Tom Kratman is a United States science fiction author specializing in the subgenre of military science fiction.

His works are published by Baen.

Kratman was born in Boston, where he attended Boston Latin before enlisting, aged 17, in the US Army. He served with the 101st Airborne Division and in Panama with the 193rd Infantry Brigade. He then went to Boston College on an Army scholarship. Following his graduation Kratman was commissioned as an officer in 1980 whereupon he spent three more years in Panama followed by a four year stint with the 24th Infantry Division. He was then part of the United States Army Recruiting Command, before serving with the 5th Special Forces Group during the Gulf War.

Kratman left the regular army in 1992, and went to law school. He earned his juris doctorate in 1995, but remained a member of the United States Army Reserve and also worked for MPRI. He was recalled to the Army in 2003 for the Iraq War but was found to have a problem with his heart. He then spent time at the U.S. Army War College as Director, Rule of Law, for the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute.

He retired in 2006 as a Lieutenant Colonel and became a full time author. He is married to a woman he met in Panama, and has three children and three grandchildren