Dick Nelson is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former Navy fighter pilot. During the Vietnam War, Nelson flew the supersonic F-8E Crusader and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, 13 Air Medals, the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with star, and other decorations. After the Navy, Nelson flew with Continental Airlines as a commercial airline pilot, and then attended the UCLA School of Law. He moved to Florida in 2005, where he worked as an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security and the FDIC. Now retired, Nelson is also the author of The Contrail Chronicles and The Trojan Horse Conspiracy.