Elliot Ackerman

Elliot Ackerman (born April 12, 1980) is an American author, journalist, former Marine Raider and CIA Special Activities Officer. He is the New York Times-bestselling author of the novels 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, Red Dress In Black and White, Waiting for Eden, Dark at the Crossing, Green on Blue, Halcyon, 2054, 2084 and Sheepdogs, as well as the memoirs The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan and Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning. His books have received significant critical acclaim, including nominations for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medals in both fiction and non-fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He served as a White House fellow in the Obama administration and is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a contributing writer to The Atlantic and has written for The New York Times and, more recently, The Free Press, and is a contributor to CBS News. He is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Forward Defense program and a senior fellow at Yale's Jackson School of Global Affairs. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Valor, and a Purple Heart during his five deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.