As many of you know, I write a regular column for Tactical Retailer magazine. One of the articles I submitted last year was titled, “Consider The CREATE Method When Developing Online Content” and based on the process I have developed over the years to write content.

I spent 21 years in the service and one thing the military loves is acronyms so I created “CREATE” to codify my process.

Consistent: The key factor is consistency of messaging

Relevant: To your brand and customer

Engage: Followers come back if their questions are answered

Accuracy: Being wrong affects credibility

Timely: Consider what is going on and use it to increase interest in your brand

Evaluate: Check the effectiveness of your messaging

Check out the full article at www.tacretailer.com/business/consider-the-create-method-when-developing-online-content as well as others I’ve written over the years.

You’ll need to register but it’s painless.

Eric Graves

Editor

A lot of new faces have set up accounts on Twitter and we just want you to know that we’ve been there since 2009, posting links to our content.

Feel free to give us a follow.

twitter.com/soldiersystems

After 47 adventure-filled years of publishing Soldier of Fortune Magazine, I decided it was time to move on to other long awaited projects, including writing books of the SOF adventures. After having given it considerable thought, I am passing the torch to reporter Susan Katz Keating, who has contributed to SOF and has been a friend to the magazine since the early 1980s.

Susan first connected with SOF years ago, when she took out an ad in the magazine, looking for mercenaries. She can tell the story about how that went. Later, SKK facilitated PEOPLE Magazine to support retired Col. Jack Bailey USAF (Ret.) on a waterborne rescue mission. His was a twofold effort to help the boat people escape from Vietnam, where they were being persecuted, as well as to find out more information about Americans MIA from the Vietnam War. Bailey used a refurbished smuggling ship, the Akuna III. Other SOFers and I went on one of his rescue missions.

Since then, SKK accompanied our team at the Washington, D.C. waterfront involving encounters with foreign rebel leaders, and at gatherings with some of the most fascinating military figures of our day. She can tell those stories herself, about Nick Rowe, Charlie Beckwith, and others. She also can tell stories of intrigue in pre-war Dubrovnik and Sarajevo, and of action in Belfast and South Armagh during the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Over the years, Susan has written for Soldier of Fortune Magazine, as well as for other military and mainstream publications. In our pages, she wrote about war and warriors. Her article on the Battle of OP Nevada in Afghanistan was one of the last cover stories for the print magazine, and remains one of the most popular stories in the online magazine. Over the years, SKK wrote for SOF about American POWs in Korea, and the rise of China’s Peoples Liberation Army. She also wrote “How to Stage a Soviet Coup,” which was published shortly before Mikhail Gorbachev was pushed out of power in the USSR.

Here is a little more about the person I am passing the torch to.

Susan Katz Keating is an award winning writer and investigative journalist specializing in war, terrorism, and international security. She is Chief National Security Correspondent and assistant managing editor for Just the News, and previously was Senior Editor for national security and foreign affairs at the Washington Examiner. As a longtime military correspondent for PEOPLE magazine, she has broken stories there and in TIME on the U.S. military and domestic terrorism.

A former Washington Times security reporter, she is the author of Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW/MIA Myth in America (Random House), and books about Saudi Arabia, Native American warfare, and other topics for young readers. Her work has appeared in Readers Digest, the New York Times, Air & Space, American Legion, VFW, RealClear Investigations, and other publications. She has been cited in the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and other publications. She was a founding trustee for the National Museum of Americans in Wartime, and is secretary of the board of Military Reporters & Editors. She briefly was in the U.S. Army, where she earned her Expert rating on the M-16 rifle. She was editor of the Dixon Tribune newspaper in California. She was a director of the Travis AFB Museum, and served as restoration crew chief on a B-52.

I am convinced that Susan has the passion and is well prepared to carry on the legacy of the last 47 years of SOF Magazine, now online.

She is a strong supporter of the military and a patriotic American. She now is the publisher/owner of Soldier of Fortune Magazine.

By Robert K. Brown
Founder, Soldier of Fortune Magazine

Editor’s Note: I grew up reading Soldier of Fortune magazine and truth be told probably wouldn’t be running SSD had it not been for Robert K Brown’s pathing the way. This is republished from the Special Forces Association Chapter LXXVIII website and was first published on 4 June 2022.

Now on sale in Australia and Japan and coming to Europe and North America in mid-December, the 1TRL Hydro Moc AT is the latest iteration of their Hydro Moc line from Merrell. To me it looks like a cross between Yeezy and Croc but they are very popular and I am intrigued by this new modularity.

Designed to be used in conjunction with All Terrain variant of the Hydro Moc are two new liners. There is the Neo GTX 1TRL which combines Neoprene with a GORE-TEX membrane. Additionally, there is the Puff Mid 1TRL which is insulated with 200g Primaloft.

As you can see, they’ll be available in four colors.

Once again, our friends at Tactical Distributors are sponsoring our Black Friday/Cyber Monday master list. To see it, updated regularly with the latest sales info, click here.

Our message on this Veterans Day is pretty simple and like Remembrance Day, it goes for our brothers and sisters both here in the United States as well as our allies.

Thank you for your service, and please keep it up.

For those of us who aren’t serving, support those that do.

Everyone, have a Happy Veterans Day (yes, I said it). Enjoy the day, you earned it.

That is all…

Folds of Honor to benefit from Record- breaking expedition to raise $7M for the military foundation to provide educational scholarships for spouses and children of service members

AUSTIN, TX, Nov 11, 2022 – Legacy Expeditions, a veteran-owned extreme expedition company, is raising awareness and inspiring action to support the Folds of Honor Foundation through their upcoming global expedition, Triple 7. The seven-day, record-breaking skydiving adventure around the world includes seven skydives across seven continents in January 2023 to raise $7 million for educational scholarships for military families.

The expedition, supported by Complete Parachute Solutions, begins at the bottom of the world with the first jump at Union Glacier Camp, Antarctica. Then travels on to Punta Arenas, Chile; Cape Town, South Africa; Perth, Australia; a city-to-be-named in the United Arab Emirates, Barcelona, Spain; ending in Tampa, Florida, home of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Through this arduous journey, Dr. Kirk Parsley, Navy SEAL and Navy Doctor (ret.), will be monitoring the skydivers to assess the impact on the performance and physiology for future research on the body’s wellbeing under extreme conditions.

Legacy Expeditions, sponsors, and partners believe in the concept called Post-Traumatic Growth – that combat has made us kinder, more respectful, and more empathetic to our fellow man and fueled Global War on Terrorism veterans to live life to the fullest. The Triple 7 expedition will: 

? Attempt to raise $7M in donations and awareness for Folds of Honor.

? Highlight the incredible accomplishments of US Combat Veterans from the Global War on Terrorism by sharing positive stories about resilience, learning, and growth from combat.

? Elevate our sponsors’ commitment to the nation’s veterans and their families. Current corporate sponsors for Triple 7 Expedition are Frog Fuel, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Men’s Journal, Complete Parachute Solutions, Ventus Respiratory, Resco Instruments, Talent War Group, Salomon, and Fieldcraft Survival. If interested in sponsoring Triple 7 Expedition, please contact Legacy Expedition at info@3oneventures.com.

? Lay the groundwork for future extreme expeditions facilitating the mental and spiritual reawakening of the countless veterans in need.

Mike Sarraille, Founder of Legacy Expeditions explains, “It is exciting to watch my brothers and sisters in arms come home and influence positive change in our nation that reflects and honors the memory of those we lost on the battlefield. Actions speak louder than words, and Legacy Expeditions will tighten those bonds through extreme experiences for veterans who need a physical, mental, and spiritual recharge while raising money for great causes.”

“We are grateful to Legacy Expeditions for undertaking the momentous task to raise awareness and funds for academic scholarships for military dependents,” said Lt Col Dan Rooney, Founder, and CEO of Folds of Honor. “Legacy Expeditions clearly understands the importance of an education and knows firsthand how it can benefit the military spouses and children we serve.” 

The Firm is founded and run by retired Tier One Special Operators, Navy SEAL (ret.), former Recon Marine and CEO of Talent War Group, Mike Sarraille and Navy SEAL (ret.), and former wingsuit world record holder Andy Stumpf. Also joining this expedition are expedition lead Fred Williams, former Navy SEAL and President/CEO of Complete Parachute Solutions; expedition assistant lead, Nick Kush, Navy EOD (ret.); Robert Keller, retired Army Tier One operator; Mike Glover, Army Special Forces (ret.) and founder of Fieldcraft Survival; Evan Hafer, former Army Special Forces and Founder of Black Rifle Coffee Company; Glenn Cowan, retired Canada JTF-2 operator and CEO of ONE9 Venture Capital; and Jim Wigginton, former Marine and Private Equity executive, and current world record holder of the “7 Continent Tandem Record” that Triple 7 expedition plans to break.

A documentary crew will follow the expedition team led by the famous writer, director, and producer of The Blair Witch Project, Dan Myrick, and Kristian Krempel, a film and entertainment industry executive. 

The Global War on Terror shaped a generation of warriors forged in service, honor, and success on the battlefield. These same men and women are bringing their mission back home to boardrooms as new leaders in business, education, government, and purpose-driven organizations.

Previous expeditions include the Firm’s recent 2022 Iceland Expedition, Viking Sky, and the 2021 Mt. Everest Expedition.

We recently passed the milestone of 34,000 live posts on the site. That’s an accomplishment of posting every day since May of 2008 and multiple times per day since 2009. I don’t want to break my arm patting myself on the back but that’s not bad for a one-man band.