The Fire For Effect Project is collecting on-the-record testimony from American veterans who have concerns about the Trump administration—the war in Iran, the assault on democratic institutions, the erosion of the Constitution these men and women swore to defend. This is not an attempt to represent every veteran’s perspective, and we make no claim that all veterans share these concerns. Many don’t and we aren’t pretending otherwise. But the ones who do have something to say, and this is where they can say it publicly and on the record.
Interviews are published in full, in your own words, with minimal editing.
How to participate
If you are a veteran who opposes what’s happening and wants to go on the record, here’s what to do:
Answer as many or as few of the questions below as you’d like, in any order. There are no required questions. You can write a sentence on one and several paragraphs on another. If you’d rather skip the list entirely and just say what’s on your mind, that works too—the questions are a guide, not a requirement.
You don’t need to be a writer. What matters is that you’re genuine. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or whether it sounds polished, we’ll clean all of that up before anything is published. If it’s easier, you can even use voice to text and just talk it out. We can work with whatever you give us.
When you’re ready, use the contact form at the bottom of this page to submit your responses.
What we need from you
A short bio. Please include your name, branch of service, and any relevant background you’re comfortable sharing. It doesn’t need to be long, a sentence or two is fine. For example: Staff Sergeant Joe Smith served in the United States Army Infantry from 2001 to 2009 and is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. If you held a specialty, MOS, or role you want included, add it. If you have context that’s relevant (where you served, what you did, what you’ve done since, etc) feel free to include that too.
Your name. You can use your full name, first name and last initial, or a pseudonym. Whatever you’re comfortable with. We prefer full names, but completely understand that’s not always possible. If you are still serving or in a position where going on the record carries professional risk. Whatever you choose, please include your branch and era of service.
A photo, if you have one. Not required, but if you have a photo of yourself in the service or a current photo you’re comfortable using, we’d like to include it. The contact form below accepts text only. You can either write your responses directly into it or copy and paste them in, but it can’t accept photo attachments. Once you submit, we’ll follow up with a draft of how your interview will look before it’s published, and if you’d like to include a photo you can attach it in reply at that point.
To submit, please include the following:
- Name (full, first and last initial, or pseudonym):
- Branch of service:
- Era/Years served:
- Conflicts or deployments (if applicable):
- Unit/Division (optional):
- Photo (optional — if you’d like one included, you can send it when we follow up):
- Your responses:
Submission Form
The questions
Answer as many or as few as you’d like. You don’t have to go in order.
On Trump and the presidency
Do you think the commander in chief needs to have served in the military?
Did you vote for Trump? Has your view of that changed?
When Trump was first elected in 2016, what did you expect from his presidency?
When Trump was elected again in 2024, did your expectations change? If so, how?”
What’s your overall assessment of Trump as commander in chief?
How do you feel about the way Trump has treated military leadership, including firing generals and sidelining advisors who disagree with him?
Do you see the Trump administration’s actions as authoritarian? How do you define that from where you’re standing?
What do you make of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, including arrests, deportations, denial of due process, and secrecy about who is being taken and why?
What do you make of the Trump administration’s use of executive power, including firings, purges, and the dismantling of federal agencies?
When did things start to feel off to you about the Trump administration or the direction of the country?
Is there anything the Trump administration has done that you agree with, even if you oppose the broader direction?
On the Constitution and the oath
How do you think about the oath you swore to the Constitution, not to a commander in chief, in the current political moment?
Do you think civilian control of the military is intact? Does that concern you?
How do you feel about the use of active duty troops for domestic law enforcement in the United States?
What parallels, if any, do you draw between what you witnessed overseas and what you see happening in the United States right now?
Have you ever served somewhere that experienced conditions similar to what you see happening in the United States right now? What did that look like up close?
On Iran and foreign policy
Do you think military action against Iran was justified? How has it been handled?
How does the current conflict with Iran compare to other conflicts you’ve lived through or served in?
Where do you see the conflict with Iran heading from here?
What do you think U.S. allies and adversaries are taking from this moment?
What do you make of the Trump administration’s treatment of Afghan allies and interpreters?
On veterans specifically
What do you think of cuts to VA benefits and veterans services?
Have your feelings about your own service changed given what’s happening in the country right now?
How are the veterans you know talking about these issues privately, among themselves?
Do you worry about how speaking out might be perceived by other veterans who may disagree?
Closing
What would it take for you to feel like the United States had pulled back from the edge?
What do you want civilians who support Trump to understand about where you’re coming from?
What do you want elected officials, especially those who’ve never served, to understand?
What do you want on the record that nobody has asked you yet?
If you’d rather not work through the questions above, or if they don’t cover what you want to say, feel free to respond to this instead: From your perspective as a veteran, how do you view Donald Trump’s leadership and the direction of the country right now?
A note on participation
Participation in The Fire For Effect Project is voluntary and unpaid. By submitting your responses, you’re giving us permission to publish them on this site, in related Fire For Effect Project publications, and in any future print anthology that may grow out of this project. Your words stay your words, submitting here does not prevent you from publishing or submitting them anywhere else.
The Fire For Effect Project 