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It’s been nearly two months since the Kandahar massacre – some time and distance, but not much. Some things are clearer, some things still aren’t. We don’t know why Staff Sergeant Robert Bales did what he did. We do know the American public’s confidence in the war effort plunged post-Kandahar. We don’t know if that [...]
In March, like everyone else operating in the mil-writer space, I decided it was my duty to God and to country to pen a piece on the maddening and tragic Kandahar massacre. So I did, and thanks to the fine people at Boston Review, it was published. Rather than attempt to explain the psychology of Staff Sergeant [...]
It was with great sadness Wednesday that I learned of the death of retired TOPGUN pilot Navy Captain Carroll LeFon, killed Tuesday morning when his jet crashed at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. LeFon was better known as Neptunus Lex, at least to those in the military blogging community, and was well celebrated for his [...]
The tragic news last week that ranger Margaret Anderson was shot and killed in Mount Rainier National Park by Benjamin Colton Barnes brought with it national attention and a litany of sensational headlines. (What came first, the national attention or the sensational headlines, is a chicken-egg debate for another time.) Some form of PARK RANGER [...]
“Trust me, the first thing you do is check your [junk.]” This is how a rehabbing Army soldier describes the immediate post-IED blast scene in Bob Drury’s new piece “Signature Wound,” available through Amazon’s Kindle Singles. Drury, a contributing editor and foreign correspondent for Men’s Health, explores the effects of anti-personnel IEDs on the genitalia [...]
William Swenson. It’s probably not a name many recognize, something that could change in the next few months. Earlier this month, as the military prepped for Sergeant Dakota Meyer’s Medal of Honor ceremony, the Military Times published an article about the unrecognized valor of former Army Captain Swenson, who fought at the Battle of Ganjgal [...]
Short version:I spent the dog days the earthquake and hurricane days of August reading What It Is Like To Go to War, by Karl Marlantes, and Submergence, by J.M. Ledgard. I recommend both heartily to the Battleland readership.
Late last week, the military blogosphere responded to the release of General Martin Dempsey’s professional reading list. Early responses weren’t exactly glowing. Andrew Exum, at Abu Muqawama, wrote that the list “leaves a lot to be desired.” My colleague here at Battleland, Nate Rawlings, had his own misgivings with the list. And the always-blunt Carl [...]
In February, I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington to write about the redeployment experience of the 2nd Battalion of the fabled 75th Ranger Regiment, just home from Afghanistan. Conventional Army units deploy for 12 months at a time before returning home for another year or so, but the Rangers’ rotations tend to last only 3–6 [...]
Vets aren’t victims. Like many people of Celtic descent, I don’t just have a temper – I have an Irish temper. (Hooray genetic enablers that double as rationalizations!) And one of the things that consistently stokes those mind-flames is the “vets are victims” fallacy. We volunteered. In some cases, we volunteered because we wanted to [...]
