Fergus P. and Gina M. Briggs

Paul Briggs was born, raised, and educated in Pocatello, Idaho, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Government in 1972. He was encouraged to pursue a college education by parents, relatives, and friends. He pursued undergraduate and later graduate studies in government and history leading to careers in the military and federal civil service. He attributes his motivation during his formative years to the positive examples of two U.S. Presidents, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.
A traditional student at ISU, Paul was a class officer, a competitor in intramural sports, a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, played saxophone in the bands during his first year, and attended almost all student body events (athletics, concerts, speakers etc.). He financed college costs through part time employment and student loans. He completed the Army ROTC junior program at ISU, then joined the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Program, earning a commission as a second lieutenant in 1972. He enjoyed a career spanning 30 years commissioned service, rising to the rank of colonel and performing a wide variety of leadership duties and assignments while serving in aviation command and control squadrons, higher headquarters commands, the Marine Corps University, Headquarters Marine Corps and the Department of Defense. He received graduate education, advanced degrees and certifications at ISU, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the U.S. Naval War College and the National Defense University, among others. He was also a four-year competitor and several-year USMC project officer on the interservice U.S. Military Pentathlon Team.
While assigned to the Commandant of the Marine Corps staff in Arlington, VA, Paul met Gina David in 1986. They married in 1988. Gina was raised and educated in Lackawanna (Buffalo), New York and enlisted in the Air Force after graduation from high school, becoming a telecommunications systems specialist. After eight and a half years active duty, including duty tours in South Korea, Arizona, Texas, Germany and the Pentagon, she transferred to a reserve assignment at the National Security Agency in Maryland. Having started her higher education in the Community College of the Air Force, Gina continued as a nontraditional student using the GI Bill and personal savings to earn a Bachelor’s in English from San Diego State University and a Master’s in Education Technology Leadership from George Washington University. After her baccalaureate, she earned a commission as a second lieutenant in the California Air National Guard, completed Officer Training and Squadron Officer Schools, and later transferred to assignments in the Air Force Reserve. During her commissioned career she served in leadership positions as an intelligence officer, a personnel officer and as a distance learning technology assistant at the Office of Secretary of Defense, Special Operations. She rose to the rank of Major, retiring in 2004.
Following Paul’s retirement from the Marine Corps at the Office of Secretary of Defense in 2002, Paul and Gina remained in the national capital region and employed their military experience and education in senior federal government merit service positions. Paul served as an operations and programs deputy director and then management and budget director at the U.S. Department of Labor. Gina served as training chief and contract officer representative at the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Throughout their military and civil service careers both were entrusted with top-level security clearances. Retiring from civil service in 2010 and 2014, respectively, Paul’s years of government service totaled 40, and Gina’s totaled over 36 years.
In 2018 Paul and Gina moved to Pocatello, where they have been active in the local community. Paul is a member of the College of Arts and Letters Dean’s Advisory Board, and served eight years prior on the ISU
Alumni Board of Directors, including as president for two years. Gina is a project leader for the Grace Lutheran Church support of the Pocatello Salvation Army weekend luncheon program, and is an aspiring piano student. Both are contributors to the Idaho State Civic Symphony, Theater ISU, Bengal Athletics and the College of Arts and Letters.