Team Room members, hello! I hope this post finds you well. I also hope that you are not too depressed, given the current state of the U.S. presidential election. That thing is killing me, but that’s a story for another day. I also fervently hope that you are, above all else, happy. That’s all we can ask for, right? You are put on this Earth for only so long, so make sure that you are making the best of it.
Where the hell has the time gone? I have been engaging in some shameless and self-centered navel-gazing here recently, and I realized that only about 19 months ago, I signed on the dotted line and began my career as a contributing editor for SOFREP. Ah, the halcyon days of the fall of 2014. That was back when Trump was but a twinkle in our collective eye, we were all atwitter at the release of a bunch of nude photos of Hollywood celebrities whose phones had been hacked (Jennifer Lawrence!), and we struggled to make sense of why one of the world’s funniest men—Robin Williams—would take his own life. The innocent days of aught-fourteen, lo, how we miss thee.
Since signing on with the SOFREP team, I have written 99 articles for the site. That is a lot of verbiage to have spilled in such a short time. This article, right here, this very article, is my 100th. What better way to celebrate than with you all, our most loyal readers?
I have tried hard over the course of the last year and a half to cover topics that I think will interest you. I, and the rest of the SOFREP team, value your opinion, and want to make sure that this is a place where you want to come to have fun, learn some new things, and interact with us and your fellow readers.
I have covered some pretty wide-ranging subjects over the last almost-two years: women in BUD/S; multiple aspects of combat medicine; the personality traits of, and qualifications for, the special operations community and the CIA, to name but a few. I have told some SEAL and CIA stories, celebrated my fellow veterans, and mourned the loss of friends. I have tried to provide my analysis of where the world is heading, in terms of global politics and security, and I have tried to provide you with ways to keep yourself safe in the event of mass shootings and terrorism attacks. That is just a small part of the total ground we have covered together.
Along the way, and throughout all of these articles, I have primarily tried to write things that you all want to read, because that is the point, right? Sure, writing helps me exorcise some demons and think through some issues and problems facing the world. Yes, writing about these things allows me to feel that I still have skin in the game in the military and intelligence world. And, OK, yes, writing is something that I enjoy doing, and in many ways, is cathartic for me.
All of those things aside, though, the bottom line is, when I write, I want you, the reader, to enjoy it. I want you all to learn something from it. I want it to spark an interest in you, or light a fuse inside your brain. I want it to stimulate you to think about something in a new way. I want it to entertain you, and also possibly to enlighten you. That is really where the enjoyment comes from, for me, the writer. I cannot write in a vacuum. I need you all to be the other side of the balanced equation. You are the yin to my yang, calling me out on things with which you disagree, or shouting, “Amen!” when I make a statement with which you could not agree more.
All of you, through your active and participative reading of our articles on the site, and your responses to them, are what keep us going day to day. You are what drives us to find new topics to explore. You are what urges us to dig a little deeper on a subject, and to avoid merely glossing things over. We want to make sure that we are giving you the full story, because we know you deserve it, and you will demand it.
Team Room members, hello! I hope this post finds you well. I also hope that you are not too depressed, given the current state of the U.S. presidential election. That thing is killing me, but that’s a story for another day. I also fervently hope that you are, above all else, happy. That’s all we can ask for, right? You are put on this Earth for only so long, so make sure that you are making the best of it.
Where the hell has the time gone? I have been engaging in some shameless and self-centered navel-gazing here recently, and I realized that only about 19 months ago, I signed on the dotted line and began my career as a contributing editor for SOFREP. Ah, the halcyon days of the fall of 2014. That was back when Trump was but a twinkle in our collective eye, we were all atwitter at the release of a bunch of nude photos of Hollywood celebrities whose phones had been hacked (Jennifer Lawrence!), and we struggled to make sense of why one of the world’s funniest men—Robin Williams—would take his own life. The innocent days of aught-fourteen, lo, how we miss thee.
Since signing on with the SOFREP team, I have written 99 articles for the site. That is a lot of verbiage to have spilled in such a short time. This article, right here, this very article, is my 100th. What better way to celebrate than with you all, our most loyal readers?
I have tried hard over the course of the last year and a half to cover topics that I think will interest you. I, and the rest of the SOFREP team, value your opinion, and want to make sure that this is a place where you want to come to have fun, learn some new things, and interact with us and your fellow readers.
I have covered some pretty wide-ranging subjects over the last almost-two years: women in BUD/S; multiple aspects of combat medicine; the personality traits of, and qualifications for, the special operations community and the CIA, to name but a few. I have told some SEAL and CIA stories, celebrated my fellow veterans, and mourned the loss of friends. I have tried to provide my analysis of where the world is heading, in terms of global politics and security, and I have tried to provide you with ways to keep yourself safe in the event of mass shootings and terrorism attacks. That is just a small part of the total ground we have covered together.
Along the way, and throughout all of these articles, I have primarily tried to write things that you all want to read, because that is the point, right? Sure, writing helps me exorcise some demons and think through some issues and problems facing the world. Yes, writing about these things allows me to feel that I still have skin in the game in the military and intelligence world. And, OK, yes, writing is something that I enjoy doing, and in many ways, is cathartic for me.
All of those things aside, though, the bottom line is, when I write, I want you, the reader, to enjoy it. I want you all to learn something from it. I want it to spark an interest in you, or light a fuse inside your brain. I want it to stimulate you to think about something in a new way. I want it to entertain you, and also possibly to enlighten you. That is really where the enjoyment comes from, for me, the writer. I cannot write in a vacuum. I need you all to be the other side of the balanced equation. You are the yin to my yang, calling me out on things with which you disagree, or shouting, “Amen!” when I make a statement with which you could not agree more.
All of you, through your active and participative reading of our articles on the site, and your responses to them, are what keep us going day to day. You are what drives us to find new topics to explore. You are what urges us to dig a little deeper on a subject, and to avoid merely glossing things over. We want to make sure that we are giving you the full story, because we know you deserve it, and you will demand it.
So, for all of that, I thank you. I thank you for reading 99 of my articles, and this one, the one-hundredth. I hope to write many more for you, and I hope that you will enjoy the ride along the way. As always, never hesitate to tell me what other subjects you want to read about, and I will do my best to churn out the best pieces on them I can.
Fru sends, for the hundredth time.
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