LegiStorm

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be lobbying for Aflac. So too is Rep. David Scott's (D-Ga.) long-time right-hand man, Michael Andel.

Andel has left the Hill to become Aflac's director of federal relations. He had served as chief of staff since 2006. Prior to joining Scott's as a senior legislative assistant in 2003, Andel worked as a legislative assistant for Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) and as a personnel analyst for the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

Andel studied at the University of Georgia at Athens, where he was chapter president of the Young Democrats of Georgia.

Do you hear what we hear? Audible Inc. has a new lobbyist in Brian Quinn, who left his position at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to become the audiobook retailer's senior manager of legislative and government affairs.

Quinn had served as the committee's Democratic counsel since 2009, and, previously, as a law clerk for a New Jersey assignment judge.

Quinn, who's returned to Newark for his new post, holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Morehouse College and a JD degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

In 2007, retired U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Vargas was caught in a near-fatal blast when enemy combatants blew up a 500-round ammunition drum in Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death. Ten surgeries and nearly 200 other medical procedures later, the San Francisco native has taken a far less deadly job as a constituent services representative in Rep. Eric Swalwell's (D-Calif.) Hayward district office.

"I left my body," Vargas said of the moments following the explosion in an interview with his campus paper, Berkeley News. "I was floating and could see everything. There was no pain. Euphoria can barely describe it. I felt God's presence... But I remember feeling, 'Not now.'"

Vargas, who was 19 years old at the time of the injury, medically retired from the Marines in 2009. But the husband and dog-father-of-three hasn't let retirement slow him down.

After his discharge, Vargas graduated from Diablo Valley College with an associate's degree in sociology before earning a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of California Berkeley.

"Higher education also is worth living for," Vargas said. "I'll forever be a [Berkeley] Bear, just as much as I'll forever be a Marine."

A former staffer for Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) now represents Big Pet: Last month, Courtney Hogan left her position as the congressman's staff assistant to join the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council.

Hogan, who served in the congressman's office since finishing college a year ago, began working as the firm's government affairs specialist in May.

The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council lobbies on behalf of pet stores, breeders and pet product manufacturers. The organization's stated mission is to "promote responsible pet ownership and animal welfare, foster environmental stewardship and ensure the availability of pets."

Hogan graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BA degree in international politics and national security. She is a member of Delta Zeta Sorority.

After a military career spanning nearly two decades and years more as a lobbyist and Capitol Hill staffer, retired Lt. Col. Dave Davis is now chief of staff to Rep. Kevin Patrick Brady (R-Texas), the House’s deputy whip and the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

He joined Brady's office this month.

Davis spent the last three years lobbying for Meyers and Associates and, prior, was senior vice president of government affairs for ChoicePoint.

Davis joined the U.S. Army in 1976 and worked his way up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He specialized in Korea and Northeast Asia and has been touted for his leadership during several military base realignments in his home state of Texas.

After leaving the military, he held a number of positions with former Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-Texas), including working as her chief of staff and senior adviser. He also previously served as staff director of the vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference and as a legislative fellow for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Davis graduated from Mercer University and received a master’s degree in international affairs from Catholic University. He has also studied military arts and science at the Korean Army College.