The War HorseOpinion

Children Are Falling From Military Housing Windows. Why Did the Pentagon Change How It Protects Them?

Children are falling from military housing windows. Why did the Pentagon loosen its interpretation of a 2017 law meant to ...
Opinion
The War HorseOpinion

I Was a Homeless Woman Veteran. The Programs Meant to Help Weren’t Built for Survivors Like Me

I’m no longer homeless, but I’m still close to the issue. I’m now working on a documentary about a shelter that specifically houses homeless women veterans, just like I once was. Their struggles are ...
thewarhorse

The Pentagon Wants to ‘Optimize’ Service Members. Will Testosterone Make Them Better Warfighters?

Pete Hegseth leaned in toward the camera. Since the early days of his tenure as secretary of defense, the former Fox News host had been posting clips on social media for the public. But this time, ...
The War Horse

Rebecca L. Root

Rebecca L. Root is a multimedia journalist based in Bangkok but reporting globally. She covers humanitarian aid, human rights ...
thewarhorse

Hegseth Ordered a New Study of Women in Combat. Critics Say It’s Built to Reach One Conclusion

Two months before Pete Hegseth appeared in front of Congress to testify in his confirmation to be secretary of defense, he sat across from the podcaster Shawn Ryan, talking about the Pentagon’s 2015 ...
thewarhorse

Where the Pentagon Can’t Go, a Small Nonprofit Searches for America’s War Dead

Filipino laborers excavate a trench in the Philippine city of Marawi during a search for three U.S. servicemen executed by Japanese forces in 1942. A Virginia-based nonprofit partnered with Filipino ...
thewarhorse

Feres Helps Military Avoid Accountability for Harm. New Ruling Could Be a Chance for Justice.

On the nine-hour drive from their home in California’s central valley to the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles, Peter Vienna and his wife wondered what had happened to their son. They ...
thewarhorse

Their Military Careers Were Cut Short in Combat. Now They’re Fighting Congress for Their Full Benefits

The fall lasted only seconds, but the consequences would span a lifetime. Under the cover of darkness in Balad, Iraq, Army Sgt. Will Fisher was moving into position for an overnight mission. He fell ...
thewarhorse

The Marines Created a Warrior. But I Forgot How to Be a Woman

I secured my M-16 to my rack after a long, scorching day on the rifle range and touched my stomach. Cramps should be arriving any day—but they weren’t. How many weeks had it been? Where was my period?
thewarhorse

Women Have Served in Combat Roles for a Decade. The Pentagon is Reopening the Debate

In Army Ranger school, Emelie Vanasse once sat under a poncho in the pouring rain and shivered so hard her entire body cramped up. She strapped on a rucksack that weighed more than 100 pounds and ...
thewarhorse

They Served Through America’s Post-9/11 Wars. 25 Years Later, What Did That Service Mean?

If not for what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, Valeria Casillas probably would not have joined the military. But in the surge of patriotism following deadly terrorist attacks on New York City and outside ...
thewarhorse

Hegseth Made the Fitness Test Harder for Women in Combat Roles. Most Female Marines Are Passing

When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of generals and admirals from around the world to Quantico, Virginia, last September, he delivered a blunt message: Things were changing fast in ...