Dispatches
The Call of the Wild
Time spent outdoors can be surprisingly effective therapy for combat veterans. A piece on trauma and the wilderness at Takepart.com
Reading the Mind of a Wildfire
From studying tree rings to creating intricate computer models, scientists are trying to understand why flames behave the way they do.
The Boys of War
Daniel Rodriguez's long trip home from the remote mountains of Afghanistan brought him to a football stadium packed with 80,000 fans cheering madly as he made his first college catch.
Walking Off the War
After three deployments to Iraq, a veteran treks the 2,668 Pacific Crest Trail searching for peace of mind.
Halfway Home
The U.S. military has always excelled at training soldiers, but they've had a tougher time helping them adjust to peace. I joined 11 combat veterans in Nepal as they tested a promising new postwar therapy: adventure.
The Military Mind
To train future soldiers, the Department of Defense is using new technologies and centuries-old techniques like meditation to hone their minds, help them make better decisions on the battlefield, and prevent trauma.
The King and Queen of Danger
Professional daredevils Rex and Melissa Pemberton were drawn together by a mutual passion for risk and adrenaline. Now they have a marriage based on love, trust, and the strange, stoic acceptance that their life partner could die at any moment.
The Last Patrol
Out in the grape furrows and fruit orchards with a platoon of 82nd Airborne paratroopers for the harrowing end of their year-long deployment in southern Afghanistan's treacherous Arghandab Valley.
Prison Break
The (nearly) unbelievable story of four convicts who tunneled out of their northern-Michigan prison cell, Great Escape style.
Attack of the Drones
The Pentagon now buys more unmanned aircraft than manned, using them on battlefields both known and secret. In this new age of fighting machines, war will be ever more abstract, more distant, and ruthlessly efficient.
Learning to Survive
The Air Force let me attend its top-secret survival school--except for the last few days of prison camps and interrogations, which was fine with me. I had the fun part: sneaking through the woods, making fires and cooking rabbits.
