Category: Veterans

Veterans: Don’t Believe the Hype

Commentary Hype versus information: Do you know the difference when you see it? Do you know when you hear it? How do you know? Are you sure you know? Do you know that hype is designed to activate an uncontrolled primal response? In the parlance of ever-growing psychological messages rocketed at the public, can you…


Move Over State Department, Defense Department Shapes Foreign Policy

Commentary “Distrust and caution are the parents of security.”—Benjamin Franklin Has the Constitution created a gap and seam in U.S. national security? By design, the framers of the Constitution created checks between the executive and legislative branches. The Constitution created a separation between the ends and ways—controlled by the executive branch and the means—allocated by…


The American Warfighter: Evolved and Unbroken

Commentary To change for the better in order to survive is to evolve. Failure is often due to a failure to adapt. Everything that evolves changes to survive and we’ve evolved from the people we were born into the people we’ve needed to be. Warfighters become their evolved self at a record pace. If warfighters…


In the Shadow of JSOC

Commentary My dad was a good man, but for me, his goodness has nothing to do with his work at the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). In fact, my regard for the professionals at JSOC and the critically important and dangerous missions they execute behind the scenes produces powerfully mixed feelings for me. That’s because,…


It’s All in Your Head’: Military Veterans and Mild​ Traumatic Brain Injury

Commentary Anyone who has battled with brain injury knows the frustration of having their injury downplayed because they “look fine” from the outside. There have been times when I wished I was missing a limb so medical providers would take me seriously. Unless you have been stuck in the shell of a person you once…


Military Veterans and ‘Fresh Air Poisoning’

Commentary “Fresh air poisoning” is a running joke in our house, and most outdoor recreation enthusiasts of all types know it well. “The Outdoor Cleanse” or “Soul Candy” or whatever you want to call that endorphin-fueled peace you attain after being outside for sometimes just a few hours. Playing outside isn’t for everyone. But I…


New Gun Regulation Handicaps the Disabled

Commentary The Biden administration’s newly released regulations regarding “pistol-stabilizing braces” will instantly turn tens of thousands of law-abiding Americans into felons and create a national rifle registry. But the Biden administration and the media exaggerate the costs and ignore the benefits these braces produce. Few seem to realize that stabilizing braces for pistols were originally designed to allow wounded and…


A Wounded Warrior Reflects: 2 Years in Purgatory and 10 Years of Steps

Commentary Not a drop. Not an ounce. Not a molecule. Not a bit of comfort. The war didn’t make me feel that way, but I felt that way after the war. The hospital and the two years of Starship Reed purgatory didn’t help, then the zombie dope follow-up finished me. Dead man walking. Dead but…


Why I’m Thanking You for Your Service

Commentary “Mommy, Mommy!” he said with the oh-so-cute voice only a preschooler has. “There’s one! Can we do it?” You hear this and immediately you tense, body going on high alert. After all, you just walked in and are very conspicuous in your Army greens when everyone else in the place is dressed casually attempting…


Iran’s Latest ‘War Before the War’ Raises Eyebrows

Commentary The Iranian regime raised eyebrows again in December after their military forces conducted exercises designed to serve as “the war before the war” with Israel and the United States, which it identifies as “The Little Satan” and “The Great Satan,” respectively. While exercises in the Strait of Hormuz are routine, these latest maneuvers come…