Rusty was licensed in 1958 as KN4BVD in Columbus, GA. He changed to his present W6OAT call sign in 1972 after moving to California.

Current achievements are DXCC with 373 countries and Top of the Honor Roll; Honor Roll on Mixed, SSB and CW with 9 Band DXCC.

He has obtained 5B-WAS, 5B-DXCC and 5B-WAZ on Mixed, SSB and CW. Rusty is also on the CQ DX Field Award Honor Roll.

Rusty has been inducted into both the CQ DX Hall of Fame and the CQ Contest Hall of Fame.

Major DX operations include KP6PA (Palmyra), KP6KR (Kingman Reef), 9N38 (Nepal), FO0XX (Clipperton) and YK0A (Syria).  He has participated in numerous contests from locations all around the globe.

He is a member and past president of the Northern California DX Club, and a Charter Member and past president of the Northern California Contest Club.  Rusty presently serves a second time as  president of the Northern California DX Foundation and is also treasurer of The Yasme Foundation.

Rusty wrote the rules for, and was Chief Judge of, the first World Radiosport Team Championship held in Seattle in 1990 and has participated in every WRTC since then as an organizer or referee.  He is a member of the WRTC Sanctioning Committee.