“Jordan Neely’s killer and the racist violence at the heart of the American imperial project.”
army
‘How Did This Man Think He Had the Right to Adopt This Baby?’
“Army Rangers killed her parents. A Marine is raising her in America. But her Afghan family says she was taken under false pretenses.”
‘These Kids Are Dying’ — Inside the Overdose Crisis Sweeping Fort Bragg
“A staggering total of 109 soldiers assigned to Fort Bragg died in 2020 and 2021. Dozens have lost their lives there to drug overdoses. Now, their families are demanding answers — and accountability.”
As the World Moves On, Veterans of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Struggle to Join Them
“‘I feel like I’m still there,’ a Marine told me. ‘I feel like everything that happened, happened five minutes ago.’” Reporting for Task & Purpose, Haley Britzky spoke to 15 soldiers, Marines, and airmen who were part of the Afghanistan withdrawal mission in August 2021. It’s a difficult read, but also a raw and visceral account […]
‘We Are All Suffering in Silence’ — Inside the US Military’s Pervasive Culture of Eating Disorders
U.S. military service members develop harmful and unhealthy habits to maintain “body composition standards” that are outdated.
The New Face of Military Recruitment
The Army is working to increase the number of enlistments, and eliminate unethical recruiting practices.
Coming of Age in the Army
After a series of dead ends, a young man finds direction and identity in the Army. Despite his parents’ pride, the lingering question becomes: at what personal cost?
Hollywood Gets Authenticity and the Pentagon Gets Publicity
Jamie Tarabay explored Hollywood’s relationship with the Pentagon in a recent piece for Al Jazeera America. The Pentagon has a devoted “entertainment-liaison officer” who acts as a Hollywood point person and helps decide which projects get Pentagon support (in the form of expertise, equipment, and locations). According to scholar Lawrence Suid, the Hollywood military relationship relationship dates back to […]
The Responsibility of Being Both a Reporter and an Army Veteran
Veteran status cuts both ways. Because I’m an army veteran, other vets often tell me things they wouldn’t tell those who haven’t served. It is a privilege to be given this confidence, and yet I’m filled with an overwhelming obligation to get their stories right. Although I’m a longtime reporter, writing about veterans has been […]
‘Did We Have the Sense that America Cared How We Were Doing? We Did Not’
In The Atlantic in 2014, James Fallows examined how Americans and political leaders became so disconnected from those who serve in the military—and the consequences of that disconnect: If I were writing such a history now, I would call it Chickenhawk Nation, based on the derisive term for those eager to go to war, as long […]