James D. Dever was born in 1955 in East Meadow, New York. He served 25 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring as a Sergeant Major in 1998. He founded 1 Force, Inc. and began advising on Heartbreak Ridge (1986) for Clint Eastwood, which launched his Hollywood career as a military consultant and actor. His notable acting roles include Windtalkers (2002, dir. John Woo, with Nicolas Cage), Che: Part Two (2008, dir. Steven Soderbergh, with Benicio del Toro), Battle: Los Angeles (2011, with Ryan Phillippe), American Sniper (2014, dir. Eastwood, with Bradley Cooper), Godzilla (2014, dir. Gareth Edwards), and Megan Leavey (2017, with Kate Mara). He also served as military technical advisor on Iron Man 3, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Captain America: Civil War.