SOFREP's Betrayal

Just to make my position very clear.

I wrote for SOFREP from May 2014 until I resigned on 31 May 2015. Even at that time, sofrep had a terrible reputation within the Special Forces community. My goal was to learn as much as I could about this new medium, attempt to promote the Special Forces Regiment positively and try to be a voice for those who were still on active duty.

It took me awhile to start seeing those behind sofrep for who they indeed are. (FTR my wife didn’t trust any of them from day one). It took awhile to realize that their motivations were so much different than mine. I had just retired after 20 years in the Army, 16+ in SF. I considered those still serving as my brothers. I still do. For me, that will never go away.

In my opinion, those behind sofrep didn’t view the world the way I did. Their experiences and contacts were tools to be used for monetary gain and pure self-promotion.

The perception I had was that they targeted SOF vets who were just getting out and desperately looking for a new “team.” (This is how I got sucked in.) sofrep used these guys for their stories. When they were no longer worth the squeeze? They were slowly let loose, to drift away quietly. (Ask yourself why there is such a high turnover of authors at that place.)

The straw that broke it for me was when I found out what Brandon Webb had said about Gold Star Wives.

From, “The Virginia Pilot”

"There is a small and sad group of SOF widows who can't move on," Webb wrote in a comment published on Feb. 22, using the abbreviation for special operations forces. "They drink too much, pop prescription pills like tic tacs, sleep around, and use SOF/Military charities as their own personal ATM machine when the money gets low. They like to stir up drama to remain relevant."

A few women wrote to Webb, complaining about the comment. He responded on Twitter, for all of his nearly 20,000 followers:

"I stand by that statement 100%. Not all SEALs are good guys and not all Widows are saints," Webb wrote

When I saw this, I didn't hesitate. I quit. Within hours I had submitted an official letter of resignation and then very publicly resigned. I posted my departure on both Facebook and Twitter. I wanted the world to know that my association with sofrep, Brandon Webb & Jack Murphy was over.

I’ve learned one very important lesson about Social Media. If you are honest with people, they will generally forgive honest mistakes. If you publicly admit you fucked up or associated yourself with someone that you later find out to have completely different moral and ethical standards, face the music. Admit it, apologize, and try to learn from it. And yes, this is how I see my time at sofrep. A major mistake. (As I said before, my wife never lets me forget that she thought they were shady from day 1.)

Many times, in the last few years I have seen things that sofrep has done, and I am glad that I did this. Letting the world know that my association with Brandon Webb, Jack Murphy, sofrep, force 12 or any of the other sites that they own, is over. I am also thankful that for whatever reason Jack Murphy and Brandon Webb chose to delete all the articles that I wrote for sofrep.

Try and google my name + sofrep, and you will see that they are all directed to dead links.

As to the video they released. I don't believe the reasons (excuses) they have presented. I have my own opinions but I won’t share those here.

I hope everyone will finally wake up and see Brandon Webb and Jack Murphy, for who they are. Not who they used to be.

Ironically the quote on this meme is from Webb which is why I used it. The picture is from one of my deployments.

Understanding "Jade Helm" Part 2: Why We Need This Kind of Training

If you missed Part 1 of this series, you can read it here.  And if you are not familiar with Special Forces history I recommend looking at my article Special Forces Primer: Lesson 1 – Correcting Misconceptions:

Special Forces traces its roots as the Army’s premier proponent of unconventional warfare from the Operational Groups and Jedburgh teams of the Office of Strategic Services. The OSS was formed in World War II to gather intelligence and conduct operations behind enemy lines in support of resistance groups in Europe and Burma. After the war, individuals such as Col. Aaron Bank, Col. Wendell Fertig and Lt. Col. Russell Volckmann used their wartime OSS experience to formulate the doctrine of unconventional warfare that became the cornerstone of the Special Forces. In June of 1952, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was established under Col. Aaron Bank. Concurrently with this was the establishment of the Psychological Warfare School, which ultimately became today’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Special Forces Soldiers first saw combat in 1953 as individuals deployed from 10th SFG (A) to Korea.

For eight or nine years Special Forces was getting further and further away from their roots. As the GWOT progressed, Special Forces commanders were only giving lip service to UW. Instead they focused more and more on DA. During this time there were people within the community screaming, that we can’t lose our UW skills. Behind closed doors there was intense and extremely heated debates. From the team rooms to the highest level of command, up and down the hallways there was the argument on UW vs DA.

With Iraq over in 2011, and (at the time) what looked like U.S. troops being pulled out of Afghanistan, coupled with the downsizing of the military, Special Forces Command finally realized the need to rebuild their UW capabilities, and use the lessons we learned from over a decade of war. In July of 2012, LTG Charles T. Cleveland took command of the United States Special Operations Command (USASOC) and in April of 2013 released ARSOF 2022.

LTG Cleveland said in a 2014 interview:

Last year, USASOC took a major step forward by introducing ARSOF 2022 as our blueprint for the future. ARSOF 2022 sought to clarify the narrative for Army special operations, provide direction to the force, and establish a process for future force development that leads to better support of joint force commanders in the future environment. It set in motion a number of changes primarily focused on the tactical aspects of our business and exploring the beginnings of SOF operational art.

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