Format Digital Editor-in-chief Paul Szoldra Founded 2012 | Founder(s) Paul Szoldra Staff writers Various | |
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Type US military parody news organization | ||
Duffel Blog is an American military news satire organization featuring satirical articles reporting on national security and US military topics. It is often described as "the military version of The Onion." It was founded in March 2012 by Marine veteran Paul Szoldra, originally as a way to drive web traffic to the now defunct website CollegeVeteran.com.
It eventually branched out and became its own entertainment website. The site enjoys a large following among civilians, veterans, and servicemen alike. The blog has nearly 250,000 fans on Facebook and about 20,000 Twitter followers.
Among their spoof articles is one suggesting a speech by the commanding general of Fort Benning resulted in a deadly riot, and another that said uncounted military absentee ballots would have resulted in Mitt Romney winning the 2012 US Presidential Election. In November 2012, the site launched an online petition to the White House to lift the services’ bans on hands in pockets.
Yet another article, about Guantanamo detainees getting GI Bill benefits, resulted in a formal inquiry by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. The letter from McConnell's office to the Pentagon leaked in 2013, generating national headlines and subjecting the senator to mockery on cable news.
The website counts retired Marine General James Mattis, the subject of several Duffel Blog posts, as a fan. It has also received praise from former Pentagon spokesman George Little, various national security journalists, and Scott Dikkers, the founding editor of The Onion.