Mike Scotti joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves while still an undergraduate at the University of Miami, Florida. After graduation, Scotti attended the Marine Corp's Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and served four years on active duty as an artillery officer and platoon commander in the First Marine Division. After being honorably discharged from active duty, Scotti attended the New York University Stern School of Business, where he received a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Finance. Mike Scotti is the subject of the critically acclaimed, award-winning documentary film Severe Clear, which was created from the extensive video journals he kept while serving in Iraq.