Featured in anna granville
Why I Wrote Under A Pseudonym As A Naval Officer
When Task & Purposeoffered me a contributor role in mid 2014, I heeded the encouragement of close confidants to pursue...
There’s A Key Piece Of Information Missing From The Personnel Retention Discussion
Statistically, the Navy does not have an officer retention problem. Yet everyone knows in reality, many of the best people...
Here Are 7 Awesome Resources Your Transition Class Didn’t Offer
In preparation for leaving active duty, I recently completed all of my pre-separation training — transition goals, plans, and success,...
It’s Time We Require Women To Register For The Draft
Now that the Department of Defense has officially opened all combat jobs to women, the requirement for women to register...
American Women Who Served In Combat Before You Were Born
American women have served on the front lines of the battlefield since the United States declared itself an independent nation....
4 Reasons Why I Will Miss The Navy
“I really do wonder all the things we don’t hear about the military, if these are the terrible stories we...
The Navy’s Uniform Changes Are Anything But Gender Neutral
There is one glaring issue with the Navy’s significant shift toward gender-neutral uniforms: they aren’t particularly gender neutral. The uniforms...
Christmas means something different when you deploy
It's the quiet moments on deployment when the sadness, and the loneliness you feel, comes rushing in, filling the silence....
The Navy’s Retention Plans Are Improvements, But Still Not Enough
The most common reaction I have encountered when I mention my plan to resign my active-duty commission is a shrug...
A Tribute To A Fallen Friend On World Suicide Prevention Day
I was lying in my bed passing a lazy Saturday morning, listening to the sounds of traffic and laughing families...
What My Time In The Military Taught Me About Happiness
Ten to seven and we are already high above the clouds, only mountaintops peaking through the cracked white, like an...
How A Liberal Arts Degree Made Me A Better Officer
“A liberal education … frees a man from the prison-house of his class, race, time, place, background, family, and even...
How I Learned To Embrace The Fear Associated With Back-To-Back Deployments
“Are you sitting down?” asked the voice on the other end of the line. It was twilight on a week...
What Do The Classics Have To Do With The Modern Warfighter?
I recently received an email from a fellow service member asking for intellectual ammunition to help win an argument. Jeff...
A New Retention Survey Reveals Problematic Results for Navy
In May, a robust unofficial survey circulated among active-duty Navy personnel regarding retention in the Navy. The survey was the...
It’s The Friendships Forged On Deployment That Makes Me Miss Being Away
We cheered and applauded as the military cargo aircraft touched down in California. As I stepped onto the tarmac, now...
11 Countries, 3 Deployments, 4 Years: Here’s What I Kept
The lights of Doha spark awake as the dhow floats gently in the harbor. It is a majestic metropolis with...