CDR Lesa McComas, USN (Ret.), is a former Navy surface warfare officer and the author of the 12th edition of The Naval Officer's Guide. She is currently an operations analyst at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, supporting a variety of sponsors with qualitative and quantitative analytic studies.

CDR J. D. Kristenson, USN, is a Navy surface warfare officer and Olmsted Scholar (China). He previously had command of the USS Champion (MCM 4), where he led a “damn fine crew of iron men on a wooden ship.” He is currently serving as Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.