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

• Practice Goes Before Belief June 5, 2026
  “Fake it till you make it.” Most of us have heard the phrase, and most of us have probably lived it in one way or another. But there’s a deeper truth behind that cliché: belief doesn’t always come first. Often, it follows. Practice goes before belief. In the military, this principle is a way of […]
  Charles Faint
• The Private at the Bottom of the Peer List June 5, 2026
  By James B. When my platoon formed up for Darby Phase, I felt out of place from the start. No one wears rank in Ranger School, but you can read the room. It was clear officers comprised the majority of my platoon: first and second lieutenants, a lot of them straight out of IBOLC, with […]
  Special Guest
• Snow Showers on a Sunny Day June 5, 2026
  By Ryan Mimna I look out my window at a curious sight. As sunshine sits still in a haze, dancing in the wind, snowflakes on a sunny day. In the twilight’s gaze, peerless to the blue sky, the snow moved its own way. Won’t you believe me? I saw snow on a sunny day. Haven’t […]
  Special Guest
• The Cult of Performed Dysfunction June 4, 2026
  The surest sign a society has lost its mind is when it starts calling basic self-respect oppression. That’s when you know the adults have left the building and handed the keys to a focus group of cowards, profiteers, and very loud idiots who think consequences are a hate crime. The broad scam is simple. A […]
  Tammy Pondsmith
• Behind Friendly Lines June 4, 2026
  A few weeks ago, at the height of burnout and a real period of darkness, I got a text from a friend that offered a glimmer of hope. He asked if I would be interested in attending a regional Return to Base event with Patrol Base Abbate, a nonprofit I’m an active member of. Sight […]
  Stan Lake