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Jamal Baker, 28, was born in Chicago, Illinois to James and
Jasmine Baker. A computer wizard at an early age, he
managed, at the age of 17, to hack into the main frame
computer of Richard Daley High School on a dare. His
principal had declared the system ‘unhackable’ and Jamal set
about to prove that no system was foolproof. In the end, he
was successful; however, he was caught and criminal charges
were pressed. Baker was convicted of ‘computer hacking’ and
would have faced a jail term but for the foresight of a
judge who recognized the teenager’s gift and inner
strengths. Instead, the judge offered him an alternative –
enter the military and put his ‘gift’ to good use for a
period of 10 years or face the possibility of going to jail
for that length of time. His parents persuaded him that the
military would be a better option. Since James had served
20 years in the Navy, the decision was made for him to enter
that branch of the service.
Baker entered the Navy and
worked his way from enlisted rating to Lt.(jg), partially
due to his expertise with computers. An incident involving
hacking into the personal computer of the head of the Great
Lakes Naval Training Center led to a verbal reprimand, but
the facility’s Commanding Officer recognized great potential
in the young man. He made the unprecedented action of
recommending that Baker be admitted into the OCS program,
thereby removing him from his immediate command and yet
providing an outlet for Baker’s unique ‘gift’. It was at
Great Lakes that Baker first met, and became friends with,
Jonathan Yellowhorse, a young Lieutenant in the
Communications and Computer section. It is because of
Yellowhorse, and Baker’s knack for computers, that he was
chosen to oversee the computer system aboard the SSRN
Nelson. |
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