Sanders is the son of a career U.S. Navy officer who was injured while serving aboard the USS Pensacola, and Mary Houston, an artist.
[citation needed] Sanders sat on the board of the non-profit organization Vietnam Veterans of San Diego.
He was a member of the San Diego Police Department Senior Oversight Committee and briefly ran for the United States Congress as a Democrat in 2000 before dropping out of the race, citing a lack of funding.
A combat veteran of the Vietnam War, where he served as Swift Boat skipper, PCF-98 and retired reserve Navy Captain, Sanders served nearly thirty years of active and reserve Naval service and received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and in 1992 was awarded the Silver Star.
"[3][4] Sanders is the author of many published articles and opinion pieces in major newspapers and the Navy Institute Proceeding, and served as a columnist for Military.com and a television commentator on national security matters and the war in Iraq for NBC and Fox.