Gordon L Rottman entered the US Army in 1967, volunteered for Special Forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. He served in the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969-70 and subsequently in airborne infantry, long-range patrol and intelligence assignments until retiring after 26 years. He was a Special Operations Forces scenario writer at the Joint Readiness Training Center for 12 years and is now a freelance writer.
Ronald Volstad was born in 1949 in Alberta, Canada, where he still lives and works. Like several of Osprey's leading military illustrators he had no formal art training, though he did work in a TV company's art department - before spending 15 years operating heavy machinery in the oil industry. His first illustrations were published in 1970; since then he has become known for his work in Squadron and Osprey publications and for Dragon Models, and has also worked as a courtroom artist for TV news.