US in 2006. He has just made a career change and will be actively using his GIS training in Baltimore working for a a firm that does GIS mapping and preventive maintenance of the municipal water system.

"I am settling in at my new job, and am fully immersed in a massive GIS of an equally massive water system. I am also developing a real-time GPS tracking system that uses existing GPS equipment and open source software. " He continues to serve in the Maryland Army National Guard.