I left the Pech River Valley of Afghanistan in 2009, proud of what my battalion accomplished. Our area of operations was far less violent than when we arrived, and we had built strong relationships with part of the population. Two years later I left Mosul, confident we had trained the Iraqis and Kurds to secure their population.

A few months after returning from Iraq, I moved to Fort Benning to attend the Career Course. While I was there, I spoke with several of my peers who served in the Pech after I left. I already knew some of what had happened, but I was unhappy to hear what they had experienced. Areas considered safe by the end of my deployment were now extremely violent, and many of the hard-earned relationships with local Afghans had vanished. I wondered if there was any significance to all of the fighting we had done for such transient progress. I wondered if the Afghans who worked with the American military and Afghan Army were still alive. I tried to avoid wondering if all of the men in my battalion and the Afghans who died had sacrificed for something worthwhile.

After the Career Course, I moved to Alaska, spent time on staff, and became a company commander. One night, as I was sitting in the living room, my wife turned to me and said that Mosul had fallen to ISIS. I knew that several of the men in my company had deployed to Mosul, and some had lost friends. I spent the evening trying to decide what to tell them the next morning. We met ten minutes early for battalion formation. I told my soldiers that Mosul had fallen to ISIS, but that our work there still had value. We fought to give the Iraqis a chance to create a stable state, and we had succeeded. I believed every word, but they still felt inadequate as I said them.

“…I believe the United States will continue to fight, and that we can do it better.”

I started writing during the Career Course, and continue to write now, because I believe the United States will continue to fight, and that we can do it better. If I can contribute just a little to preparing for the next war, to making sure we have the right ideas before we start, then I’ll do my part. After the First Gulf War, my mother told me and my brothers that our country left Iraq unresolved, and my generation would have to return. If we fight another war, I want to tell my nephews that we solved the problem, so they won’t need to go back when they get older.

A couple of years after I began writing, I came across an interesting logo on the War Council website. I clicked on it, and found the Military Writers Guild. I joined the Guild to find a community of like-minded people. I wanted to sharpen my ideas by discussing them with others, to develop a more effective platform to communicate, and to help others do the same. Most of us write about the military because we want to more effectively manage violence, take care of veterans, or to create a better peace. If any of those sound like something you’re interested in, consider joining the Military Writers Guild.