Great—and fair—question. There are several factors. The first is that I am a slow reporter and writer. The second is that I dug into a book project shortly after I started my Substack, which is now complete. You will begin seeing more posts and with greater frequency. The third reason is that I don’t value publishing for the sake of publishing. I won’t do opinion pieces and good reporting takes time.
I came across you after going down a deep dive last week into the subject, and I listened to your interviews with Team House, Andy Stumpf, then read the DEVGRU article from Jan. 2017, and just now bought the book on Audible.
The reason I found you was I was listening to this guy named Eric Deming, a 27 year Seal veteran, who was on the Antihero and Green Beret Chronicles podcasts.
He’s been making the rounds for the past couple of weeks (maybe longer), and in addition to known things like Chris Kyle’s character and the Red Wings lies, he’s lighting into Jocko Willink for also being dishonest about his service.
Jocko is essentially the public face of the Seals in the civilian media world, and it’s just interesting that this is all popping up during the “year of truth”.
Just wondered if you had any insight into the Jocko stuff, why it’s happening now, and so forth. I followed Jocko for a while after he was on Rogan years ago, and this new stuff is just more disappointing in a long line of disappointments.
Matthew Cole’s hard-on for mishaps in the SEAL teams is disturbing and unacceptable. A job wrought with risks and he manages to spin each tragic event to cover his own inadequacies.
Thank you for reading. It is precisely because the job is wrought with such risk that makes journalism fundamental in highlighting or otherwise exposing wrongdoing—especially within in the officer corps, though not limited to just that. Two SEALs died because they were inadequately trained and their superiors knowingly certified that they were combat ready when in fact they were not.
Distilling complex operations down to click bait with no context or first hand knowledge is not journalism, it’s gossip and speculation reserved for tabloids. Because you “interviewed” a few former team guys who have been removed from the community for years and were not present adds no weight to your piece. Simply trying to cash-in on the Navy SEAL franchise. And add in “steroids and alcohol” to generate further views, with no proof of toxicology reports. Neither you nor those interviewed have the intimate knowledge of predeployment training requirements or ongoing investigation, as evidenced in this essay.
You make a series of incorrect assumptions about my sources. It’s a free country, but I encourage you find the journalism you are looking for elsewhere.
This is my first read of Mr. Cole's blog, so I am approaching it from a purely neutral stance. If the record of the events is as he has stated, to include gundecking the raining records, then it would seem we have two problems here. The first is the criminal behavior of the two SEALs' superior. The second is the hubris exemplified by having illegal drugs and alcohol aboard ship, and the two SEALs being a party to the training record falsification.
Matthew, why such a long gap between Substack columns?
Great—and fair—question. There are several factors. The first is that I am a slow reporter and writer. The second is that I dug into a book project shortly after I started my Substack, which is now complete. You will begin seeing more posts and with greater frequency. The third reason is that I don’t value publishing for the sake of publishing. I won’t do opinion pieces and good reporting takes time.
Understood, and thank you for responding.
I came across you after going down a deep dive last week into the subject, and I listened to your interviews with Team House, Andy Stumpf, then read the DEVGRU article from Jan. 2017, and just now bought the book on Audible.
The reason I found you was I was listening to this guy named Eric Deming, a 27 year Seal veteran, who was on the Antihero and Green Beret Chronicles podcasts.
He’s been making the rounds for the past couple of weeks (maybe longer), and in addition to known things like Chris Kyle’s character and the Red Wings lies, he’s lighting into Jocko Willink for also being dishonest about his service.
Jocko is essentially the public face of the Seals in the civilian media world, and it’s just interesting that this is all popping up during the “year of truth”.
Just wondered if you had any insight into the Jocko stuff, why it’s happening now, and so forth. I followed Jocko for a while after he was on Rogan years ago, and this new stuff is just more disappointing in a long line of disappointments.
Thank you buying the book and taking the time to send a message. I know Deming. He’s got a lot of integrity.
To clarify, Eric Deming specifically mentioned you and Code Over Country as a great source.
Great reporting. Well done.
You’re biased, but thank you
If, in fact, the supervising leadership did not do the "dip test," then it seems to me that someone needs to be held accountable. It killed two men.
Thanks for sharing here, keep up you’re reporting. i find your reporting intriguing and Informative
Thank you.
Excellent reporting. I imagine they had successfully completed their required DEI training.
Matthew Cole’s hard-on for mishaps in the SEAL teams is disturbing and unacceptable. A job wrought with risks and he manages to spin each tragic event to cover his own inadequacies.
Thank you for reading. It is precisely because the job is wrought with such risk that makes journalism fundamental in highlighting or otherwise exposing wrongdoing—especially within in the officer corps, though not limited to just that. Two SEALs died because they were inadequately trained and their superiors knowingly certified that they were combat ready when in fact they were not.
Distilling complex operations down to click bait with no context or first hand knowledge is not journalism, it’s gossip and speculation reserved for tabloids. Because you “interviewed” a few former team guys who have been removed from the community for years and were not present adds no weight to your piece. Simply trying to cash-in on the Navy SEAL franchise. And add in “steroids and alcohol” to generate further views, with no proof of toxicology reports. Neither you nor those interviewed have the intimate knowledge of predeployment training requirements or ongoing investigation, as evidenced in this essay.
You make a series of incorrect assumptions about my sources. It’s a free country, but I encourage you find the journalism you are looking for elsewhere.
This is my first read of Mr. Cole's blog, so I am approaching it from a purely neutral stance. If the record of the events is as he has stated, to include gundecking the raining records, then it would seem we have two problems here. The first is the criminal behavior of the two SEALs' superior. The second is the hubris exemplified by having illegal drugs and alcohol aboard ship, and the two SEALs being a party to the training record falsification.