Forgive my redundancy; I’m still hung up on the anniversary date of my deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in 2005. We had our twenty-year reunion last Continue Reading
Military
On the Shore
On the shore the flag standsred, white, and bluewaving in a gentle breeze.Alongside a Union Jackand Tricolore she stands tall,guarding rows of Continue Reading
The Forsaken
In moments of deepest darkness, we are the monsters called forth. We are the devils summoned to bypass pleading with God for forgiveness. Beckoned and Continue Reading
They Stand on the Wall of Freedom: Training Casualties
I recently attended another memorial last week in Liberty Chapel, 7th SFG, Eglin AFB, Florida. This time, I was not sitting in the first row with my Continue Reading
I’m Doing Team RWB’s GWOT 100, And You Should Too
I’ve written before about memory, brotherhood, and the strange ways the past has a habit of walking back into our lives when we least expect it. In a Continue Reading
Some Promises are Written in Blood
Witnessing 11 Days: The Story of Operation Pineapple Express I recently had the honor of attending a play titled 11 Days: The Story of Operation Continue Reading
What an Iranian Collapse Might Mean for U.S. Military Posture
For decades, US military posture in the Middle East has been shaped around a single assumption: Iran is a hostile but stable state. That assumption Continue Reading
When the War Comes Home on an ICE Jobsite
I got a call a couple hours ago. It was from a young man who is very dear to me. He lives in Texas with his wife and young children. I have known him Continue Reading
Pleasant Wood
They call this fine lawn"Pleasant Wood Cemetery."A mere breeze of dawnacross the beautiful prairiesilent and dew wet,stirs the green carpet. 90 Continue Reading
Standing Ready in a Quiet Kitchen
I recently rewatched the movie Fight Club, based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The book is a different animal, with a decidedly Continue Reading
The Women Who Searched the Storm
In 2004, the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) (Special Operations Capable), or SOC, deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom Continue Reading
From Failure to Steady Ground
In 2015, I was a failure. I’d spent the previous five years chasing a calling, a dream, or maybe selfishness. I found myself at my wits’ end, with Continue Reading