Some thoughts brought to the keyboard on Fourth July 2025

Young men today are given ample opportunity to serve, not serve or quasi-serve. But, to be honest, Military service is binary to me. You either were in the military or you weren’t. And, it's essential to understand the military is like a resort of the world with such a wide range of experiences, jobs, and day-to-day mindset, and the requirements of many jobs are as varied as those of society. Yet, somehow, everyone I meet was in “sof“ or had experiences “later in their career” with “sof”. SOCOM itself as a command structure has become so bloated and large that it is a de facto “peculiar” branch on its own. It’s maybe gone too far down that path. More command and “higher” stymies the creativity, problem solving, and sometimes honor of the operators on the ground. Less command, fewer officers, and a smaller force are forced to be more elite, reinforcing, supportive, and capable.

I grew up in SOF. As a starting point, I thought it was the actual SOF, combat arms, — Ranger, Green Beret, or SEAL. I joined as an infantryman and walked over to the Sand Hills recruiting station while in Infantry basic training. It turned out that I had a compelling argument to get the opportunity to go to Special Forces Selection. I was not reclassified as an 18X; I just got lucky in my ploy. I was following the same instinct that took me to the infantry when I told my recruiter, when asked about jobs I’d like to do, “I don’t know, the one where the guys walk around with guns and get shot at?”. “You mean the infantry”. The recruiter was confused about why I wanted to be in the infantry. He was great, though. And I think he was in the cavalry. I’ve tried to track him down, but can’t. He had an incredible impact on my life. Despite what everyone says, my recruiter didn’t lie to me - this man was upfront, honest, and didn’t get in my way to serve. I walked into that office, and by the evening, with his NCOIC, I think, I signed something I honestly did not even read. I could have become a sex slave that night. I was then told to come back in two weeks and have some initial PT scores, and I would get my date to go to MEPS at Fort Meade afterwards to take some tests. I’d later go back to MEPS and end up on a bus to Fort Benning and slowly shit myself on the realization of basic training, a new culture, and the infantry as a suburban kid from might as well have been pleasantville. Then basic infantry training, airborne — special operations preparation course — SF selection — SF training — Arrive at my OD-A — Deploy.

That journey is why I joined the military. To go to the point of impact. Experience it. Engage it. Grow as a person and have some positive change. What we did on that first deployment to Afghanistan at the start, which may have been the apex of the Village Stability Operations era, was incredible. I could not have imagined a better welcome to Special Forces and Afghanistan. By, with, and through our partner forces and the local militia and peacekeeper forces we helped form. It was not devoid of frustrations to try and motivate Pashtun and Wardak Afghans to take up arms and fight the oppressive Taliban regime.

Everyone knows how that story ends. From my perspective and experience, I got to do what I wanted. And nothing in modern society or other organizations affords me that experience and apprenticeship. You also can't quite get the whole experience in a job that’s not the main effort in a SOF unit of action. In this case, the Green Beret series of jobs. These are jobs that, if earned, unlock tremendous opportunities to grow as a human being. When I think about the military in terms of individuals, the above and many more experiences are my frame of reference. It's head-scratching when I meet people whose roles I did not know existed, and somehow we share experiences. Often, miscommunication between all of us, but sometimes, borderline lies fueled by insecurities and naiveties of those who promulgate false innuendos. Many want to be validated by their peers, like in high school. The older I get, the more I feel like people naturally create high schools and replay those dynamics until they get it right, or so they think, for them. This is alive “defense tech,” and the young male contingent who seek to enter the combat arms and Silicon Valley ranks simultaneously. Like honor is fuzzy dice in a car that screams small pecker.

Is the “woke” nature of big tech, foreign-born talent, and now predictable mass layoffs driving young men from consumer/commercial big tech to “defense tech”? Whatever it is, it’s coming with a bunch of nonsense. My above excerpt, where I laid out my very initial military experience, is what it is. However, veterans are in this industry, creating an image that rewrites many of their experiences. It’s heartbreaking that some might be dishonoring their service if they’ve lied or let others fill in gaps through what they don’t say about their time with “JSOC”. It’s often like, you were an intelligence analyst. The command is irrelevant; you can change your last name to JSOC or start a “J socks” company. You were an intelligence analyst, and the only way you are remembered is by your conduct and experience when you were in, and then your own unique experience. No one cares. And what is wrong with an intelligence analyst? A good analyst is less replaceable than I was as an enlisted SF soldier. They'd print serial numbers on us if it weren't an opsec issue.

Many veterans and civilians create fantasies together. They mate on LinkedIn, at conferences, and probably indoor ranges with staccato pistols, poor shot groups, and no drills. They're not training. They seldom have something to train for in practical terms. They are fantasizing or “romanticizing” their lives. One is living their Call of Duty online multi-player prowess, and the other gets to rewrite their own time in the military. All of it swirls into a party punch on LinkedIn. However, the gap is in the effects that cosplay and exhibitionism have on US defense systems, and the current focus on modernization and technology when employed dominates at war.

There’s a lot of talk and limited scoreboard points in this industry right now. Many civilians and veterans validate one another in an amoebic dance, with the LinkedIn and Signal chat punch bowl fueling it all.

Those who are committed, as they likely were in service, will persist when the music stops playing because the essence of servitude lies in commitment. All-in commitment. The definition varies for many, and at different points in their career. But you know if you’re serious. And if you aren’t. You are probably telling everyone you are, were, and will be.

In National Security, there is only the mission. It’s a boulder that only moves uphill when multiple people push it around at the same time. And it doesn’t care about you and your psychology. If it’s not pushed, it slams back into society.