Jim Mattis is a Marine four-star general whose battlefield innovations, leadership style, and clear strategic vision have won him the trust and affection of a generation of U.S. and Allied troops and millions of Americans. He is widely considered one of the most revered military leaders of our time. He led a battalion through minefields in Desert Storm (1991), a naval task force into Afghanistan in 2001, a division to Baghdad in 2003, and a combined Army-Marine force in Anbar Province in 2004. From 2010 to 2013, he served as commander of the U.S. Central Command, including all American forces in the Middle East. He subsequently served as Secretary of Defense. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he is currently the Davies Family Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Acclaimed war correspondent and bestselling author Bing West served as a Marine grunt in Vietnam and later as assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. He has been on hundreds of patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan, including many operations with General Mattis.