LIEUTENANT GENERAL MIKE DELONG, USMC, RET.

Lieutenant General DeLong has led a distinguished, 36-year military career, most recently serving as the Deputy Commander, United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. As Second-in-Command, Lieutenant General DeLong managed an $8.2 billion operating budget and directed a team of senior executive officers with a staff of over 3,000 personnel who conceived and implemented the Global War on Terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has commanded at all levels, directing large forces of U.S. Marines and aircraft. 
His principal staff assignments included Officer-in-Charge, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Command Center; Intelligence Requirements Officer, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; Aide de Camp to the Deputy Commander, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; Arms Control/Strategic Weapons Action Officer in the Strategic Requirements Branch of the Plans Division, Headquarters Marine Corps; and the Director for Joint Training (J-7) and Director of Joint Training Analyses and Simulation Center, U.S. Atlantic Command. Lieutenant General DeLong's professional education includes the Basic School, Naval Flight School, Amphibious Warfare School, Defense Intelligence School, Armed Forces Staff College, Army War College and a Defense Department fellowship at the Brookings Institute. 

Lieutenant General DeLong's personal decorations include: two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit, two awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with Flight Strike Numerals 69, Navy Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon. General DeLong has logged more than 5,600 flight hours in all models of aircraft and more than 800 combat hours. 

Lieutenant General DeLong holds a Masters Degree in Industrial Management from Central Michigan University and an honorary Doctorate in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College in Anacostia, Maryland. Lieutenant General DeLong graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering. 
Currently, Lieutenant General DeLong is currently the Executive Vice President of Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure International and the President of Shaw CentCom service (LLC) for the Shaw Group. He is also on the Board of Directors for Sykes Enterprises, Tampa, Florida.

NOAH LUKEMAN

Noah Lukeman is author of the critically-acclaimed books A Dash of Style (WW Norton), The First Five Pages (Simon & Schuster) and The Plot Thickens (St. Martins Press), a national bestseller and a BookSense76 and Writers Digest Book Club selection. He has edited and ghosted numerous proposals and manuscripts which have gone on to become New York Times Bestsellers and win major awards. As a literary agent, he is President of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd., a literary agency based in New York, which he founded in 1996. His clients include winners of the Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, Pushcart Prize and O. Henry Award, National Book Award finalists, Edgar Award finalists, Pacific Rim finalists, multiple New York Times bestsellers, national journalists, major celebrities, and faculty of universities ranging from Harvard to Stanford.