As part of SOF Week, join bestselling thriller authors and military veterans Andrews & Wilson, Don Bentley, and Jack Stewart for a discussion on the intersection of real-world service and storytelling. Drawing from their experiences as a Navy submariner, Navy special warfare operator, Army Apache pilot, and Navy TOPGUN fighter pilot—craft gripping tales of covert operations, valor, and sacrifice. Learn how their military backgrounds inform their fiction to bring authenticity to their action-packed narratives, and pay tribute to those who've served.
"Truth in Fiction: Honoring Those We Served With" Panel Featuring:
Andrews & Wilson (Navy Submariner/Navy Special Warfare)
Don Bentley (Army Apache Pilot/FBI agent)
Jack Stewart (Navy TOPGUN Pilot)
Vice Admiral Matthew Kohler, moderator
As part of SOF Week, join bestselling thriller authors and military veterans Andrews & Wilson, Don Bentley, and Jack Stewart for a discussion on the intersection of real-world service and storytelling. Drawing from their experiences as a Navy submariner, Navy special warfare operator, Army Apache pilot, and Navy TOPGUN fighter pilot—craft gripping tales of covert operations, valor, and sacrifice. Vice Admiral Matthew Kohler will serve as moderator for the panel, guiding a conversation on how military experience shapes authentic, action-packed narratives that honor those who’ve served.
Bios:
Andrews & Wilson is the New York Times best-selling coauthor team of multiple covert ops and action-adventure thriller series: TIER ONE, SONS of VALOR, THE SHEPHERDS and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan saga. Brian Andrews is a US Navy veteran, Park Leadership Fellow, and former submarine officer with a psychology degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s degree in business from Cornell University. Brian is a principal contributor at Career Authors, a site dedicated to advancing the careers of aspiring and published writers. Jeffrey Wilson has worked as an actor, firefighter, paramedic, jet pilot, and diving instructor, as well as a vascular and trauma surgeon. He served in the US Navy for fourteen years and made multiple deployments as a combat surgeon with an East Coast–based SEAL Team. He and his wife, Wendy, live in Southwest Florida with their four children.
Don Bentley is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Matt Drake series (Forgotten War 2023), four Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. novels (Weapons Grade 2023), and the Vince Flynn Mitch Rapp series (2024). Don spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot, and while deployed in Afghanistan, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal with "V" device for valor. Following his time in the military, Don worked as an FBI special agent focusing on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence and was a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member. Don lives with his family in Austin, Texas.
Jack Stewart grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy before serving twenty-three years as a fighter pilot. During that time, he flew combat missions from three different aircraft carriers and deployed to Afghanistan as a member of an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party. His last deployment was with a joint special operations counter-terrorism task force in Africa. Jack is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and holds a Master of Science in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego. He is an airline pilot and has appeared as a military and commercial aviation expert on international cable news. He lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and three children.
Vice Admiral Matthew Kohler, a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, was commissioned as a naval intelligence officer in 1984 and holds master’s degrees in Computer Science and Military History. He has served in key intelligence and information warfare leadership roles across the Navy, NSA, and U.S. Africa Command, including as commander of Naval Information Forces. In 2018, he became deputy chief of naval operations for Information Warfare and the 67th director of Naval Intelligence, earning numerous honors for his service.
