Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Lee
Hi Isaac, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Isaac G. Lee grew up in Lubbock, Texas, is a graduate of Texas Tech University, and departed for Marine Corps Officer Candidates School in the summer of 1997. His two decades as an officer and aviator resulted in seven overseas deployments, which included four combat tours of duty in the Middle East. The veteran combat aviator served as the Commanding Officer of an operational CH-53E squadron at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar prior to his retirement from the Marine Corps in 2017.
Isaac and his family reside in San Diego, California. He works as an Operations executive, volunteers his time to help his fellow veterans, spends his free time with family and friends, and enjoys baseball and football.
HANGAR 4 is his first book. HANGAR 4 was published in April 2024.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I work full-time as an Operations Executive and made the transition from the Marine Corps to the local business community in 2017. For those first few years, I was totally focused on making a successful transition. In 2021, I decided to revisit my time in service and decided to write HANGAR 4. It was a total spare-time project that I worked on for the majority of 2022. In late 2022, I started sending book proposals out to publishers while simultaneously submitting the manuscript to the Pentagon for a security review. A few months later, I signed with Acorn Publishing, got approval from the Pentagon, and went to work on the publishing process.
The book was released in April 2024. Throughout the remainder of 2024, I did several book-related events around San Diego and a few events on the East Coast. Local event highlights were a successful release party, a presentation and signing at Warwick’s in La Jolla, a signing on the USS Midway, signings at Barnes & Noble, and a few signings at Total Wine that also featured a HANGAR 4 themed beer.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
After a successful 20-year career as a Marine Corps officer, I crossed over to the business world, where I serve as an Operations Executive. In those realms, I am best known for leadership, process improvement, and all of the other “business operations” things. But I have always enjoyed and have been passionate about writing. So, it was very rewarding for me to also become a published author. The reception that HANGAR 4 has received has also been a very pleasant surprise. From reviews to awards to podcast interviews and book events, I continue to appreciate how well this story has been received. It was also rewarding to capture some of the history that so many Marines contributed to in the CH-53E community throughout Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I am someone who has consistently taken paths that are not necessarily obvious. When I decided to join the Marine Corps to try and become an aviator, just about everyone I knew thought I was crazy. I had a somewhat similar experience when I decided to transition into the business world when I left the Marine Corps. Then, deciding to write and publish a book felt similar. In all of those cases, I found that if I were willing to put in the work and ask for advice and assistance, there were people who were willing to help. That was especially true when I transitioned out of the Marine Corps and when I decided to pursue becoming a published author. To this day, I try to do the same for others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://isaacglee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isaacgleewriter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555778459453
- Twitter: https://x.com/isaacglee
