Dick Couch was born in Mississippi and raised in Southern Indiana.  He is a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served with the Navy Underwater Demolition and SEAL Teams.  While a platoon leader with SEAL Team One in 1970, he led one of the only successful POW rescue operations of the Vietnam War.  On release from active duty in 1972, he joined the Central Intelligence Agency where he served as a Maritime Operations Officer.  He retired from the Naval Reserve in 1997 with the rank of captain. 

 Dick began his writing career in 1990 and has published six novels:  SEAL Team One, Pressure Point, Silent Descent, Rising Wind, The Mercenary Option and Covert Action.  The Warrior Elite, his first nonfiction work, was published in November of 2001 by Crown Books.  The US Armed Forces Nuclear, Chemical, Biological Survival Manual (Basic Books) edited by Dick for civilian use, came out in April of 2003.  The Finishing School (Crown Books), a work that detailed advanced Navy SEAL training was released in March of 2004.  Down Range: Navy SEAL Operations in the War on Terror, also by Crown, appeared on the shelves in July of 2005.  Pressure Point was re-released in 2006.  Released in March of 2007: Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior (nonfiction).  Scheduled for 2008 My Brother’s Keeper (a novel) and The Sheriff of Ramadi (nonfiction).

Dick has been a guest on “The O’Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly,” on “Hardball” with Chris Matthews, and on the MS/NBC nightly news with Brian Williams.  He is frequently heard on National Public Radio and numerous other radio talk shows, including the Jim Bohannon Show and the G. Gordon Liddy Show.  He served as an analyst for Fox TV, MS/NBC TV, and ABC radio during combat operations in Iraq.  Dick lectures at the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Special Warfare Center, the JFK Special Forces Center and School, the FBI Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School, The Joint Special Operations University and The Academy Leadership Forum on issues of character development, the Warrior Ethic, and counterinsurgency.  He is a sought-after corporate and motivational speaker.

Dick and Julia Couch live in Ketchum, Idaho and enjoy skiing, hiking, and fly fishing.  Phone:  (208) 726-2726   Cell: (208) 309-2726   E-mail: dick@dickcouch.com.