Michael Marks earned a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and a Juris Doctorate Degree at the University of Florida. In what has proven to be one of life's great ironies, his high school mascot was a Crusader.

Throughout his career he has had the great fortune to train in various disciplines, attending such programs as sniper school and bomb school, in many cases serving as assistant instructor or OPFOR in those programs.

In addition he is certified in a range of public safety, law enforcement and special operations disciplines to include Hazardous Materials Response, Confined Space Rescue, Vertical/High Angle Rescue as well as tactical handgun and rifle. He holds a national Distinguished Expert rating in both pistol and high-powered rifle. He was commissioned as a Virginia law enforcement officer responsible for creating, training and leading the bomb detection unit for that agency.

Mr. Marks' career has taken him to every continent on the planet save Australia -- this glaring oversight causing considerable consternation since he has made a number of great friends there. His adventures have taken him from the jungles of Nicaragua with Eden "Commandante Cero" Pastora to the mined tunnels deep below the DMZ in Korea to soviet weapon plants in Bulgaria. Along the way he has fished piranah out of the Amazon river, raised a sixteen-foot-long Burmese python, and had the great fortune to work and train with some of the finest people who put their lives on the line to defend this great nation both at home and abroad.

Mr. Marks can be reached via EMAIL