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

• Halos for the Useless June 27, 2026
  The modern educated class has built itself a religion for people who’d never survive a real one. It has all the thrilling features of old-time faith, guilt, ritual, excommunication, dietary fussiness, endless denunciations, and absolutely none of the useful side effects, like mercy, courage, or building a barn for a widow. What it produces instead […]
  Tammy Pondsmith
• The Strength in Owning Our Imperfections June 27, 2026
  The world is filled with clips and quips of falsehoods. It is neither perfect nor fair. We are flawed humans stumbling through life, trying to do our best. Trust not those who profess perfection. Instead, trust and admire those who preach their imperfection. Trust those who acknowledge their failures, despite the discomfort. Far more is […]
  Jake Smith
• An Army Brat, and the Lasting Effects of an Unkind Word June 26, 2026
  My father was in the Army, and when I was very young, the Army sent us to Germany for a couple of years. 2nd though 4th grade, if I remember correctly. To me it seemed like my mother took us EVERYWHERE in Western Europe during that time period. France. Italy. The U.K. Ireland. All over […]
  Charles Faint
• The Afghanistan Withdrawal Is Not Over for Veterans June 26, 2026
  By Dr. Wylie Brace and Samantha D. Glidewell This article is the final installment in a three-part series adapted from qualitative research on veterans’ responses to the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The full manuscript, including methods, references, and broader clinical discussion, is available through a DOI-linked version here. Direct quotes are from anonymous study […]
  Special Guest
• What the Casualties in Iraq Taught Me about War June 26, 2026
  I deployed to Tallil Air Base, Iraq in September 2004 as a U.S. Air Force (USAF) Operating Room (OR) nurse with the 407th Expeditionary Medical Group. At the time, there was still hope that Operation Iraqi Freedom might live up to its namesake. The U.S. was ostensibly still looking for WMD (the U.S. Iraq Survey […]
  Mike Warnock