A United States Navy veteran of 20 years, James Butler, MD began his medical training on a U.S. Navy scholarship to Georgetown University, where he earned his medical degree. After completing his internship at Bremerton Naval Hospital, he trained at the Naval Aeromedical Institute in Pensacola, Florida, becoming a Naval Flight Surgeon for a squadron of anti-submarine planes, a position which took him to Maine, Iceland, Spain, and even Brazil.