Marty Skovlund Jr.
Editior-in-Chief
Marty Skovlund Jr. is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and an experienced conflict reporter with assignments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine in addition to embedding with the US military around the world.
Experience
Immediately after graduating high school, I joined the U.S. Army. Over the course of eight years in uniform, I served as an Army Ranger in 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, including three deployments to Iraq and two to Afghanistan, and later as an Army Recruiter in the Syracuse Recruiting Battalion.
Shortly after separating from the military, I discovered my love of writing and filmmaking. Before long, I was reporting news for a variety of outlets full-time. I embedded with both police and protesters during the Standing Rock oil pipeline protests. I walked alongside American Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan. I drank tea with Syrian refugees who fled to Iraq in the wake of ISIS. I witnessed Ukrainian soldiers mourning their fallen comrades as air raid sirens went off all around them. I stood in silence as a World War II veteran wept in front of his friend’s grave in Normandy, France.
I love reporting, telling stories, meeting and talking to interesting people, and seeing places I thought I would never be able to visit as a young boy growing up in rural South Dakota. At this point in my career, I have published two books (with another on the way), hosted a tv show on the History Channel, won awards for my filmmaking, and led multiple award-winning publications in both digital and print formats.
I’m constantly learning and challenging myself to be better than I was the day before. I’m always looking for a new adventure or the next story.
Education
I don’t think anything can top my time at the Ft. Stewart Warrior Leader Course.
Awards
– Combat Infantryman Badge
– Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
– Meritorious Service Medal
– 2013 Venture Most Likely To Succeed (Syracuse University EBV Program)
– 2015 Richard L. Haydon Outstanding Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year (Syracuse University Walter J. Whitman School of Management)
– 2015 GI Film Festival: Founders Choice Award (Feature Length Documentary)
– 2015 South Dakota Film Festival: Excellence in Filmmaking Award (Short Narrative)
– 2021 World’s Best Boss, Coffee or Die Magazine (I have the coffee mug to prove it)
Fun Facts
– My wife, our first daughter, our dog, and I once spent a year on the road, traveling the United States while living out of a van we renovated for … well, living out of.
– I was shot in Army basic training. No really, that actually happened.
– I’m strongly in favor of the Oxford comma.
Notable Work
- With the Taliban On the Offensive, the Future of Afghanistan May Depend On This Homegrown Commando Force Task & Purpose
- The Legend of Chief Shannon Kent Coffee or Die Magazine
- The Longest War Task & Purpose
- The True Story of How Standing Rock Fell Medium.com
- Exclusive: The 75th Ranger Regiment Is No Longer an All-Male Unit Task & Purpose
- The Valley Boys Coffee or Die Magazine
- The True Story of How the Army Made the First Female Infantrymen Task & Purpose
- Eagle Pass Coffee or Die Magazine