Chris serves as the head of the Institute of Makers of Explosives, which is the safety institute of the commercial explosives industry. He served in the United States Army for 6 years, commanding an armored cavalry platoon in Vietnam and an Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Detachment at Fort Benning, Georgia. Later he became a Special Agent for the FBI, where he directed the FBI's bombing investigations as Chief of the Explosives Operations Group. For 16 years he was the chief forensics expert on the Unabomber case. He is a member of the International Society of Explosives Engineers and the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators. He serves on numerous advisory boards and panels concerned with forensic science, explosives detection, airline security and counter-terrorism technologies.