Forrest L. Marion graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in civil engineering and earned a master's degree in military history from the University of Alabama and a doctorate in U.S. history from the University of Tennessee. He is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve officer and served as staff/oral historian (federal civil service) at the Air Force Historical Research Agency from 1998 to 2023, including three overseas deployments (two in military status) and two stateside deployments. Marion is the author of three military history works. From 2011 to 2015, he worked primarily for the Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical Office on a coauthored history of the reserve components.