Employee Profile

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David Briery

Public Affairs Specialist
California Desert District

After completing a bachelor's degree in comparative biochemistry and physiology from the University of Kansas in 1968, Uncle Sam came calling and David Briery was off to Vietnam.  While stationed at Cam Ranh Bay. David says he used every opportunity that came his way to see as much of the country as possible.  On his half-day off, he would borrow the commanding officer's jeep, coerce a buddy to ride shot gun (literally not figuratively) and seek out the best food in the war zone.  It was during this time, friends and family as captive readers of his "dispatches" from Vietnam diplomatically nudged him away from dentistry into writing.  A good move for BLM, since David is now writing a lot as a public affairs specialist in the California Desert District Office. 

David has also utilized his writing abilities for the Peace Corps as a public affairs specialist for the Los Angeles region; the Yucca Mountain Project as a communications specialist; and for Southern California Edison as the manager for the EMF education center, supervisor for employee and public information and as the executive speech writer.

In addition to writing news releases, fact sheets, briefing documents and a variety of other outreach documents for the Desert District, David will be involved in responding to media inquiries, coordinating the Desert Advisory Council activities and other communications assignments that will utilize his background and experience.

David grew up in Topeka, Kansas and now lives in San Gabriel.  Besides completing his bachelor's degree, he has a master's degree in mass communications from California State University, Northridge.

"I can be coerced into more than I would like to admit with good food, good wine and good conversation."

David is an avid outdoors recreationist, participating in snowboarding, kayaking, and cycling - particularly in third-world countries. He also enjoys restoring his "historic" cabin in Angeles National Forest and scrabble. 

He is a founder of the U.S. Adaptive Recreation Center at Big Bear, which utilized surplus funds from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics to get started.  The center, which provides both summer and winter programs for the disabled in Southern California and Nevada, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

David has been back to Vietnam twice since that first experience.  Once to bicycle from Saigon to the Chinese border and once as a tour guide.  

He plans to volunteer for an overseas assignment with the Peace Corps after retirement, which, he says, won't be until he is into his seventies.