About Us

A Brief History

Since 1797, The Duffel Blog has been serving the men and women of the American military with insightful commentary and hard-hitting journalism. While other agencies have sometimes run from possibly scandalous stories, TDB has been known to be edgy and ahead of its time, almost as if they could see into the future. After reporting on President John Adams’ $200 per week cocaine habit in March 1799, TDB was named The American Military’s Most-Trusted News Source by the Columbia Journalism Review and the nickname stuck.

The Duffel Blog is sometimes referred to as “The military version of The Onion”, but this is a popular misconception. The misnomer was cleared up in May 2012 when TDB staff successfully conducted an airborne assault on the offices of The Onion News Network so that others would know “The Onion was actually the civilian version of The Duffel Blog.”

The Duffel Blog was nominated for The Pulitzer Prize in 2012 “for continued excellence in journalism”, and has been recognized as a world leader in modern media by other, unworthy news outlets such as The Military Times, NBC News, Gizmodo, USA Today, and Business Insider.

Our Founder, with his trusty beer keg always by his side

Who We Are

TDB was originally founded by Lance Corporal Alfred Whittingham, a U.S. Marine stationed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, PA. Whittingham, a prolific binge drinker and avid boxer, served as a recruiter for the-then newly formed Marine Corps. As new recruits came to volunteer, Whittingham would force them to drink shots of whiskey and challenge them to a dueling match before allowing them to sign the enlistment papers — a practice that is still used by Marine recruiters across the United States today.

The role of Managing Editor passed around the military throughout the years, like Private Earl Williams of the U.S. Army (1823-1833) who set the tone with groundbreaking articles such as “I Hate My Sergeant Major And Here’s Why You Should Too”. A particularly dark time fell upon TDB when the duties of managing editor were passed to Gunnery Sergeant Elias Rodriguez (1987-1990), who wrote most of the articles himself, replacing words such as “the” and “source” with “Oohrah” and “Devil Dog”. Readership plummeted in the following years.

The current managing editor is Paul Szoldra, a former U.S. Marine infantry sergeant. Working with a number of contributors from all branches of the military, Szoldra is able to provide digital readers with exclusive content that has been shared worldwide. Some of the top articles include “Marine Scout Sniper ‘Burning Cross’ Logo Raises Controversy” as well as an exclusive look at the service of General James Mattis as Commandant. He currently resides next to the Hillsborough River in Tampa, FL in a GMC Van and lives off a steady diet of government cheese.

Legal

We are in no way, shape, or form, a real news outlet. Just about everything on this website is satirical in nature. The content of this site is parody. No composition should be regarded as truthful, and no reference of an individual, company, or military unit seeks to inflict malice or emotional harm.

All characters, groups, and military units appearing in these works are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual military units and companies is purely coincidental.

Contact Us

Please understand that we do get quite a bit of email. If you are just sending along a headline or story idea, we most likely won’t respond unless you ask a specific question.

• Email: [email protected]

• Twitter: @TheDuffelBlog

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/duffelblog

• Forum: http://www.duffelblog.com/forum/