William V. Cowan, is a retired USMC lieutenant coloneland a former contributor for the Fox News Channel from 2001 to 2016. Cowan was born in Sacramento, California. He enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17, received an appointment to and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1966, and was commissioned as a lieutenant the United States Marine Corps. He subsequently spent three and a half years in Vietnam. On his first tour he served as a platoon commander with the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, along the DMZ and at the siege of Khe Sanh, and later was in charge of the 3rd Marine Division's Kit Carson Scouts program for five months. From 1969 onwards, he was advisor for the South Vietnam military in the Rung Sat Special Zone for two and a half years. Most of that time was spent with small units and getting experience of raids, ambushes, riverine operations and intelligence gathering with the Central Intelligence Agency. During his last year he led the Rung Sat's Provincial Reconnaissance Unit. He received numerous awards for valor in combat and was wounded three times. Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) In April 1983, after having been offered a job at the White House Science Advisor's office, he was approached by the Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) to replace the previous U.S. Marine representative as ISA deputy operations officer. He turned down the White House offer, going instead to ISA where he conducted numerous missions as an ISA operative, including being with the team that hunted down and targeted those responsible for the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 servicemen (220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel and 3 Army personnel). He retired from the Marine Corps after what he perceived as inaction by the Pentagon towards dealing with this incident. Special Operations Command After he retired from the ISA, he worked as legislative assistant to Senator Warren B. Rudman during the hearings of the Iran Contra scandal, and was a key staff member in drafting the legislation which created the U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida. Against strong opposition from the Reagan White House, Rudman was instrumental in getting the legislation passed. The Middle East Following his time as a staff assistant to Senator Warren Rudman he again became involved with global terrorism and the Middle East. Cowan was involved in some of the most