History: Learn It, Not Twist It

Like everything these days, the value of studying history is debated. And, hey—that’s okay. Despite some quivering pleas, division isn’t always bad. One camp says the reason we study history is ac...

Before The Man

“Swim in the shallows and steal the lowest fruit, always hunting, feeling fucking nothing.” - Wolf & BearIt’s been almost 7 years since I left the military and 3 since I left the PMC ind...

SCARS

When portrayed on the big screen, the body of the warrior is strong, lean, rough, and attractive. Hooded eyes top a rugged face covered in manly stubble, and the body is covered in neat, linear, sp...

Community in our DNA: Older Days Made Better Ways

So I recently moved to South Florida. Haven’t seen Lil Wayne or the Bang Bus yet, but there are the super models and the palm trees and the Lamborghinis out in force. Miami: There is perhaps no ci...

Martyrdom of a Mutt

That first day in Vietnam they snag a batch of us young imbeciles Herd us into one of those mandatory oh-rientating lectures war hygiene security There are ninety-nine kind of snake in Veet Nawm Ni...

Getting Drunk On The Past

Last month, my social media newsfeeds erupted in applause over our incursion into Syria. US Army Rangers charged forward in Strykers proudly displaying enormous American flags, and the entire sc...

Marine Photo Scandal; Truth Is Rarely PC

Recently America was made aware of a photo scandal involving the US military. At the height of it, explicit pictures of female service members were posted online without their consent; brought t...

Stay Savage

"Teach me to breathe, don’t let me think” -Every Time I DieIn 1868, the United States and the Lakota Nation of the Sioux Tribe entered into the Treaty of Fort Laramie, in which the majority...

Dude, Where's My Hero Worship?: An Open Letter to Bro-Vets

Can we stop applauding veterans every time they derail discussions about social problems by redirecting the narrative back to veteran issues? Yes, the VA is in tremendous need of overhaul. Yes, col...

The GWOT, My Father And Me

I sat cross-legged on the cold cement of the garage floor. Steel tools were in front of me, laying benignly, and scattered about. I had no idea what they were for. They were so alien compared...

Muhammad Ali: Heroes Get Remembered But Legends Never Die

Muhammad Ali is dead—but the internet, Oh our precious internet, is full of life. Countering the heart-felt remembrance for Ali has been some criticism coming from places very close to and inside t...

Vet Lag: The Winds Are Changing

The paradigm shift is occurring; the American veteran narrative is changing. Back in January we posted an article asking military, veterans, and civilians alike to recognize the false narrative tha...

Career After Conflict: What's Your Plan For The Future?

A few years ago I learned a valuable lesson while sitting on the flight line in Jalalabad, Afghanistan waiting on a bird that never arrived: always have a clear extraction plan.  During my time in ...

A BlackWater Goons Savage Journey to Robert McDonald's House

It had to end eventually—defense contracting. Granted it never actually “ended” as it is alive and well; it’s just… different. The ultimate ex-military, money gun-club, the “golden age of contracti...

The Short Happy Life of Military Identity

Many people join because they were drawn to the awe-inspiring sense of purpose. Their branch, the uniform, their unit, an MOS, saving ‘Merika for a buck-o-five—the whole beans-and-bullets bundle gi...