Lance Burton is a 1996 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, former surface warfare officer, class leader of BUD/S Class 239, former Blackwater security specialist, and former FBI counter-terrorism agent with over twenty years of combined service including multiple Middle East deployments in support of anti-terrorism operations abroad. He is also a lifelong practitioner of martial arts, a professional level athlete, and author of the popular military sci-fi novel The Blood of a God.