Ralph DeFalco left an unfulfilling career in corporate marketing to tackle challenging assignments in national security intelligence. He unraveled the shipping ploys of narco-traffickers, sailed with Marines embarked for the invasion of Haiti, tracked Russian naval operations in the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, supported US special forces and covert operations, and uncovered notorious Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan. His career spanned five decades and five continents. As a naval officer, he served with U.S. Intelligence agencies, NATO, and multinational forces, and in the Pentagon, England, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. He later completed tours of duty with the National Intelligence University, United States European Command, Africa Command, and Central Command during combat operations in Afghanistan and retired in the rank of captain. He served his final tour of duty at the Pentagon, as Deputy Director of Intelligence, Joint Operations and Intelligence Center. As a civilian, he was the Intelligence Oversight Officer on the staff of the Director of Naval Intelligence. A graduate of Georgetown University, Dr. DeFalco earned his doctorate in public policy involving the international law of armed conflict and the moral use of armed force. He is widely published in national security intelligence, foreign affairs, geopolitics, intelligence operations, history, and applied ethics. The Counterfeit is his first novel.