A decade has passed since I last felt the thud of a mortar hitting the perimeter or the specific metallic scent of an IED-charred road, yet I’m still waiting for the “homecoming” to actually begin. To the person standing behind me in the checkout line, I am just another civilian. Perhaps a bit too observant, […]
Combat
Posted inNewsroom
Inside the Wait for War: Military Families Brace for What Comes Next
Caryl Banks dragged a kitchen chair beneath the overhead light and climbed onto it with a bucket of warm, soapy water balanced on the countertop. She wrung out a sponge, lifted it toward the ceiling, and began working it in slow, deliberate circles. Water slid down her forearm and dripped onto the kitchen floor. It […]
Posted inNewsroom
Q&A: How Did the U.S. Patrol the Caribbean for Drug Smuggling Before It Started Blowing Up Boats?
For decades before the Pentagon started blowing up alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, the Coast Guard tracked, intercepted, and boarded the little skiffs that carried cocaine and marijuana across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific to the U.S. The dramatic escalation this fall, which has killed at least 99 people as of Wednesday, including 12 […]
Posted inNewsroom
The First Battle of Fallujah: ‘We Hurt Ourselves in So Many Ways’
Twenty years on, the battle is viewed as a turning point in the Iraq war, serving as a reminder of the complexities and consequences of modern warfare.
Posted inNewsroom
Sharky’s and “The Golden Boy”—Military Justice Abandons the Vulnerable to Protect the Powerful
The Marine Corps has hidden the track records of attorneys whose misconduct and disregard for the rule of law has jeopardized the welfare of Marines.
Posted inReflections
Infil: Where Two-Dimensional PowerPoints and Rock Talk Meet “Visceral Lethality”
“Reality sank in as we donned our combat gear in the ready room,” writes a former Army infantry officer. “In combat, do you ever really have control?”
Posted inNewsroom
30 Years On, Veterans Recall the Desert Storm Air War
People tend to remember Desert Storm as a short, easy war. Compared with the “forever” wars, that makes sense: a 100-hour blip in the annals of history.
Posted inReflections
“You Either Went to War or You Didn’t”—How Deployments Divide the Veteran Community
A former soldier reflects on the differences between veterans who deployed to combat and those who didn’t. “Taps will rip out your heart every time.”
Posted inReflections
“I Hope She’s Scarred for Life” — Recalling My Time as a Blackwater Mercenary
Blackwater employees were “integral” to rebuilding Iraq, but with limited oversight, contractors had “no ethical obligation” to the country’s citizens.
Posted inReflections
A Journalist’s Favorite Image Mirrors a Loss
A journalist learns of death that paralleled the moment he took his favorite picture.
Posted inReflections
The Lore of Uncle Wally Leads a Family From Bagram to Meuse-Argonne
Uncle Wally’s service was lore. And the monument—erected in France—loomed in her imagination. A military spouse traces her family’s generations at war.
Posted inReflections
Hellfires and “Half-Smashed Bugs” in Sadr City
As a platoon searched for bombs, the enemy tried to attack them. It didn’t end well.
