After spending his life bouncing from one adventure to the next, it was natural for Mark Burnet to turn his experiences into successful reality television, even if he did take a circuitous route to fame and fortune. Originally born in the east end of London, England to factory worker parents, Burnett was raised in Essex and at 17, enlisted in the British Army. He became a Section Commander in the elite Parachute Regiment and was a member of the invasion force in the undeclared Falkland War in 1982. Later that year, he left the military and decided to become an advisor in Central America,