Lewis McIntyre graduated from the Naval Academy in 1970, earning his wings as a Naval Flight Officer. He was assigned to TACAMO Squadron VQ-4 in 1972 flying EC-130 Hercules aircraft. He requested a second tour in VQ-3 in Guam after completing the Naval Postgraduate School in 1977. Throughout his naval career, he held various positions in test and evaluation, tactical and strategic command and control, retiring in 1990. Following his Naval retirement, he pursued a second career as an engineer in support of the other TACAMO mission, finally putting that aside to start a third career as a writer.