After 30 years as a surface warfare officer in the US Navy, Mr Martin is currently working as a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. He has done projects relating to ship maintenance, joint readiness, employment options for the US Navy's expeditionary mobile base (T-ESB), aircraft carrier alternatives, overseas basing, headquarters operations, and space requirements. He have a doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan, with secondary concentrations in quantitative methods and economics.