Our Authors

Mir M. Bahmanyar brings a unique perspective to military history having lived in in four countries across three continents. He holds a BA in History from UC Berkeley, then enlisted in the Second Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and earned an MA in War Studies from King’s College London. READ MORE.

Chief Warrant Officer (Retired) John Barnes, MMM, MSM, CD served in the Canadian Forces as an infantryman for thirty-six years, primarily in the Royal Canadian Regiment. He served in Germany, Cyprus, the Former Yugoslavia, Qatar and Afghanistan. READ MORE.

Josh Bates retired from the United States Marine Corps in 2022. He served as both an infantry and counterintelligence/human intelligence officer. His service included combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and operational assignments across the Indo-Pacific. READ MORE.

Necole Belanger is a retired Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), who joined at the tail end of the LGBTQ Purge, which saw more than 9000 members of the RCMP, CAF, and Federal Public Service employees have their lives and careers destroyed because of a government-sanctioned practice to label them as threats to national security. CCWO (Ret’d) Belanger managed to hide in plain sight and completed 35 years of service to her country. READ MORE.

David W. Brown embarked on his illustrious career at the young age of seventeen, demonstrating his unwavering dedication by enlisting in the US Navy. His journey began at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois, where he underwent rigorous training. His exceptional abilities led him to the Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, California, a testament to his perseverance. He successfully graduated from BUD/S Class 115. READ MORE.

Gord Cullen, a 28-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, was born in St James Assiniboia Manitoba, but spent much of his childhood in Whitehorse Yukon. He began his career as a soldier with the 1st Battalion the Royal Canadian Regiment with postings to the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment, 3rd Battalion the Royal Canadian Regiment and CANSOFCOM. READ MORE.

Michael A. Dorosh, CD is a graduate of the University of Calgary, holding bachelor of arts degrees in history and communications. He joined the Canadian Forces as a reservist in 1987 and has served continuously with The Calgary Highlanders since then. READ MORE.

Robert Drummond is a career emergency physician and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at McGill University in Montreal. READ MORE.

Charles Estep is an Active-Duty Air Force Officer currently undergoing rotary wing pilot training at Ft. Rucker, Alabama.  He is a 2019 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a B.S. in History and Political Science.  In 2020, Charles earned his Master’s in History from the University of Calgary with a focus on West African Military History. READ MORE.

Andrew Goldsmith grew up in Los Angeles, California. In 2004, he joined the US Army infantry where he served as a machine gunner, team leader, and squad leader during nearly five years of service. Andrew deployed to Iraq twice, in 2006 and 2008, and graduated US Army Ranger School in 2008. READ MORE

Michael Goodspeed has had a lengthy career as an Army officer as well as having been a video producer and worked in the telecommunications industry. He has degrees in English Literature and History, Business Administration, and Strategic Studies. He has lived and worked across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. READ MORE

David Grebstad was born in Dryden, Ontario and has served as an officer in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery for over thirty years with operational tours of duty in Afghanistan, Italy and Egypt. READ MORE

Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and a Distinguished Fellow in National Security at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation.  READ MORE.

Benjamin Inks is a Purple Heart recipient who served three years in the Army and has worked an odd array of jobs—private investigator, personal trainer, security supervisor at a senior community. So far, the highlight of his résumé has been teaching literature as a grad student at George Mason University. READ MORE.

Matthew James Jones is a Canadian poet, novelist, storyteller and veteran who has published in Arc, F(r)iction, and many other places. Today, Matt writes and teaches in Paris: leadership at the École militaire and creative writing at SciencesPo. He edits prose at The Wrath Bearing Tree, co-hosts the by-donation WriteTime workshop, and organizes fitness enthusiasts who use trees as barbells: the Log Club.  READ MORE.

Captain Luca Lazzara is a 737 pilot for a major European airline based in Italy and he has a passion for making connections between people and stories. With over 10,000 hours and more than 200 different airports in his logbook, spread across two decades in the aviation industry, Luca loves flying passengers across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, something he dreamed of since he was a child. READ MORE.

Barry W. Levy is an award-winning actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter. He holds a Fine Arts degree from The University of British Columbia’s Department of Theatre, Film, and Creative Writing, (1991). His two feature films, ‘Spook’ and ‘The Shasta Triangle’, both of which he wrote and directed, have won many international festival awards, as have his numerous short films. READ MORE

Jonathan Link has worked in media for over 30 years. He has written for The Walrus and the Globe and Mail among many other publications and was nominated for a National Magazine Award for a story about eclipse chasing through Turkey during the Kurdish insurgency. READ MORE

Sean E. Livingston is a naval historian, author, reserve officer, and teacher. His first book, “Oakville’s Flower: The History of HMCS Oakville” (2014), documents the story of a Second World War Canadian Corvette named after the Town of Oakville. READ MORE

Christopher Lyke is an American writer and teacher living in Chicago. He served in Afghanistan and Africa as an enlisted infantryman in the U.S. Army. Chris co-founded and edits Line of Advance, a literary blog for veterans, as well as overseeing the annual Colonel Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards.  READ MORE

Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Steve MacBeth, MSC, MSM (with bar), CD was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and is a 25-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. He began his career as a soldier in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry before being selected to the Officer Corps, where he served with The Royal Canadian Regiment. His deployments include Bosnia, multiple tours in Afghanistan, Latvia, and other small missions. READ MORE.

Gerry Madigan is a retired Canadian Armed Forces logistician. His career spanned 28 Years as a finance officer. His notable postings included time served at National Defence Headquarters, CFB Europe, Maritime Canada with tours in Cyprus and the First Gulf War, Qatar. READ MORE.

Robyn May was born in Sudbury, Ontario in June 1962 and lived there until joining the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as a Vehicle Technician. After two years of service, she remustered to become an Aero-Engine Technician and worked most of her career in Search and Rescue squadrons across Canada. Her service took her from British Columbia to Newfoundland and everywhere in between. READ MORE.

Tom Mykytiuk is a veteran of the Canadian Army. His service has taken him to many parts of the globe not advertised in tourist brochures. He includes John Le Carre, Steven King, and Nikos Kazantikus among his literary influences. Tom enjoys writing about his favorite people-soldiers and ex-soldiers- and his personal experiences often find their way into his novels. READ MORE.

Colonel (Retired) Chuck Oliviero, CD, PhD is an internationally recognized expert in simulation supported training and has twice been the Keynote Speaker at international training conferences and fora.  He has over four decades’ experience as an educator and trainer. His career included command of Canada’s then only tank regiment, The 8^th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s). READ MORE.

Gordon Semple is at heart a teller of stories.  After twenty-five years of being actively involved in living history (French and Indian War, American Revolution, and the War of 1812), Gordon now feels it time to commit some the act of guiding the not yet initiated into “The Hobby”, and he plans to leave the naughty bits in. READ MORE.

Dr. Matt Simpson, Major (Retired), is a married father of four, family physician, and Honorary Colonel. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces at 16 and rose through the ranks from a young reservist to a young Sergeant, before entering medical school at the University of Ottawa and joining the Regular Force. He retired in 2015 after completing nearly 25 years of combined service. READ MORE.

John Sliz was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and has been reading about World War II since he was a young boy. His first book was published by Service Publications in 2006 and three years later Vanwell Publishing published the Storm Boat Kings, which tells the story of the evacuation of the British airborne from Arnhem. READ MORE.

James Stejskal spent thirty-five years as a “Green Beret” and CIA  case officer living and conducting operations around the world during  the Cold War and after 9/11. He has written five military history books, along with numerous articles, and received accolades for his book Masters of Mayhem: Lawrence of Arabia and the British Military  Mission to the Hejaz. READ MORE.

John Thompson was born to an RCAF family and largely raised in Ottawa. He spent 13 years in the Canadian Army (mostly with the Queen’s York Rangers), and over 30 years with defence and security related resarch instiitutes. Decades of prediliction for adventure now means he lives quietly in Alberta. READ MORE.

Ron Thompson was born and raised on the Canadian prairies. After serving in the army reserve and as a naval officer, he backpacked across Europe, then spent two years as a development worker on the margins of the Kalahari. He subsequently pursued a career in Canada and internationally as an economist, investment banker, and consultant. READ MORE

Amber Topp is a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as a military spouse of almost twenty years. She currently resides in Ontario with her husband and children. She is a graduate of the Loyalist College, Protection, Security, and Investigations program, in Belleville, ON, and studied at St Thomas University in Fredericton, NB. READ MORE

A serving Army officer, John Vintar has more than thirty years of Reserve and Regular Force service in the Canadian Armed Forces, with NATO or UN deployments to Bosnia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Mali. He was awarded two Command Commendations during these overseas missions. READ MORE

Burbank California-based Marc Phillip Yablonka is the author of four books on the Vietnam War. He also filed as a military journalist for Vietnam magazine; Military Heritage; Soldier of Fortune; American Veteran; the US Military’s Stars and Stripes; and Army Times. From 2001 to 2008, Marc served as a Public Affairs Officer with the rank Chief Warrant Officer-2 in the California State Guard. READ MORE