The USSR Called Operation Atrina a Triumph. We Knew It Was a Failure.
When I sat in the classifier’s chair at the Military Entrance Processing Station in 1983, I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the Navy. I did know I wanted something challenging and significant. In the gap between the Vietnam and Middle East conflicts, it didn’t seem like there were a lot of options for those seeking adventure.
“If you can pass the hearing test, you can be a submarine sonar technician and leave in June.”
Now this seemed interesting and challenging. I had only the vaguest idea what a sonar technician did, but the chance to be on the frontline of the Cold War was too good to pass up.
“I’ll take it,” I responded, and just like that, the next decade of my life was set into motion.
Read David's Story
US Military Can’t Sustain Arctic Operations, ‘Let Alone Dominate,’ Experts Say
In recent years, the U.S. military has highlighted exercises in the Arctic to underscore the region's importance, trumpeting its commitment to protecting U.S. security interests there. But while recent policies highlight the region’s critical importance, along with the military’s growing interest in it as climate change reshapes the polar environment, experts argue the United States has done little to commit the targeted, long-term investment or build up the capacity needed to lead in the Arctic.
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More Stories From The War Horse
It Took a Lifetime to Learn My Father’s War Story—and How It Shaped Us Both
“I imagined that he had somehow sailed through the Battle of Midway performing an administrative role and, therefore, safe from danger,” writes Sally Carton. “Like many children of World War II veterans, we knew so little.”
Read more »
A Lesser-Known Group At Risk of Suicide—Children of Servicemembers
No one has counted how many children of service members have died by suicide in the years since 9/11, but studies suggest teens and young adults from military families are at significantly greater risk than their peers.
Read more »
After 30 Years and Four Wars, One Explosion Opened the Floodgates
“It’s hard to describe the sensation of 1,500 pounds of explosives detonating close by. First came a flash of light far brighter than anything I had ever seen. I don’t remember a ‘boom,’ but there must have been one,” writes John Sims for The War Horse.
Read more »
It costs The War Horse $859, from first draft to publication to writer stipend, to produce one first-person reflection on war and trauma. These stories change lives.
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The Debrief
As Houthis Vow to Fight On, US Prepares For Sustained Campaign
The Biden administration is crafting plans for a sustained military campaign targeting the Houthis in Yemen after strikes failed to halt the group’s attacks on maritime commerce, stoking concern among some officials that an open-ended operation could pull Washington into another unpredictable Middle Eastern conflict.
From The Washington Post »
The US Identifies the 2 Navy SEALs Who Went Missing Off the Coast of Somalia
The SEALs were reported missing after a nighttime raid of a boat off the coast of Somalia on Jan. 11. U.S. officials said they found parts of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles Iran was supplying to Houthi fighters in Yemen.
From NPR »
Mexico Demands Investigation Into US Military-Grade Weapons Being Used By Drug Cartels
Mexico’s army is finding belt-fed machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades that are not sold for civilian use in the United States.
From The Associated Press »
Boeing Names Retired Navy Admiral to Lead ‘Independent’ Quality Review
Boeing has started forming a team to lead a detailed assessment of product quality, a move in response to an issue that forced U.S. regulators to ground 171 737 Max 9s.
From Flight Global »
Military Emissions Are Too Big to Keep Ignoring
For as long as the world’s diplomats have gathered to talk about slowing the march of climate change, one institution pointedly missing from the agenda has been the military. At the behest of the United States, reporting military emissions was largely exempted from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the document that set binding emissions targets for nations that signed.
From The Atlantic »
Air Force General Charged with Rape Wants to Retire to Avoid Court-Martial
Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart was commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, the service’s pilot training arm, until he was abruptly removed in May while the military investigated the allegations against him.
From San Antonio Express-News »
House Committee Raises Doubts About US Navy's Indo-Pacific Logistics
A U.S. congressional committee on China has sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy raising doubts about a plan to move fuel from Hawaii to storage facilities across the Indo-Pacific and warning that the U.S. military risks being unprepared for a possible conflict.
From Reuters »
Space Force Guardians Can Now Choose to Work Part Time Under New Policy Change
The change creates a new way for the service to handle personnel management and will help it "attract, as well as recruit and retain, the top talent we need to prevail in the increasingly contested space domain," Maj. Tanya Downsworth, a Space Force spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.
From Military.com »
Former Army Captain Charged With Shooting Two Women on His Front Lawn
Police say Harry Hardman, a 2009 West Point graduate, shot the women soon after they confronted him for causing a “disturbance” on his front lawn in Apex, North Carolina.
From Task & Purpose »
Huge Rogue Waves Smash Into Remote US Military Base in Pacific
The island’s housing, automotive complex, theater, and chapel were damaged. Recovery could take months, according to the Army.
From CNN »
'Solemn Feeling': Officials to Expand Search After Lost Black Cemetery Identified at Air Force Base in Florida
In 2019, researchers at the Tampa Bay History Center reached out to MacDill Air Force Base to alert them of the possibility that the cemetery was inside the base after they found records dating back to 1939 that gave a rough description of where the Port Tampa Cemetery was located.
From ABC News »