Even SOG Specialty Knives & Tools has gotten in on the act with their Micro Entrenching Tool.
Posts Tagged ‘SOG Specialty Knives & Tools’
SOG Knives Micro Entrenching Tool
Sunday, April 1st, 2012SOG Specialty Knives & Tools Responds
Monday, October 3rd, 2011SSD spoke on the phone this afternoon with SOG to discuss our article criticizing the “Faces of SOG” program. SOG spokesman Chris Cashbaugh explained their position and we suggested that they prepare a statement for our readers explaining their side of things. We understand that SOG didn’t intend to send a questionable message but rather were attempting to celebrate SGT Holubz’s service. We applaud SOG’s dialogue with us as well as with our readers and continue to support their products.
We received the story from Sergeant Holubz and immediately connected with his story as I am sure most people who have read it do. The story is harrowing and I thought we should share it with our fans and the world. Honestly, I appreciated everything that service men and women do for our country and think that they are not recognized enough. This was sort of my way to spread a little appreciation and thanks to him and the community.
A short time later we received the picture of him in in his Class A’s. We though that it would be a perfect candidate for our Faces of SOG program that we have been running through facebook for the past six months or so. Typically these have been a photo of a fan that was chosen by other fans to be our profile picture for a couple days. In his case we chose not to have a contest and just run his photo. Again we thought it was a great way honor his sacrifice and thank him. We were not intending this to be an endorsement of SOG just a way to thank one of our fans that happened to be military service member who had a harrowing experience and one of our
products played a key roll in his safety.
Not being a military person myself I was not aware of the Ethics regulations that Soldier Systems was quoting in their post. Now I know that ignorance is not a defense but had I known about the Ethics regulation we would have approached this differently. We do not want to alienate or put any of our fans in situations where they might have ethical issues, especially the ones that are key our nations success and safety. We will approach situations like this in a different manner in the future and are chalking this up to lessons learned.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention and letting SOG share our side of the story.
Thank you
Chris Cashbaugh
Marketing
SOG Specialty Knives & Tools
SOG Knives & Tools – What are THEY Thinking
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
We love SOG Specialty Knives & Tools. However, we don’t love questionable practices in light of military ethics codes. It seems Sergeant Joshua C. Holubz, US Army (Ret) was the winner of the SOG Knives “Friday Faceoff” making him last week’s Face of SOG. Truth be told, his story is harrowing. But that doesn’t justify using his image in uniform to sell knives.
DoD 5500.7R is the Joint Ethics Regulation. Para’s 2-304 and 3-209 cover this issue. Read it and make your own conclusion.
“2-304. Use of Military Title by Retirees or Reserves. Retired military members and members of Reserve Components, not on active duty, may use military titles in connection with commercial enterprises, provided they clearly indicate their retired or inactive Reserve status. However, any use of military titles is prohibited if it in any way casts discredit on DoD or gives the appearance of sponsorship, sanction, endorsement, or approval by DoD. In addition, in overseas areas, commanders may further restrict the use of titles by retired military members and members of Reserve Components.”
“3-209. Endorsement. Endorsement of a non Federal entity, event, product, service, or enterprise may be neither stated nor implied by DoD or DoD employees in their official capacities and titles, positions, or organization names may not be used to suggest official endorsement or preferential treatment of any non Federal entity except those listed in subsection 3 210., below.”
When we saw this photo posted on SOG’s Facebook page, we posted a comment that this looked like an ethics violation. SOG didn’t take the photo down. Instead, they deleted our comment.
So, what do you think? Was SOG right or wrong? Would it have been better to use a photo if he was out of uniform?
Unfortunately, SOG will probably never have anything to do with us again after bringing this to light. If so, we can live with that. If you are a servicemember (active or retired), make sure you know what you are doing when you involve yourself with commercial entities. If you are a company, please don’t put our servicemembers in this situation.
If you want to know more about ethics rules here are some resources:
Office of Government Ethics
U.S. Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office
Office of General Counsel, Department of the Army
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Judge Advocate General, Ethics and Fraud Remedies
Department of the Navy Ethics Program
Labor Day Sales
Friday, September 2nd, 2011This will be a single article post for ALL Labor Day Sales and will be updated as additional info is received so check back.
-MGI is having a Labor Day Special https://www.mgi-military.com/store/
On their Online Store starting tomorrow – Friday Sept 2 through Monday September 5 for 10% on all orders.
–US CAV – 10% off from Sept 4 – 10. Get the code by signing up for their email newsletter or wait til Monday to get the public code that’s good for 1 day only. Note: Newsletter subscribers always get better codes that last longer.
–Tactical Distributors – Check out the “Summer Clearance” category for savings up to 50%.
– Gun Holsters Unlimited – 10% off all ammo in the store all weekend long!!! Simply register with the site and use the code CHEAPAMMO at checkout.
–Tactical Assault Gear – This Labor Day, TAG wants to offer their loyal customers a secret coupon code to save 30% on all TAG/Shellback branded products. Use code “FBFAN†during the checkout process for your 30% savings. This sale is not being advertised on the TAG website, and is just for their loyal TAG fans and customers. This is our way of showing their appreciation for your unwavering service to our country and dedication to the TAG brand.
– SOG Specialty Knives & Tools – Check out specials available through September 6th, 2011. Save 50% on selected knives. Order now as quantities are limited.
SOG Specialty Knives & Tools Sold to Investor Group
Friday, August 19th, 2011An Investment Group made up of Gladstone Investment Corporation together with The Mustang Group, Montlake Capital, Spencer Frazer (Founder) and Fred Keller (CEO) provided the capital, consisting of debt and equity, to support the acquisition of SOG Specialty Knives & Tools from MCC Capital Partners, LLC on 8 August, 2011.
The deal was overseen by SOG’s exclusive investment banking advisor, D.A. Davidson’s Outdoor and Tactical Investment Banking team led by Nathan Pund, formerly of Silver Steep Partners. They identified potential buyers, marketed SOG, structured the deal, and advised the company through negotiations.
