Vern began his Marine Corps Reserve career in the Comm. Section of a unit in Baltimore. The unit was activated during the Korean War. He served in an Artillery Battalion and later a Comm. Company at Camp Pendleton. Upon release from active duty he rejoined the Baltimore unit which later was designated the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, MFR. After a few years as the Comm. Chief, he was appointed a Warrant Officer and became the Battalion Communication's Officer. He served in that position on two occasions spanning a period of twelve years during which he reached the rank of CWO-4.

His civilian career was also in the communications field. He retired in 1989 from Bell Atlantic, now Verizon, as a Division Manager. His responsibilities included the development and maintenance of Operations, Engineering and Revenue Accounting computer software applications for seven telephone companies. Coincidently he earned a BS degree from the Johns Hopkins University.

He has been active in MCROA/MCRA at the national level for 21 years. During that time he held three VP positions in the Association, was the MCRA Foundation Manager and currently is serving as the Association's National Executive Director, a position he held on two previous occasions.