Our active-duty military is in the midst of a mental-health crisis: the suicide numbers are climbing and the volume of psychotropic medications prescribed is multiplying.
While both President Obama and Mitt Romney have plans …
$4.2 Billion
Pitchfork in the Road
Why Diversity Counts in National Security
The reality of demographics mandates a sharp focus on creating leaders from the burgeoning Hispanic and Asian American communities. The history of Vietnam tells us we need to keep that same focus on the African American …
Reconnecting…with Myself
One of the things I heard early on at TAPS, as well as from my counselor at home, is the importance of self-care.
I’m a mother of three young children. Whenever this term “self-care” is thrown around in my presence I …
Nation Building: The Fine Print
Sometimes it tough to understand the scope of what the U.S. and its allies are trying to do in Afghanistan. Then the latest batch of contract solicitations in Federal Business Opportunities rolls in and makes it tough to …
Contractors in War Zones: Not Exactly “Contracting”
U.S. military forces may be out of Iraq, but the unsung and unrecognized part of America’s modern military establishment is still serving and sacrificing — the role played by private military and security contractors.
That …
Star Warriors
“The Threats We Face Have Grown Worse”
The Start of the Suicide Story
It was nine years ago — Columbus Day, 2003 — that the first significant story on the suicides of the post-9/11 wars appeared above the fold in USA Today. Reporter Gregg Zoroya had called me that summer, when I was doing a …
Combat, Up Close
Two things are striking about this just-posted three-and-a-half minute video of a firefight in Afghanistan’s Kunar province last April:
— Just how unseen the enemy is.
— Just how unconnected Private 1st Class Red Daniels of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division is.
Clad in body armor, he’s hit four times and falls to the …
6.7%
Afghan Police Kill a U.S. Special Operations Captain “To Make a Statement”
Army Major Greg Escobar served as an operations officer in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, training Afghan police in Kunar province for the first half of his deployment, and Afghan troops in Paktika province for the second …