Karen Kwiatkowski grew up in western North Carolina. She was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in in 1983 and served tours in Alaska, Massachusetts, Spain, Italy and Fort Meade as a communications-electronics officer. She later served in political military analysis at the Pentagon, retiring after 20 years as a Lt Colonel. Since her retirement in 2003, she has spoken out against an interventionist foreign policy and written numerous essays and articles, most of which are available at lewrockwell.com. She has been featured in several documentaries including the award-winning, Why We Fight (2004). She was awarded the Sam Adams Award in 2018 and is a member of the Eisenhower Media Network. She holds advanced degrees from Harvard University, the University of Alaska and a Ph.D. from Catholic University in world politics. She and her husband of 41 years now raise cattle, sheep and horses in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.