About
Marty Skovlund Jr. is the former editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose and author of “Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War.” 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.
Highlights
- Conflict reporter who has gone on assignment to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine.
- Author of of Violence of Action: The Untold Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror (2014) and Send Me (2024).
- Award-winning filmmaker and former co-host of History Channel’s JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald (2017).
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.
