Politics

Complicated topics like the decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty are challenging to address in the modern media. As the comments under many of my analysis pieces on Facebook repeatedly show, most Americans are interested in debating inferences they can derive from headlines, rather than the nuances of a complex […]

The ongoing trial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher over alleged war crimes is shedding light on the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community and its cultural practices. With the trial in full swing, more details are emerging about SEAL Team 7’s Alpha Platoon deployment in Iraq in 2017. Chief Gallagher’s arrest seems to have originated by […]

In the early hours of May 2, 2011, two specially-designed stealth Black Hawk helicopters full of Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 6 infiltrated Abbottabad, Pakistan. Their mission was to kill or capture the world’s most wanted man: Osama bin Laden. Shortly after they landed, the leader of al-Qaida and mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of […]

Last year, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis issued a call-to-arms to increase the lethality of the U.S. military’s close-combat units. His initiative resulted in the creation of the Close Combat Lethality Task Force (CCLTF). The CCLTF seeks ways to improve the combat effectiveness of troops engaged in close-combat roles. Despite these units’ disproportionate role […]

Early yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down the VA’s policy of denying disability benefits to Vietnam-era blue-water Navy veterans for exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides on a presumptive basis. In a case called Procopio v. Wilkie the court decided that veterans who served within the “territorial waters” […]

After many years of waiting, the Army has finally published its official history of the Iraq War. The authors of the two-volume history are retired Colonels Joe Rayburn and Frank Sobchak. Their comprehensive study, which amounts to around 1,300 pages, begins with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and concludes with the withdrawal of troops […]

It’s common knowledge the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost the American taxpayer an exorbitant amount of money. The U.S. government’s lack of transparency to determine the true expense fuels wild speculations. So far, estimates vary between $1 and $2 trillion. Since there are so many different agencies and departments involved makes it even […]

In a further development of the trial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, seven Navy SEALs who served in the same platoon have been granted immunity to testify against their teammate. Chief Gallagher has been charged with four different violations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Gallagher, more specifically, is accused of murdering […]

In 2016, the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military was lifted. Now, U.S. President Donald Trump, with the Supreme Court’s approval, has reinstated that ban, citing concerns over transgender service members’ effectiveness in combat. Kristin Beck, a transgender former Navy SEAL, is calling President Trump’s assertion baseless. “The idea transgender effects ‘Lethality […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 15 — U.S. attorney general nominee William Barr testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 15, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Barr, who previously served as attorney general under President George H. W. Bush, was confronted about his views on the investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert […]

Adm. Karl L. Schultz, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, appeared in a video on Tuesday alongside the branch’s Master Chief Petty Officer Jason M. Vanderhaden to express his gratitude to the American people for support while calling the continued shutdown “unacceptable.” He cited the stress it’s placed on  men and women throughout the […]

Nearly a year and a half after President Trump first announced his plan to ban transgender people from serving in the military, the U.S. Supreme Court has given the go-ahead for the administration to carry out its plan. According to a report from Time, the ruling—decided Tuesday, January 22—has “cleared the way” for the implementation […]