Ryan Pote

Ryan is a twelve-year veteran Navy helicopter pilot and mission commander who was part of a joint interagency special operations task force (JIATF). He did three deployments during Operation MARTILLO countering narcotics smuggling throughout Central and South America.

Ryan then served as a search and rescue pilot for the US Navy Experimental Test Wing and NASA. After getting out of the Navy, he was a federal investigator for five years on prototype aircraft development programs. He currently works for the Navy’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Test and Evaluation Unit.

Before the Navy, he lived and worked in Hawaii as a PADI SCUBA Instructor and lab tech researching algal-biofuels for Shell Oil. Ryan’s been the director of an oil company, a bartender, and even a live musician. He attended college at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and earned a master’s degree in US History and Teaching from Ashland University.

Ryan volunteers his time as a judge for the Clive Cussler Adventure Writer’s Competition. He lives with his wife and children in New England.