THE WARRIORS’ ASCENT BLOG

Much of what veterans and first responders describe as “just how I am now” is the output of six reinforcing feedback loops: hypervigilance, rumination, avoidance, anger, sleep-debt collapse, and isolation. Each one begins as a …

You cannot optimize a system that is not yet stable, and that principle governs how the Warrior Operating System is built. WOS 1.0 stabilizes the human system by reducing the load that is overwhelming it, …

Every engineered system has a governor, the component that holds the rest of the machine to its purpose. In the Warrior Operating System, that governor is identity. Category 6, Purpose, Identity & Self-Actualization, tells every …

Belonging is one of the most powerful regulators of human recovery and performance, and one of the most underestimated. In the Warrior Operating System, the social field a person lives inside functions as a stock …

People spend more hours planning a one-week vacation than they spend planning the rest of their lives. That’s not a joke, it’s a measurable failure of prioritization, and it’s fixable, because decision quality is not …

Motivation is not necessarily a character trait. It’s a mental state, a stock that rises and falls with conditions, not a switch you either have on or don’t. Motivation researcher Piers Steel has actually built …

Last week we opened this series by breaking down Category 1, Cognitive Mastery and Emotional Regulation, the subsystem that governs how we think and feel under pressure. This week we will go one layer deeper, …

Category 1 of the Warrior Operating System | Warriors’ Ascent In twelve years of running cohorts for combat veterans and first responders, I’ve noticed something almost every one of them has in common walking in …

Early in my career, I started looking at the infantry soldier, especially a special operator, as a weapon system: an interrelated series of subsystems designed to perform specific functions in support of a unified whole …

The system of systems Think of yourself like a car. You’ve got an engine, a fuel system, brakes, a steering wheel, a GPS, and a driver behind the wheel. If any one of those breaks …

Why Curriculum Design Is Our Advantage By Mike Kenny, Executive Director, Warriors’ Ascent Ask most people to picture a veteran wellness retreat and they’ll describe something loose: a campfire, maybe a ropes course, a lot …

Last week I said our program was featured in a peer-reviewed APA journal. Here’s what that study actually found, methodology, numbers, and all. The Study In 2023, the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, a peer-reviewed publication …

Warriors’ Ascent is different for one reason. We build capacity, not dependency. Everything else about the program follows from that. Where This Comes From Throughout my career in US Army Special Forces, building partner capacity …

Learning to live again takes time, intention, and courage—but it is possible. The hard work you’ve already done matters. Every step you take toward presence, connection, and purpose is a step toward the life you deserve. You’re not starting over—you’re building forward. And you don’t have to settle for surviving when thriving is within reach.

VIEW OUR EVENT PHOTOS HERE Thank You! The Warriors’ Ascent annual Friends of SOF Golf Event was a tremendous success having raised over $30,000! To everyone who attended, sponsored, and volunteered: thank you! Your presence made the …

“If you don’t work the system, the system won’t work for you.” Mike Kenny That’s the unapologetic truth echoed in the final episode of Season 1 of the Warriors’ Ascent Podcast, hosted by retired military veterans …