SOFREP crew, I’m back as your EIC after taking a much needed year off in 2022 to recharge my comms batteries.

A strange series of events led me back here (I’ll speak on this the next SOFREP+ front line video meeting) but it feels like I’m back, sitting in my favorite team room sofa, and it’s a great to re-engage with the readership, some old, some new.

SOFREP reporting from the source, boots on the ground in Ukraine. October 2022 in Kyiv. Image from Instagram.

One of the decisions I’ve made in 2023 is to go 100% SOFREP as a byline. All our articles will feature SOFREP as the author with the exception of the occasional guest post.

“What the Hell is Brandon doing?”, some of you may be saying.

Hold your foot off the gas peddle a moment.

Some author’s like having their name in the byline, some could care less. However, we are switching for a good reason.

The site isn’t about building personal celebrity, it’s about maintaining our own editorial dignity as SOFREP, and the story should speak louder than any one personality attached to it.

It also maintains an old publishing tradition of foregoing individual credit to enable us to speak with one voice at SOFREP.

Issues are debated and talked about in our writer meetings. Our journalists often co-write articles. Our work is the work of the SOFREP collective mind, rather than of a single author.

We believe what is written is far more significant than the person who writes it.

The other prominent publisher you’ll see this from is, The Economist.

SOFREP will continue to maintain our apolitical experience-based, “call it as we see it”, reporting regardless of popular sentiment or selective outrage.

“How can I find my favorite writer for the site?”

  • SOFREP+ Chat on the site
  • Check the comment section and social media
  • Tune into our monthly SOFREP+ Members-only chat hosted by myself, our new managing editor, Guy M, or one of the other staff writers.

With me back at the helm we are doubling down on quality content. You’ll see fewer articles but at higher quality and more interviews as well.

Thanks for supporting veteran journalism; please refer a friend to the site, check out our upcoming book club, and thank you for your subscription and being a good reader.

See you around the REP.

Brandon