Why Special Operations Leaders are Bad Role Models by Nick Perna If you go to Amazon (or any book store) you’ll find no shortage of books written by former special operations supervisors on the topic of leadership. Former members of Seal Team 6, Delta Force and others discuss their experiences while leading these units. These are seen as shining examples of superior … [Read more...]
COVID-19: My Chemical Romance
COVID-19: My Chemical Romance by Nick Perna Perspective, it's how we look at something now can be light years away from how it appeared at the time. A long time ago (17 years ago, to be exact) a bunch of troops prepared to go to war, in Iraq. Range training, individual and team movement and physical conditioning. We trained for all of the usual stuff, with one added … [Read more...]
“Not Quite One Weekend a Month”: Disaster Relief with the National Guard
"Not Quite One Weekend a Month": Disaster Relief with the National Guard by Nick Perna In the summer of 1992 I was a college student on the “four and a half year” plan at a college in North Florida. I was in Army ROTC, waiting to get commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. At the time, ROTC cadets could serve part time in National Guard units as part of the Simultaneous … [Read more...]
Manning: You’re doing it wrong
I’m old. I don’t go to Denny’s at 5 PM for the early bird special, wear pants with elastic waistbands or watch “Matlock” and ” Murder She Wrote” reruns. However, being forty-nine, I don’t consider myself, “middle-aged”, more like, “closer to death than birth”. Times change. What defines a man today is obviously different than when I was younger. That being said, some … [Read more...]
A Cop’s Perspective: Classifying Veterans as Psychopaths (Guilt by Association)
A Cop's Perspective: Classifying Veterans as Psychopaths (Guilt by Association) by Nick Perna In 2006 I was attending a Field Training Officer Class. Field Training Officers, or FTOs, train new police officers after they leave the academy on how to do field police work. As I perused the class syllabus I saw a topic which surprised me. A one hour block on dealing with … [Read more...]
Search Warrants: The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
Search Warrants: The Fruit of The Poisonous Tree by Nick Perna There has been much said, written and posted recently about the Nunes letter that made allegations regarding the veracity and integrity of the FISA warrants that launched the Russian Collusion investigation. What’s come into question is the credibility of the Fusion GPS report that provided at least some of the … [Read more...]
“Thank You For Your Service.” Yeah, Right.
"Thank You For Your Service." Yeah, Right. by Nick Perna This article first appeared in The Havok Journal February 21, 2015. By the time I deployed I had served in the Army in some capacity for over 10 years. I spent 3 years on active duty with the 82nd Airborne in the post-Gulf War era where I fully expected to go to war but never did. I left active duty in 1996 and … [Read more...]
82nd Airborne: Life in a New Sparta
82nd Airborne: Life in a New Sparta by Nick Perna There has been resurgence of interest in the last five years or so over the warrior culture of Sparta. The Spartans are admired by the military, law enforcement, sports fans, cross fitters and others for their “never say die” way of life and their warrior ethos. For the historically challenged the Spartans were the … [Read more...]
“Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda”: Don’t Let This Be You
"Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda": Don't Let This Be You by Nick Perna The Wegonna tribe was the most powerful in the land. They were a proud and noble people, known for getting things done. They never took no for an answer and accomplished everything they set out to do. Nothing was too hard for them. They planted their crops every spring, harvested them every fall. They hunted … [Read more...]
Things You Shouldn’t Miss About the Military
Many days we tend to be nostalgic about all the wonderful times we had in uniform. As a reminder, I came up with a list of things not to miss: Taking clean weapons out of the armory, to clean them again, only to get them rejected by the armorer Going to 1700 formation only to be told that no one has been released yet and to come back at 1800 Meeting at 0330, because … [Read more...]
