The Legend of Billy The Kid killed more people than Billy ever did When we were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan in 2009, our unit was going through the typical spin-up exercises. Field exercises, where we went to remote training areas on our base for days and weeks at a Read more…
When it comes down to it, when life is on the line, we must match our deeds to our words. After twenty-two years in the military, and another three working with veterans as a mental health counselor, I understand the immense value in the concept of trust. Trust and the Read more…
“Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God help me, I do love it so.” – George S. Patton In a previous post, I wrote about how I hate war as only a warrior can. Something I wrote in there, however, was overshadowed by the Read more…
Today’s resource is one that has been written for an external source. Before retiring from the Army, one of my roles in my unit was as a suicide prevention coordinator, and I went through the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) that helps leaders, first responders, community members, etc., to Read more…
There is much discussion, and rightly so, about the impact that military service has on the mental health and wellness of veterans. Previous articles published on the Head Space and Timing blog have highlighted the importance of looking beyond Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury to additional challenges that veterans Read more…
Feeling trapped today? Caught in a bear trap or fell into a pit with sharp sticks that seems way too deep? Maybe you’re caught in a cage with impenetrable bars? What if the trap you’re stuck in is a trap that you built yourself? I see this often with veterans Read more…
I’ve often heard the psychological aftermath of a veteran’s military service described as a black dog. The black dog is an emotion, or series of emotions, that the veteran experiences, sometimes under control, sometimes uncontrollably. The black dog of PTSD can be terrifying. It’s always on alert, hackles raised, mouth Read more…
Whether you’ve been reading the Head Space and Timing blog for a while, or just recently joined us, hopefully you can tell that the goal here is to raise awareness about veteran mental health. To help veterans understand that there is nothing wrong, and everything right, with reaching out for Read more…
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft Veterans are among the most courageous people that I know. Dauntless. Unstoppable. The Army has established seven core values that all Soldiers should possess: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Read more…
This post is an original article written by Keith Nightingale. COL Nightingale is a retired Army Colonel who served two tours in Vietnam with Airborne and Ranger (American and Vietnamese) units. He commanded airborne battalions in both the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 82nd Airborne Division. He later commanded both Read more…