The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces

“He fell in love with what he was doing.”

Billy Lavigne’s father describes his son’s motivation for remaining in the military even as the Global War on Terror escalated. The institution that corrupted and hollowed out Lavigne was one that he not only joined willingly, but actively devoted himself to. Harp argues that the military took advantage of the patriotism and enthusiasm of young people like Lavigne.

“She looked up and saw Billy pointing the gun at her daddy. And she looked at her daddy and it was like he was dancing.”

Melanie Leshikar witnesses her father’s death, showing how cycles of violence echo across generations. Harp writes from Melanie’s naive perspective, drawing pathos from the juxtaposition between the pleasant image of “dancing” and the violent reality. This incident illustrates the human toll of Cycles of Trauma and Addiction in the Military.

“This pat narrative, a sort of morality tale intended to illustrate the cherished principle of joint warfare, is not factually inaccurate.”

Harp notes that the founding myth of JSOC is “not factually inaccurate,” using ironic understatement to suggest that even if it accords with the facts, this “pat narrative” is misleading in more important ways. Over the course of the book, Harp demonstrates why this founding myth is pointedly ironic, since the institution seems to have few principles other than its own self-preservation.