Gorman graduated from Denver's Lincoln High School in 1964. As his father had before him, Gorman joined the air force, working as an air traffic controller. He worked in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. He was stationed near Miyakojima in Japan at a long-range radar facility during the Vietnam War. His first wife introduced him to marijuana in Loveland, Colorado in 1969. Gorman was often quoted as saying "It has been a friend of mine ever since." He went on to a career with the FAA as an air traffic controller. On August 5, 1981, while stationed in Hawaii, he was fired by Ronald Reagan along with 11,358 other PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) members who were on strike.