W. E. B. Griffin is one of eight pseudonyms used by William E. Butterworth, who was born on November 10, 1929 in Newark, New Jersey. He enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in 1946 and underwent counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird. After assignment to the Army of Occupation in Germany where he served on the staff of the Commander of the U.S. Constabulary, Major General I.D. White, Butterworth left the service in 1947, but rejoined and again served with White from 1951 to 1953 in Korea. After leaving the service for the second time, Butterworth remained in Korea as a combat correspondent. He was later appointed chief of the publications division of the Signal Aviation Test and… Support Activity at the Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama. He received the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association in 1991 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award in 1999. At first, he wrote fiction for young adults. He has written more than 125 books, many of them military thrillers or police dramas. His works include the Brotherhood of War series, The Corps series, Badge of Honor series, Honor Bound series, Presidential Agent series, and Men at War series. He received the Alabama Author's Award in 1982 from the Alabama Library Association. His title,The Spymasters (co-authored with William E. Butterworth IV) was on The New York Times Bestseller List along with his book's Hazardous Duty, Top Secret and The Assassination Option.
William E. Butterworth IV is the son of author W. E. B. Griffin. He was the editor of Boys' Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. He has co-authored some of his father's books including The Double Agents, The Traffickers, The Saboteurs, The Vigilantes, The Outlaws, and Victory and Honor. Their title, The Spymasters, made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012.