Schrader, Steven L.

Served in the US Marine Corps in Iraq, helping to rebuild that country's deaf education system after the second US war there. Although hard of hearing with hearind aids and deaf without them, he managed to enter the Marines under an obscure formula that weighs a candidate's fitness in various areas, allowing high scores in some areas to compensate for lower scores in, among other things, hearing. Political influence also plays a major part. Apparently the Marines' need for a deaf-education expert (plus political influence) outweighed Schrader's own deafness, and he met the other military requirements satisfactorily. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant, one of the highest non-commissioned ranks in the US military.