I'm Stuart Bowler, a retired Gunnery Sergeant from the United States Marine Corps after 20 years of active duty service. My career was in logistics, where I planned, coordinated, and moved entire military battalions while leading teams of young Marines. I also served as an instructor, training personnel on supply chain operations, mission planning, and execution under high-stakes conditions.

I deployed multiple times, including a combat tour to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Coordinating large-scale joint military exercises around the world taught me the value of clear information, thorough preparation, and getting the details right the first time — skills that translate directly to everything I write and sell here.

After retiring, I became a licensed Realtor® in North Carolina, helping families find homes and make smart moves in the civilian world. Along the way, I learned firsthand how to maximize the benefits available to military families through PCS moves, deployments, and the transition out — and how often people leave money on the table simply because nobody laid out the facts clearly.

That's why I write these guides.

The 2026 Veteran Relocation Guide exists because transition seminars only scratch the surface — they don't fully prepare you for civilian realities like taxes on retirement pay, property tax exemptions, VA healthcare access, or where your benefits actually stretch the furthest.

The FSBO Field Manual exists for the same reason, aimed at a different problem: most homeowners selling without an agent get advice that's either a sales pitch for a course or too generic to actually use. I wrote the guide I'd want a client of mine to have before they signed anything — whether they end up hiring an agent or not.

Both guides follow the same principle: give people the real information, laid out clearly, so they can make the smartest possible call for their situation.

My goal with everything here is simple: equip you with the tools to make your money and your benefits work as hard for you as you worked for them.