Soldier Systems Daily is more than just a collection of articles on a website.

SSD In a Nutshell
Soldier Systems Daily is the premier daily web publication covering the tactical industry. Government and Military Acquisition professionals, Industry leaders, and consumers alike rely on Soldier Systems Daily for its up-to-date reporting and in-depth analysis. Soldier Systems Daily doesn’t just report Government acquisition awards, we also offer information on procurement opportunities, new materials, and a daily does of data on products and services. All information is weighed for its added value and paired with historical data to provide unmatched insight into the tactical industry. No one else focuses on industry like Soldier Systems Daily and no one else publishes the sheer volume of information on a daily basis.

By the way, we run SSD on Zulu time zone (GMT) since we travel so much. It helps us synch up our content no matter where we are.

Our Logo
Just after the site launched in 2008, Mil Spec Monkey designed the SSD logo for us. Primarily, it symbolizes the individual warrior through the traditional Davinci’s Vitruvian Man representing how art and science combine to outfit the Soldier blended with a 1960s futuristic feel in the form of the Olympic Sports Pictogramme-style which alludes to the athletic facet of the Warrior. It holds the rugged individual as its core with a nod to the past and a look to the future.

However, we don’t slap our logo on everything under the sun and we sure as hell don’t prostitute ourselves by putting our logo on items that are supposed to be memorials to the fallen.

News
We put the “new” in news. If it’s worth knowing you are going to read it here first. And if you do happen to see it somewhere else first, we will tell you to go see it there, unless we have the rest of the story. Which, all too often seems to be the case. We will always endeavor to give you the best and most up-to-date coverage of the tactical industry, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No one else provides this level of coverage.

Our sweet spot for articles is generally in the 6-24 hour window meaning we have a pretty good idea of what will be posting within that period of the future. This is because most articles are written at some point in this window of time before being published and are prescheduled. Frequently, we have to preempt this schedule to address breaking news.  Additionally, we post press releases from industry. In addition to being presented in their original PR format, we categorize them as “Press Release”.

Also, we aren’t here to sell you anything. We aren’t in competition with our advertisers and don’t use our access in industry to come up with ideas to design and sell products. This is about the information, not about luring you in to sell you something.

Stories and Images
Unlike many other sites, we don’t charge for stories. Conversely, we make no guarantee as to the conditions of any business conducted by our advertisers or the companies we mention articles. Any business is between you and them. We are not involved in any way in any business transactions and can’t provide you with a quote.

Image submissions are welcome but they must be yours with the understanding that they will be shared or, be royalty-free, in the public domain. Content submissions must be original and owned by you. As an update, the same goes for editorial content. All submitted content must be original and attributable. Consequently, everything posted to SSD is done so in good faith, that it is original and royalty-free.

We also accept and publish relevant press releases from industry. Please submit as Word documents with images. No PDFs.

Additionally, the views of guest authors don’t necessarily reflect those of SSD but are rather offered in order to provide more rounded and varied content as well as to spur debate within the tactical community.

Newsletter
We have one. Soldier Systems Digest publishes weekly. Sign up for it here.

TacticalFanboy.com
Last Fall we realized that as our readership grew, so did their interests begin to vary and in response, our editorial content began to shift somewhat as well. Ever conscious of our core readership, consisting of Industry, Government, and Military, we became a bit concerned that we had lost some of our focus. And in that notion, the idea for Tactical Fanboy was born. Officially launched during SHOT Show, you can think of it as sort of an alter ego. Over the past few months TF’s fan base has grown and grown. In fact, some of our most popular stories have been from TF.

Now, we can have our cake and eat it too and so can you. SSD at work and TF at home. SSD has moved back to its roots concentrating on hardcore Government and Industry news while TF has picked up the more recreational and entertainment sides of this community, with a little bit of humor and risque content thrown in for good measure. While this may mean no more worries about running across content on SSD that may be questionable at work, don’t just write TF off as some milsim wannabe site. The name might be lighthearted but the content will always be on point. But don’t worry, you’ll see us share content and collaborate regularly.
www.TacticalFanBoy.com

Comments
Our readers kept asking to be able to comment on our stories and finally, we listened. You can now comment on our articles. We were a bit standoffish at first and maybe one or two commentors seem to forget that this is primarily a tactical gear site but overall we are very pleased to see how well behaved everyone is. Additionally, it is nice to see some of the added value our readers have offered. Be civil. Comment as if you were talking to one another face-to-face. Foul language, particularly directed at us, is frowned upon and may result in suspension of posting or a forced apology. If you are a real jerk, your comments may be deleted. Persistent bad behavior will result in a ban. You must be 18 to comment. A final note on this, we are not responsible for comments placed on this site and the opinions expressed are solely those of the commenter.

Twitter
We have found Twitter to be one of the best means to reach out to our readers and our list of followers continues to grow. In addition to alerts of new stories we also release information through Twitter that might be of interest to our readers or is related to our core content but originates elsewhere.
twitter.com/soldiersystems

Facebook
We launched our Facebook page awhile back and recently started taking advantage of it. Tactical Fanboy has also got his up and running so check him out as well. Make sure you like us and tell your friends about us as well. We recently conducted a test of live Facebook/Twitter coverage of a recent PEO Soldier media roundtable. Overall, it was very well received.

iPhone
Our iPhone app has been extremely popular and delivers the latest updates directly to your iPhone each time you open it. If it seems to have died on you, delete it and reinstall. We want to do an Android app but we are not happy with the company we had chosen. Any suggestions?
iTunes

M4Carbine.net
M4Carbine.net has been most gracious in offering us a dedicated sub-forum to interact with our readers. Not only is it a great place to discuss our articles and current issues in the Soldier Systems industry but M4Carbine.net gives access to the best group of Subject Matter Experts we have run across. No over-inflated CVs, no BS, just good information. Military, Law Enforcement, or a fan of the Black Rifle? You should be a member of M4Carbine.net.
M4Carbine.net

Lightfighter
We have a presence on Lightfighter.net. Check it out.
www.lightfighter.net

Youtube
We post videos for our articles on our Youtube channel. Additionally, we make use of content posted by others. Always be on the look out for more content.
www.youtube.com

Kindle
Subscriptions to SSD’s content are available for the Kindle via Amazon. Don’t forget there is a Kindle reader for iPhone and iPad.
Scribd.com/solsys

Contests
We have run some cool contests thanks to our sponsors. We regularly run giveaways both here and on Facebook so keep your eye out.
Contest.SoldierSystems.net

SWAG
Looking for some swag? If you don’t run into use at a trade show, our logo patches are available from Mil-Spec Monkey and our American Heritage T-shirt series is available from Tactical Distributors. This isn’t a money making operation for us and we just put something out once in awhile because our readers have asked for it.

Trade Shows
We attend many trade shows and provide live coverage whenever possible.

On-line Gaming
If you have an Xbox Live account, you can friend request “Tactical Fanboy”.

SSD Sale Post Policy
Regularly, we receive sale notices from companies that want us to inform our quite substantial reader base about their sales. It’s a low-cost service that we provide to industry.

On an editorial level, these sales don’t do anything for SSD but we offer the platform in order to allow companies to access our readers with their deals.

The Future
Here at SSD we continuously look at ways to increase interaction with our readers. For example, some of our writers have begun to develop specialized content for other sites. If you look hard enough, you will also see some of our stuff in print. Additionally, we have also posted guest content from the Mad Duo and others. Look for additional SSD logo items becoming available through well known vendors. We don’t run this site to sell you anything but people keep asking us for it so we’ll let them do what they do best and we’ll stick with the news. 

One final word. As we do not charge for our content (we don’t accept money for stories or charge you to read them) meaning none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors. We have affiliated ourselves with reputable companies who provide solid products and services and we would not hesitate to recommend any of them. At SSD we look at our sponsorship program as a two-way street. We are endorsing them as much as they are us and we urge you to support them. They offer some great products. Use them and let them know you saw them on SSD.

One of the first things I learned in the Army was to constantly improve my fighting position, so if you have any additional ideas on ways SSD can do more for you, please feel free to share them with us.