Profiles in Havok

Neville Johnson was born and raised in South Africa by a Mum who was a Nurse and a Dad who was a Police Officer. This early exposure to a life of service to country influenced his most significant life decisions. Before he started writing, this path took him to the United Kingdom, where he ended up in London as a member of her Majesty’s Royal Infantry.

Neville currently resides in New Zealand with his wife and three children. He works at a high school as the Pathways Coordinator, assisting young people in developing essential life skills for their transition into the workforce. 

His first book, Sangin, Then and Now, is a stoic collection of poetry from a lifelong loyal subject of the Commonwealth. The verses within tell the story of a young man following in the footsteps of his father as we accompany him on a journey to war and back. It is a rationale for the dangers we face in staying in a toxic relationship with professions and landscapes trying to swallow us whole.

Charles McCaffrey is a Navy Veteran with over 35 years of military, government contracting and small business experience; and is a serial entrepreneur, instructor, mentor and ardent supporter of the military community. Charles serves as the Director of the Veterans Career Program (VCP) at Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) that provides FREE employment support and vocational counseling assistance to ALL veterans, transitioning service members, spouses, and caregivers. Prior to joining PVA in October 2021, he served as the Executive Director of Eastern Market Main Street (EMMS), a nonprofit, and designated DC Main Streets program, dedicated to fostering a collaborative, connected, and competitive business community in the heart of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, DC.

He was on the staff at George Mason University’s Community Business Partnership; and served as Director of the Business Incubation Center (2012-2013) and Director of the South Fairfax Small Business Development Center (2013-2015) before founding and serving as the Director of the Veterans Business Outreach Center for the Mid-Atlantic region from 2015 to 2019. The Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) program (a program of the Small Business Administration) is designed to provide entrepreneurial development services such as business training, counseling, and resource partner referrals to transitioning service members, veterans, National Guard & Reserve members, and military spouses interested in starting or growing a small business. In 2016, he was named Boots to Business Instructor of the Year; and in 2018, the VBOC at Community Business Partnership was named the Veteran Business Center of Excellence by the Small Business Administration.

Charles is also active in the broader community; serving as a learning lab partner for the Dog Tag, Inc., Fellows program. He is also an avid storyteller, writer and artist; and has been a mentor with the Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP).

 Charles told his first story on stage in 2017 as a graduate of the Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) Storytelling 101 class; and has since gone on to perform at ASAP’s Service to Stage performance (DC Improv in 2018), Story District’s annual OutSpoken show (9:30 Club in 2019), and Story District’s TopShelf performance (Lincoln Theater in 2020). His first short story (fiction), “Dancing in the Dark,” will be published in a special literary issue of the Journal of Veterans Studies in Spring 2023.

Kacy Tellesen was born in Spokane and raised in Spangle, Washington, a small farming community that clings to the edge of the Palouse. Kacy joined the Marine Corps infantry directly out of high school and deployed twice to Iraq as an Infantry machine gunner with Second Battalion, Third Marines from 2005-2009. He lives in Spangle, Washington with his wife and two children and is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor at Gonzaga University School of Law.

Kacy's debut memoir, Freaks of a Feather, has been reviewed and excerpted by Task & Purpose, The War Horse, The Big Smoke, KHQ, and others. Previously, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Zero-Dark-Thirty literary journal, as well as the SOFLETE website.

Ben Cantwell is a USMC veteran, firefighter and artist from Northern California. His original work reflects his experience as an infantry veteran. Featuring an array of styles, moods and themes, Cantwell’s work is available on custom shirts, playing cards, patches and more.

See it here.

Francisco is a product of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and serves as an editor and contributing writer to Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel. He is an Into the Fire writing retreat scholarship recipient, and a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellow. He is a product of the Writers Guild Foundation Veterans Writing Project, and the Veteran’s Summer Writing Intensive at Marlboro College sponsored by Words After War. He also participates in a Veterans Playwriting Workshop, created by the Theatre Communications Group as part of their Veterans & Theatre Institute, at the La Jolla Playhouse. 

Francisco’s work has been featured in The Line Literary Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Iron & Air (Issue 41), Wrath-Bearing Tree, Consequence, BULL, Hobart, Construction Literary Magazine, Split Lip, The War Horse, River Teeth: Beautiful Things, Collateral Journal, and the Dominican Writer’s Association. He is also a contributing co-editor in the second volume of the Incoming series Sex, Drugs, and Copenhagen. 

Dave Campisano joined the Army in 2001 and served in various light infantry units until his separation in 2016. In 2009, he passed Ranger School and was deployed with the Golden Dragons 2/14In, 10th Mountain Division to Iraq. After his honorable discharge in 2016, he attended Suffolk University in Boston where he majored in Finance and now serves as a Financial Advisor with Northwestern Mutual and a financial planning team based in Wellesley, MA. He currently lives with his daughter, Isabella, and dog Winston in Millis, MA.

After his separation from the Army, David began to notice that more and more service members were taking their own lives and felt compelled to start the non-profit, 22Mohawks. The main goal of 22Mohawks is to bring awareness to veteran suicide. They sponsor multiple events each year that bring veterans and their families together. Their mission is to create and keep the bond between veterans so that everyone knows that they have someone with similar experiences they can lean on. A big part of that bond and connection is lost after separation from the military and believing fully in their mission to reinforce and maintain that sense of community.

Vicki Cody grew up in Burlington, Vermont and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1975, with a BS degree in education. For the next 33 years she was an Army wife, supporting her husband in his career. While raising their two sons and moving all over the United States and overseas, she served as a coach and mentor for Army spouses and as an advocate for Army families.

Vicki has received numerous awards for her work on behalf of military families. In 2007, she was written into the Congressional Record in a tribute to her by Congressman Sylvestre Reyes, for her writings about Army life and her contributions to the nation as an Army wife and Army mom. In 2021, Vicki, along with her husband Dick, received the General Creighton Abrams Medal for Service from the Association of the United States Army.

She is the author of Your Soldier, Your Army: A Parents’ Guide and most recently, the revised edition, Your Soldier, Your Army: A Family Guide, both of which were published by the Association of the United States Army. This book is free of charge to everyone. To date, over 500,000 copies of these books have been distributed. Her articles have appeared in numerous military magazines and publications.

Her first memoir, Army Wife: A Story of Love and Family in the Heart of the Army was published in 2016 by She Writes Press. Army Wife won the 2016 USA Best Book Award for narrative non-fiction, was a Finalist for the 2016 Foreword Indies Book of the Year in the military category, and was listed in Kirkus Reviews Top Indie Books of 2016.

Her new memoir, Fly Safe- Letters from the Gulf War and Reflections from Back Home, was released in August 2021 by She Writes Press. Fly Safe was a finalist for the 2021 Best Book Awards in the History/Military category; made the Kirkus Reviews 2021 list of Great Indie Books worth discovering; and is a finalist for the Military and Front Lines Book Award in the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

She and her husband of forty-six years live in the Washington, DC area. Their two sons, both Apache helicopter pilots, continue to serve on active duty in the US Army.

Mike Reynolds is an active duty Marine and Marine Corps Combat Artist. With roots at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA while attending some very basic elective art classes; following the attacks of September 11th, 2001, he left college and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. As an Ammunition Technician he has been assigned to 10th Marine Regiment, 8th Marine Regiment, and Combat Logistics Regi

ment-35. As a Chief Warrant Officer, he has served with 3rd Supply Battalion, Marine Corps Systems Command, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and as an LDO he currently serves with Marine Forces Special Operations Command. A veteran of OIF, OEF, and OIR he has done his share of creating unit t-shirts and coins, but took a more focused approach to creating artwork in recent years.

“A few years after transitioning to the Warrant Officer ranks, I volunteered to assist the annual Warrant Officer Basic Course at Quantico, Virginia. I was was teamed with Staff Platoon Commander and Marine Corps Combat Artist, Captain Charles “CJ” Baumann where I rediscovered my passion for art in working with him and studying his work.”

Mike's passion for creating artwork stems from the idea that art should tell a story, and the stories of the GWOT demand to be told.

Check out Mike’s work here.

I found talking two Afghan social activist and human rights advocate Crystal Bayat incredibly cathartic - I think during the interview I even called it “medicinal.” I was thinking about why I chose to put it that way, and the best I can articulate it is that for many veterans of Afghanistan and many Afghans themselves, I think there a sort of “trauma bond” has formed - a very intimate relationship forged in the wake of a withdrawal that has been forgotten as quickly as it chaotically occurred. Talking with Crystal was, in some ways, like returning to the scene of the crime. While I was listening to her, it struck me how rarely we hear Americans speak as passionately, sincerely and fervently about freedom and democracy. Crystal truly represents the pro-American, young, educated Afghan that understands and appreciates American efforts – and has been betrayed even more by our withdrawl.

Crystal herself is a beneficiary of our war effort. Born in 1997, she spent her life coming of age while American troops were on the ground. To hear her talk about the freedom - personal social and political - that she experienced because of our war in Afghanistan is a necessary reminder that in 20 years of war America enabled a generation of Afghans to come of age with possibilities and optimism unknown to previous generations. Crystal is clear eyed and resolute about the threats still present in Afghanistan. Crystal is forthcoming about everything from the Taliban’s assassination attempt of her to an analysis of the multiple foreign influences still gestating, fomenting and developing new threats inside Afghanistan. It is a conversation, I think, that that every American should listen to. Crystal pulls no punches and identifying the culprits responsible for Afghanistan’s collapse. As a member of the Loy Jerga, Crystal was present at the Doha peace talks - she is an activist but not an outsider. She has intimate knowledge and first-hand experience of the inner workings of the Ghani government which makes for an incredibly compelling insightful conversation. I think any one who cares about Afghanistan will deeply appreciate this episode. And anyone who wants to know why they should care about Afghanistan deserves the answers Crystal offers.

Learn more about Crystal here.

No two veteran’s stories are the same. But Torie Fisher’s life is one that a lot of veterans can probably relate to. After a rough initial exit from the military, Torie re-enlisted, found a job she loved…only to again leave the military under less than ideal circumstances. She founded Backward Flag Brewing Company, but very soon found herself struggling as a new business owner, recent divorcee, newly married – gay – there were a lot of big changes all happening at once. It wasn’t long before the temptation to end it all was one trigger squeeze away. Yet Torie dug deeper, quit drinking heavily, focused on her daughter and focused on helping those around her. Arms 2 Artisans, her nonprofit, became a way for her to continue to serve the military community, support her brothers and sisters in arms, and allow her to pave the way for transitioning veterans to become artists, creators, and artisans. Her selfless service extended to becoming a Mental Wellness Director at Recalibrate, pursuing advanced degrees in Psychology and even working as a Veteran Advocate in local law enforcement. I wasn’t simply impressed by the strength and resilience Torie continues to show, juggling so many pursuits - all targeting the transitioning/separated veteran – but also by her honesty, her transparency, and her willingness to be an example for other veterans to find their path by helping others find theirs.