Godspeed: Nick Coffman’s farewell to SOFREP

In January of 2016, I was a Marine Corps veteran. I was looking for a way to reconnect with the military community and I stumbled upon an interesting link for a job posting. SOFREP was offering a tryout for a full-time position as a contributing editor. The rules were simple: submit three articles and the writer with the most generated traffic would be the winner.

It so happened to be that I was the lucky winner, and the rest is history.

Due to juggling another full-time job — not to mention the fact that cranking out three new articles seven days a week for an extended period can cause burnout — I had to step away from that full-time writing role and into a part-time, pro bono writing position, which allowed me to continue writing at my own pace on topics that I was passionate about.

Fast-forward to August of 2018, and in large part due to the professional relationship that I had maintained with Brandon, I was offered a management position on the SOFREP editorial team. It wasn’t an easy decision to step away from the other career path I was on at the time. I had earned a master’s degree in that particular field and was doing quite well. But I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be part of the SOFREP community and get paid to do it.

Needless to say, I accepted. It has truly been the coolest and best job I’ve ever had. I was able to live and breathe all-things military and gear-related, work with some of the best and baddest dudes on the planet, and take an active part in raising awareness of corruption within the military.

I will always look back fondly on the memories I’ve created with SOFREP. But after two years as Editor for SOFREP Media Group and SOFREP.com, I am announcing that I will be moving on to another opportunity.

There were plenty of ups and downs during my time as Editor-in-Chief of SOFREP. But I truly believe that with the contributions of my writers, copy editors, and recently departed right-hand-man, Stavros Atlamazoglou, SOFREP is in a much better place now than when I started. My responsibilities will be shifted to Jacob Sotak, an incredibly talented Army veteran with loads of editorial experience.

The SOFREP Team Room community is unlike any other on the Internet. It is comprised of some of the most respectful and thoughtful men and women from around the world, and it is what makes our site so unique. Without the loyal members of our community, we wouldn’t have the platform for our incredible writers to shine.

I’d like to thank each of the writers, past and present, who have supported me over the years and contributed so significantly to our editorial success. Nothing that our site achieved in terms of traffic and subscription growth would have been possible without you. The current group of writers year-to-date in 2020 has generated more than 40 percent traffic growth compared to last year; even last year was a jump up from the year prior to that. Stavros, George, Steve, Jonathan, John, 14C, and C.T., you are all rockstars. And last but not least, I’d like to thank Brandon for giving me the opportunity to lead the editorial team.

As I move on, I will still be involved in some form in supporting and defending our servicemembers who are being unjustly accused and sentenced by a corrupt system of military leaders and prosecutors. I am immensely proud of the fact that I have been able to shed light on so many important stories such as cases involving innocent Marine Raiders and the invisible wounds that the Marine Recon community has been forced to bear. I will never quit standing up for what is right, and I will never apologize for defending our defenders. As a parting request, I urge each reader to keep supporting warfighters such as the MARSOC 3 who need you now more than ever.

God bless you all and take care.