The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture

• Fanny Kelly: The Frontier’s Forgotten Female Survivor August 24, 2026
  History remembers spectacular battles. It remembers famous generals, decisive campaigns, and treaties that redrew maps. Far less often does it remember the ordinary people who happened to find themselves caught between those events. Their stories rarely shape strategy or alter the course of nations, yet they often reveal more about the human cost of conflict […]
  Charles Faint
• CompStat Is Not the Problem August 24, 2026
  CompStat was created to make police departments more informed, responsive, and accountable. It gave command staff access to timely crime information, placed responsibility closer to the commanders overseeing affected areas, and created a process for examining whether police strategies were actually working. Those are worthy goals. Police departments should study their data. Leaders should understand […]
  Sergeant Ayman Kafel, MSC
• An Assault In the Dark of Night August 24, 2026
  By Lt Col (ret), US Army, Darin Gaub My Band of Brothers Moment “The Army’s National Training Center, next to Death Valley, has a few things going for it. Dusty, dark, miserably hot, windy, brutally cold, coyotes, snakes, spiders, never-ending sand – and many humans running around the desert training for war with little to […]
  Special Guest
• We Are Not Four Letters August 23, 2026
  “When educating operators on Operator Syndrome, the most common response is: How did you know? This response is usually expressed with a tone of relief and a subtle smile. For the operator, it marks a moment of validation and a glimmer of hope: Maybe I’m not alone.” – C. Frueh I came to as I […]
  Clay D
• Our War August 23, 2026
  Editor’s Note: First published in The Havok Journal on August 23, 2022, this reflection remains as relevant on the anniversary month of our withdrawal from Afghanistan as it was in the immediate aftermath, honoring the service and sacrifice of all who fought there. A lot of people have reached out to me over the past […]
  Peyton Knippel