Civic Essays
What We Owe the Next Generation
There is a kind of conversation that has gone out of fashion in this country, and we are paying for its absence. It is the conversation older people used to [...]
The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture
- The Pentagon Can Feed a War but Not the Family Fighting It August 13, 2026The United States military is obsessed with readiness. Aircraft readiness. Medical readiness. Cyber readiness. Dental readiness. Physical readiness. Weapons readiness. Personnel readiness. Somewhere in a windowless office, there’s probably a lieutenant colonel measuring stapler readiness against FY27 projected stapling requirements. But apparently “Can Sergeant Johnson Afford Groceries on Thursday Readiness” remains an emerging concept. The […]Tammy Pondsmith
- He Was Still Wearing His Cap August 13, 2026Breakfast at the Best Western isn’t bad, but it’s nothing to brag about either. The scrambled eggs remind me of those served in any Army mess hall. The only interesting thing about breakfast is the waffle iron. It bakes waffles in the shape of the state of Texas. I made one of those for our […]Frank Pauc
- Wrinkled and Proud August 13, 2026Only six hours of sleep?You have got to be kidding.I hung up the phone, sighing deep;get moving, time for planes to take wing. My boots could use a shine,and I wanted to iron my uniform.A shower would have made me feel fine,but I grab my poncho, run out into the storm. Have your aircraft ready […]Lou Marin
- Before Man Was, War Existed August 12, 2026The modern world often speaks about war as though it were an aberration—a failure of diplomacy, a breakdown of civilization, or a temporary deviation from humanity’s natural state. Popular imagination tends to envision peace as the default condition of mankind and war as the unfortunate corruption of that condition. History, anthropology, archaeology, and biology suggest […]Charles Faint
- To My Son August 12, 2026You are not mine to own and control. You are not my possession or trophy. You do not exist to continue my lineage and name or bear my burdens. Who I am is not who you must become. The life I have lived is not your expected journey. I am here to love and nurture […]Jake Smith
