During my admittedly short time as a civilian, I’ve come across a few phrases that I was not familiar with during my time in the military. Profit Margins. Uniquely syndicate real-time functionalities. Zombie project. One that I really can’t wrap my head around, though is: It’s nothing personal, it’s just Read more…
If you ever want to interact with veterans in any way, I highly recommend that you listen to Jay Knight’s podcast, Veteranology, for an unvarnished inside look into what it’s like for a young leader in the military to rejoin the civilian world. Most specifically, one of the best episodes to Read more…
There seems to be a gulf, a divide, between veterans and those around them. I think the reasons for this divide are numerous, and many are unnecessary. In many cases, a veteran creates this divide themselves, by isolation. Seculsion. Withdrawing. By assuming that there is no way that anyone other Read more…
As I was on my way to the airport recently, I looked out the window and was instantly transported to a moment seen years ago. I’m not talking about a flashback but a faint temporary double vision, a memory of the past overlaid on the reality of the present. In Read more…
This post was originally written as part of the ACA Blog Project. The original post can be found here. Here is the veteran story paradox: Veterans sincerely and adamantly want those that they care about, those they interact with, to know their story and understand their experiences, without having to tell them Read more…
The thing that amazes me about veterans is their ability to put up with some of the most challenging situations that any individual can face. You can put them in any environmental condition, expose them to extreme levels of psychological stress, and yet they’ll still keep moving forward. To Read more…
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” One of the things that I’ve noticed when working with veterans, and something I’ve experienced myself, is the tendency to feel like we’re about to be discovered as a fraud or a phony. It’s like we’re the Great Oz, building this Read more…
Have you ever experienced the rush of thrill that comes from rapid acceleration? There’s something about going from zero to sixty in less than eight seconds that brings a smile to my face. Hundreds of experiences attempt to capitalize on our human desire for rapid acceleration: roller coasters, skydiving, motorcycles. Read more…
In late 1999, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, I jumped out of an airplane in the fog. Through the quirks of assignments during a 22 year Army career, I’ve only had the pleasure of two Airborne assignments out of eight or nine different ones. Those two were three years as Read more…
A significant challenge that veterans face during transition is they find that there is a wide open space in front of them. We can either choose how we fill that space, or it will be filled for us. The options are seemingly endless, but there are limits. Limits to our Read more…