For about ten years I fought in the “War on Terror”. My work was in three theaters, all in Africa (Uganda, Mali, Nigeria) against ISIS, Al Shabbab, Al Qaida and Boko Haram. I mapped jihadi movements throughout the Lake Chad region (though I’m not a spy); I helped take 124,000 fighters and their families off the battlefield, through a deradicalization program, though I’m not a soldier. I’ve walked through the sandy alleys of Timbuktu. I’ve made the phone call, “There has been another attack, everyone is accounted for” countless times. I have myself been in many different attacks (thankfully always at arms length) and have lost friends and contacts (though I never lost anyone on my teams, despite a few close calls). It’s been a wild ride.

I was in Boston on 9/11, from where one of the planes took off. In grad school.

Taking a cue from Bush or Churchill, I have been painting a little bit (you can see some of my stuff here: https://lnkd.in/eXm-Dj-6 ). The below one is from Bush’s speech at Ground 0. Everyone knows what I’m talking about, the speech of a lifetime — unscripted and unprepared — I still listen to it sometimes and get chills.

It has been a complicated 25 years indeed for our country, and I am so grateful for all those who I fought alongside for a season, as we sought to keep America safe and make the world a better place. God bless you all!