desantis volunteered and joined the u.s. navy and was assigned to the judge advocates generals corps for the naval station mayport and also worked for the joint task force-guantanamo, guantanamo bay joint detention facility, and naval special warfare command as a military lieutenant. he was deployed to the iraq war along with other colleague troops in 2007 and later returned to the united states in 2008. desantis served as a naval and military officer from 2004 until his honorable discharge in february 2010.