The Fire For Effect Project grew out of a piece published in Slate in March 2026, in which I interviewed veterans at the No Kings protest in Austin, Texas. After it ran, several veterans who hadn’t been at the protest reached out — people who had read the piece and wanted to add their voices, to go on the record about what they were seeing and feeling. This project is the result of that response.
It is an archive of interviews with American veterans speaking on the record about the Trump administration, the war in Iran, and what they see happening to the country they served.
These are not objective takes. The veterans collected here have a point of view and they’re not hiding it. They swore an oath to the Constitution, not to a commander in chief, and they don’t consider that obligation discharged at separation.
Interviews are published in full, in their own words, with minimal editing. The project is ongoing. New interviews will be added as they come in.
If you are a veteran who wants to participate, please visit the contributions page.
— Nick Allison, March 2026
The Fire For Effect Project is an initiative of The Chaos Section, a veteran-founded independent press based in Austin, Texas, covering politics, power, culture, and the human condition.
The Fire For Effect Project 