About the Author: JOE BUFF grew up in New York City. Winning a Westinghouse National Science Talent Search college scholarship at age 15 and later a National Science Foundation fellowship to grad school, he earned a BA in Math from NYU and an MS in algebraic topology from MIT. He became a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) in 1980, spending twenty years working on quantitative modeling, risk-mitigation strategies, and process enhancement in the insurance industry, on Wall Street, and as a partner in a Top 10 global management consulting firm. In 1997, Joe established Joe Buff, Inc., An Independent Defense Think Tank of One, to apply actuarial science to U.S. national defense. He penned six novels in the award winning, bestselling Captain Jeffrey Fuller/USS Challenger future submarine warfare series. Joe has also published hundreds of essays, op-eds, and articles for various military-related journals and websites. Five of his articles won Annual Literary Awards from the Naval Submarine League, of which Joe is both a Life Member and a Corporate Member; his 6th Captain Jeffrey Fuller novel, SEAS OF CRISIS, won the 2006 Admiral Nimitz Award for Outstanding Naval Fiction from the Military Writers Society of America. Joe Buff Inc. has been a member of the Submarine Industrial Base Council for a decade. In early 2015, Joe began an ongoing project to research the theoretical and practical open questions and conundrums behind effective 21st-century nuclear deterrence Best Practices, and he is now writing a multi-volume book series about his conclusions and recommendations. Joe and his wife of 35+ years, Sheila, live in New York State's scenic, rural Mid-Hudson Valley. Sheila is a NY Times bestselling author and co-author of books about health, wellness, nutrition, and medicine. Both Buffs are keen dog lovers, bird watchers, and avid gym-goers. (They got a home Bowflex during the COVID crisis.) Joe's leisure/hobby interests also include astronomy, history, and the workings of America's railroad industry. Joe can be reached at readermail@joebuff.com. He welcomes your feedback! MR. PETER HUESSY is President and Founder (1981) of defense consulting firm GeoStrategic Analysis of Potomac, Maryland. He is also an Instructor at the United States Naval Academy, on U.S. Nuclear Deterrent Policy and Strategy. Over the years, Mr. Huessy has hosted more than one thousand seminars on Capitol Hill, about important aspects of national defense and strategic deterrence.