Check out my latest article. A how-to guide for journalists covering the military — written for Northwestern University’s National Security Journalism Initiative.
Click HERE to read the article.
Reporting Tips From a Military Insider
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Category Archives: writing
Sebastian Junger: Crusade to Save Reporters in Harm’s Way
Following the death of Tim Hetherington, a longtime friend, by mortar shrapnel while covering the Libyan civil war, Sebastian Junger created an organization to train conflict journalists in combat first aid. A look at the author and filmmaker’s RISC program and the dangers faced by journalists in war zones.
As published in NEWSMAX magazine, April 2013.
Click HERE to read the article.
The Coast is Clear
Does the threat of Iranian ICBMs mean we need an East Coast missile defense site? A battle is brewing in Congress to decide the answer.
As published in NEWSMAX magazine, March 2013.
Click HERE to read the article.
Scars
“Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’”
The final night before the climb, I was in the dining room of the lodge in Chukhung, eating a plate of Tibetan momos and enjoying an Everest beer. While talking to a Canadian climber about Afghanistan, I heard an American voice call out across the room: “Holy shit, dude, were you in the U.S. military?”
Through the haze of burning yak dung fueling the stove in the middle of the room, I saw a young, bearded man. He had on a black beanie and his short sleeves revealed arms covered in tattoos. And there were scars beneath the ink. I’d seen arms like those before on my brothers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before he said another word, I knew he was an American soldier, and I knew he was special ops.
Antarctica – marathon on the ice
I stepped off the Russian jet that had just landed on a blue ice runway in the most remote, inhospitable place on earth.
As soon as I passed through the threshold of the aircraft door, the cold cut through my piled-on layers of down and fleece in a flash.
I felt it in my bones first. It was a terrifying cold. In some primitive, reptilian part of my brain I knew that this was not discomfort, but this was death. The body is not meant to thrive here. It can only endure.
Four days ago I was baking in the heat of Baghdad, Iraq. In two days I would attempt to run a marathon across a glacier in the heart of Antarctica. I had never run a marathon before.
Nolan, I thought, you’re in some seriously deep shit.
GPS Spoofing: Hijacking in the Digital Age
A team of researchers on a college campus recently unveiled a technology that could allow terrorists to remotely hijack passenger jets.
In June researchers at the University of Texas successfully hijacked an unmanned drone aircraft – known in the military as a UAV– by “spoofing” its GPS data feed. The reaction by the media and government to the demonstration focused on security concerns related to the FAA’s plan to safely integrate drone aircraft in domestic airspace. But there is a much bigger story here, and no one is talking about it: GPS spoofing could potentially allow terrorists to hijack control of commercial jetliners without ever stepping into the cockpit.
Climbing Island Peak — my journal
October 29, 2011/Island Peak, 20,000 feet
The summit ridge of Island Peak –with P.K. Sherpa in the foreground.
I kicked my crampon into the ice wall. Shards of ice splintered off from the impact. I turned to watch them tumble down the length of the 40-story ice face I was attached to. I swung the ice axe in my right hand towards the face of the cliff. The low-pitched thud of the impact signaled to me that the point had firmly lodged in the ice, giving me enough traction to trust it with my weight. My heart was beating at its maximum. I hadn’t been able to catch my breath for more than an hour. My guide and I were on the last, most difficult portion of the climb to the summit of Island Peak. And I didn’t think I could go any farther.
***
We left base camp at two that morning. P.K. Sherpa was my guide. A Sherpa climber who grew up in the Everest region of Nepal, P.K. has climbed Mt. Everest six times. His strength at altitude and steely nerve on the high exposure were an inspiration to a novice like me. He seemed to flow up the most complicated and difficult sections of rock and ice like water flows down a stream.
Swimming from Europe to Asia – Hellespont swim 2012
BY NOLAN PETERSON
Swimmers approach the finish of the 2012 Hellespont swim.
I stopped swimming to poke my head above the waves. I tried to figure out where I was. As I tread water, I was met with a horrifying site — nothing. Through the spray of the 30 knot winds coming off the water, I could make out a cell-phone tower on the opposite shore, but that was it. No boats were in sight. I couldn’t see another swimmer.
This was the point of no return. If I continued only I could get myself to safety. My fate was in my hands. The lifeline was gone and now it was all on me. I was alone.
I looked back as I floated to the crest of a wave and I could see the starting line and the crowds of people cheering for us. They disappeared behind another one of the six foot waves.
“What the hell,” I thought. I swam on.
At the Hellespont, four miles of water separate Europe from Asia. Last month my challenge was to swim it.
Why We Go To War — And Why We Need Better Journalists
“America doesn’t know its military and the United States military doesn’t know America” — Adm. Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Journalists have a unique and solemn duty to perform in democracies that field all-volunteer military forces. Decisions on when to engage military units are based on the appetite of the citizenry for the costs to blood and treasure associated with the application of hard power. The role of journalists in a democracy is critical — we have to educate citizens about the costs of war to maintain societal hesitations to the application of deadly force.
Endurance: Conquering breast cancer, a life-threatening brain injury — and an Ironman triathlon
BY NOLAN PETERSON
The ultimate test: Huebner has completed two Ironman triathlons — one before her cancer diagnosis, and one after.
Breast cancer, bleeding in the brain and a broken collarbone.
Lying in her hospital bed in July, 2008, Tasha Huebner thought she was going to die. One year later she was standing on the starting line of the Ironman Wisconsin triathlon facing a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike race and a full 26.2 mile marathon- all on the same day. Huebner’s body is not indestructible, and her mind is not immune from fear or dark imaginings, but she will never speak the words: “I can’t.”