Lieutenant Colonel Hunter Ripley "Rip" Rawlings IV is the ''New York Times'' bestselling co-author (with

Mark Greaney Mark Greaney (born 23 June 1980) is an Irish musician. He is best known as the singer and guitarist in the alternative rock band JJ72, which he fronted from 1996 until 2006. He was later the frontman of Concerto for Constantine and describes ...

) of the military fiction novel '' Red Metal'' and a former United States Marine Corps infantry & reconnaissance officer.

Early life, family and education

Hunter R. Rawlings IV was born in Boulder, Colorado. His father,

Hunter R. Rawlings III Hunter Ripley Rawlings III (born December 14, 1944) is an American classics scholar and academic administrator. He is best known for serving as the 17th President of the University of Iowa from 1987 until 1995 and as the 10th President of Cornell ...

, is the former President of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and his mother, Irene Rawlings, is a travel author and radio personality in Denver, Colorado. He is married with three children and lives outside Washington, D.C. Rawlings completed his first year of college at the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

, then transferred to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, New York where he received degrees in English and German Literature. He holds a master's degree in Operational Planning from the Marine Corps'

School of Advanced Warfighting The School of Advanced Warfighting (SAW) in the United States Marine Corps is an Advanced Intermediate Level School (A-ILS) that produces officers qualified to fill high-impact service and joint planning billets. The curriculum features nume ...

, Marine Corps University and is a Fellow from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) Seminar XXI program.

Involvement in Ukraine

Shortly after the beginning of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, Rawlings created an organization, Ripley's Heroes, in order to network, raise funds, and provide nonlethal military gear and medical equipment to the soldiers fighting in front-line military units in Ukraine against the Russian armed forces. Rawlings, along with other retired U.S. and

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

military personnel, participated in military operations with the Ukrainian armed forces in Ukraine. He and his associate, Retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Vasquez, reported their findings regarding the Ukrainian need for additional equipment and body armor to the

U.S. Helsinki Commission The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent U.S. government agency created by U.S. Congress, Congress in 1975 t ...

Writing career

Rawlings began his writing career as a co-Author with

, the author of over fifteen works of thriller and espionage fiction. Rawlings' first book, ''Red Metal'', released by Penguin Publishing House on 16 July 2019. It received bestseller status from the ''New York Times'', ''USA Today'' and Amazon on its release week. In August 2019, Rawlings signed a multiple book deal with

Kensington Publishing Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New York-based publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William"Walter Zacharius, Romance Publisher, Dies at 87,"''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender ...

of NYC for a military fiction series titled ''Assault by Fire''. The novel takes place in the near future and involves citizens and remnant military fighters repelling a Russian invader and releases on 29 September 2020. In March 2020, Rawlings announced via Twitter and Facebook that he had been contracted to continue his series with Kensington. The second installment has not been given a release date, but is to be entitled "The Kill Box" with the series called the "Tyce Asher" series named for the lead character, a Marine infantry Major with a prosthetic leg. In August 2020, Mark Greaney and Rip Rawlings confirmed in interviews and on social media that they had been contracted to write another work of military fiction in the Red Metal series from publisher Penguin, Random house.

Bibliography

* '' Red Metal'' (2019)
''Assault by Fire''
(2020)
''The Kill Box''
(2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, H. Ripley IV 21st-century American novelists Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)