Dan Sheehan served two tours with the Marine Corps in Iraq; the first as an attack helicopter pilot during the 2003 invasion and the second in 2004 as a forward air controller with a special operations unit. His personal decorations include the Bronze Star and two Individual Action Air Medals for valor in combat. He left the Marine Corps as a Major in 2007, and now lives in California with his wife, their two young children, and a pitbull named Kitty.