The Executive Officer is the right-hand man of the Commanding Officer. A position of big power, he is ultimately responsible for assisting the CO in his command of the ship. But, often the XO is made to make some of the more difficult decisions. While the Captain of the ship, is overall responsible for every […]
Apr 17 2018
In Memorium: R. Lee Ermey
America and its armed forces lost a national treasure over the weekend. R. Lee Ermey, famous for his portrayal of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, passed away from complications related to pneumonia on April 15th. For a long time, Full Metal Jacket was one of the only war movies I had ever watched, […]
Apr 16 2018
Form Vs. Function: What It Means to Be Inducted as an NCO
The military is full of symbolic arches; in a short career of seven years, I’d walked through no less than five barriers that intangibly mark a new phase in a soldier’s career. The art of the rite of passage has been largely forgotten about in parts of the civilian world, relegated mostly to religious or […]
Apr 13 2018
Crossing the Line: A Shellback History
History has long forgotten the true beginning of the Shellback Ceremony. But, history has a way of making its way to the present. While the exact details of how the Crossing the Line Ceremony originated, historians estimate that it began over 400 years ago with the Vikings, as well as the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese […]
Apr 9 2018
Interservice Rivalries
We’ve all heard the jokes. Soldiers say that Marines eat crayons, Marines, and Soldiers joke that Airmen think deployments are rough if they don’t have wi-fi, everyone says navy folks are… well, the navy. It’s a standard that is as old as time. But the jokes are only the surface of the deeper inter-service rivalries […]
Apr 6 2018
Kasserine Pass
On the 19th of February, 1943, green US troops were baptized in a fire when Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korp and Italian Allies pushed into Kasserine Pass at the Western end of Tunisia. Six days later, 6,500 American soldiers were dead, captured or wounded. After having suffered heavy casualties in the days preceding […]
Apr 1 2018
Zack Willey Interview
I think all soldiers can agree that one of the hardest parts of being in the service is remembering all the information you learn over the years. One officer, Captain Zachary Willey came up with the solution to the problem. Flash cards, yes, those things you used way back when that had their very own […]
Mar 31 2018
Giving Saving Private Ryan It’s Due Credit
When I was 13, I took a basketball to the face. The circumstances will remain shrouded in my own mystery, but suffice to say I was a weary sight: a half shut black eye, swollen cheek, and an abrasive burn that maintained a faint hue of basketball orange. Being a self-conscious teenager, I passed on […]
Mar 26 2018
Know Before You Go – Resources for Traveling and Working Safely Abroad
One of the most rewarding perks of working in or with the U.S. Military is the amount of travel that’s involved, both short and long-term. I’ve spent five years stationed abroad, and I’ve had my fair share of interesting incidents while working overseas; this includes everything from being scammed by a taxi driver in Bucharest […]
Mar 24 2018
Stranger in a Strange Land: Why Liberal Veterans Are the True Patriots
America, let’s get it out there: I’m a Veteran, and I’m liberal. I can hear it now: Boo! Hiss! But hear me out, America. Being a Veteran in this country has certain assumptions attached to it when it comes to character and belief systems: Patriotism bordering on nationalistic fanaticism, conservative republicanism and (for some reason) […]
