Citizen Writers Fighting Censorship by Helping Americans Understand Issues Affecting the Republic.
Hey, remember that wild farmer strike in the Netherlands a couple years back? The one where thousands of angry Dutch farmers rolled their tractors onto highways, blocked airports, and sprayed manure at government buildings because the government wanted to shut down half their farms to “save the environment”? Well — guess who was running that …
American Citizen Writer, Colonel (and Medical Doctor) U.S. Army Retired, offers up an inspirational anecdote about continuation of public service…after service.
You have to hand it to them—wars are incredibly efficient. They fix unemployment, erase debt, trim the population, spike GDP, and make the right people filthy rich. If you were a global leader addicted to fame, adrenaline, and taxpayer cash, you’d love war too.
On paper, the VA’s Community Care dental program sounds like a dream: veterans can receive top-quality care from local civilian dentists without trekking halfway across the state to the nearest VA medical center. In reality? It’s a bureaucratic train wreck wrapped in red tape and sealed with an “apology for the inconvenience.”
I’m a retired Army math geek, and I’ll confess: I didn’t get to work on the sexy, world-changing projects my predecessors did back in the day. My career field was literally born because, in the middle of World War II, some engineers with more brain cells than social skills invented a device called the Variable Time fuze
Plans to deploy Tomahawks to Ukraine will only reveal America’s weakness.
Here’s the problem with pendulums: they never stop neatly in the middle. They swing. And when one extreme breaks down, the opposite extreme often rushes in like it’s auditioning for the sequel.
When you spend enough time as a general’s aide-de-camp, you learn two things: first, generals are human; and second, there are certain things you just keep to yourself.
In February 2014, while Western leaders debated sanctions over Ukrainian protests, unmarked soldiers began seizing airfields and government buildings in Crimea. No insignia, no declarations, just discipline and precision — “little green men.”
An alternative history built from the true Balkans laboratory that almost ignited something far larger.
Those were the cool days—the kind of small adventures you could still get away with back then. A snowstorm over the Ardennes, a borrowed BMW, and a rucksack full of Belgian beer.
For a brief period of time, I had the honor of serving under General Raymond T. Odierno in Iraq. He was, without question, one of the finest officers I ever worked for—sharp, grounded, and with a great sense of humor that managed to shine through even in the worst of times.
As a West Point graduate, I’ve seen plenty of books take shots at the Academy. West Point: America’s Power Fraternity (1973) by K. Bruce Galloway and Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr. might be the loudest, crankiest one of the bunch.
I entered the Army in July of 1993, before President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” experiment. Back then, the military was still primarily about blowing holes in things, breaking enemy armies, and defending the Republic. Then slowly, like a frog in a pot, the Pentagon began feeding the social science laboratory every “good idea” — except the good ideas about how to win wars.
You’d think that the world’s most powerful military, with a budget larger than the GDP of some countries, could manage something as simple as a car pool. But no — welcome to the Department of Defense, where each branch guards its motor pool like it’s the nuclear launch codes.
In recent remarks, the idea of using American cities as “training grounds” for active-duty military forces was floated. While I firmly back the President’s resolve to secure this nation, we must also be clear-eyed: there are limits that every officer—whether O-1 or O-10—must know. Crossing them is not just a political issue, but a constitutional one.
This week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth did something extraordinary: he swung a wrecking ball into the bloated bureaucracy and reminded 800 generals that their job is not to manage feelings — it’s to win wars.
Leave it to bored NCOs in Iraq — a handful of clever sergeants with too much time and just enough sarcasm managed to send the entire U.S. Army chasing its own tail with two little words: Warrior Companion.
The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) billed itself as a “voice for progress.” In reality, it became something far more dangerous: the longest-running social science experiment on the backs of America’s fighting men and women.
Military Whistleblowers : Warnings from America’s Finest, is a 3-Part Series where David Cloft explores the Military Industrial Complex. Today, Part III, Anthony Zinni and Wesley Clark: Generals Who Warned of Empire