“‘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 […]
military
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Unseen Scars of Those Who Kill Via Remote Control
A devastating, well-reported story on the drone program of the U.S. Air Force and the lack of mental-health support for drone operators. Because they were not deployed, they seldom got the same recovery periods or mental-health screenings as other fighters. Instead they were treated as office workers, expected to show up for endless shifts in […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Breathe In
“It wasn’t until after I returned from Iraq that I found out what all was tossed into those burn pits at The Dump.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Billion Dollar Question
“Why can’t the military fix its violence against women problem?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘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U.S. military service members develop harmful and unhealthy habits to maintain “body composition standards” that are outdated.
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Machines Set Loose to Slaughter’: the Dangerous Rise of Military AI
“… it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the idea of ethical robotic killing machines is unrealistic, and all too likely to support dangerous fantasies of pushbutton wars and guiltless slaughters.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Were They Lost Students or Inept Spies for China?
Two students from China, studying at the University of Michigan, travel to Florida during their winter break and find themselves in trouble after entering the Naval Air Station Key West, a major U.S. military facility.
Posted inCurrent Events, Essays & Criticism, Feature, History, Nonfiction, Story
Whose Boots on the Ground
We invest a great deal of collective energy in commemorating our war dead. But do we remember them?
Posted inEditor's Pick
What I Wish I’d Known About Sexual Assault in the Military
Sandra Sidi recalls the rampant sexual assault and harassment she and other female colleagues experienced when she worked as a civilian public affairs analyst for the military in Iraq in 2007.
Posted inCurrent Events
Did Brian Easley Have to Die?
A desperate veteran, missing his disability payment, walked into a bank and took several people hostage. This is how he got there.