About Task & Purpose

Our story
Mission
Editorial standards
How we review products
Affiliate disclosure
Masthead
Business/operations

Our story

Task & Purpose was founded in 2014 as a voice for the military community, and continues to serve that community with accurate reporting and great storytelling to this day.

Our journalists have reported on the front lines of the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota and the war in Afghanistan. We’ve uncovered American veterans being abused in Kuwaiti prisons, deported veterans being forced to work for Mexican cartels, and drawn national attention to a longstanding legal rule barring service members from suing the government — even in the face of gross negligence.

Task & Purpose journalists have established a tradition of exclusive reporting, such as the first known insider attack in Syria, confirmation of the first Medal of Honor awarded to an airman since Vietnam, and the practice of private housing companies forcing families into silence in order to have their problems addressed.

Our contributors have included Medal of Honor recipients, President Barack Obama, Senator John McCain, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, leading influencers, noted authors, and more than 500 military service members and veterans who have shared their hard-earned knowledge and expertise with the broader military community.

Task & Purpose is a Recurrent Ventures brand, alongside our sister publications The War Zone and We Are The Mighty. The Task & Purpose brand includes MilSpouseFest, the leading network for military spouses and families.

Got a news tip? Email us at tips@taskandpurpose.com

Mission

Our mission is to inform, inspire, and entertain service members and veterans as one of the most trusted sources for military news and culture.

Editorial standards

Task & Purpose is an editorially independent news publication, and maintains high standards for all stories published on taskandpurpose.com — our readers deserve nothing less. Decisions about what we cover are determined solely by the editorial team; members of our sales, marketing, investment, ownership, or other teams have no influence over the editorial work we publish.

We adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, the AP Stylebook, and our internal style guide, which may vary from the AP in some instances.

Our editors are responsible for ensuring accurate and objective reporting. Any changes or updates made to a story after publishing (excluding simple spelling and grammar corrections) will be appropriately labeled with a note preceding or following the body of the story, depending on the severity of the correction.

Mistakes occasionally happen, and we take them seriously. If we got something wrong, please send your correction to editor@taskandpurpose.com.

Original reporting is our hallmark, but in instances where we cite outside reporting, we do our best to independently verify that information. Due to the nature of our reporting, which often involves government employees and sensitive national security issues, we may occasionally use anonymous sources. All anonymous sources are vetted and approved by the editor-in-chief as necessary for the story.

Editorial transparency is a priority for Task & Purpose. We occasionally publish sponsored or branded content, which will always be appropriately labeled and separate from our news coverage. We mandate that all conflicts of interest be disclosed within the body of our stories. We rarely participate in press junkets hosted by private companies, but when we do, we’ll disclose if they have paid for any portion of the trip or reporting costs. In instances where we are embedded with the military or other government agencies, we will likely be riding in their vehicles, eating in their dining facilities, and sleeping in their billets. Despite this necessary accommodation — often in the field or in combat zones — our reporters maintain editorial independence.

How we review products

Our methodology is simple: We try to provide unbiased reviews of the latest and greatest gear out there.

Our gear reviewers maintain strict editorial independence from the economic concerns of our parent company, Recurrent Ventures. That means we select our products, perform our testing, and render our judgments free from the influence of any corporate higher-ups — we do so only with you, the reader, in mind. If a piece of gear isn’t up to snuff, we’ll tell you why you should avoid it. Nothing is more vital to our success than your trust.

We frequently obtain dozens of products at a time for testing by purchasing them outright or requisitioning them from various companies. Each piece of gear is either returned to the manufacturer following testing or stored for later use; either way, we’ll always disclose the source of each item in our reviews so you know exactly where it came from.

Our specific testing protocols vary from product to product, but our general hands-on testing principles are the same no matter what we’re working with: put them through the wringer in every way imaginable to determine whether they’ll stand up to the vile obscenity that is modern life. The majority of our writers are U.S. military veterans and they know exactly how to put a piece of gear through its paces. That means we’ll throw gear off our roofs, drag ‘em through the muck and the mud, and drive ‘em into the ground until we’ve pushed each item to its limits to yield a comprehensive and unvarnished review.

Now, when we can’t get our mitts on a piece of gear for a hands-on review, we rely on the wisdom of crowds and expert input to guide our decisions. In those cases, we’ll sort through thousands of reviews of products from well-established and reputable brands — products that have at least 500 user reviews and a minimum rating of four out of five stars — so you can quickly and easily identify the cream of the crop. From there, we use our expertise and insights (and those of outside specialists) to sift through the best gear for your daily loadout.

Beyond product reviews themselves, we’ll always endeavor to give you the context for making the best decisions possible. That means including information on the types of products on the market, their key features, and how we came to land on our suggestions. Our goal is to inform you, the reader, as transparently as possible — and when we don’t know the answer to something, we’ll send you to someone who does.

Affiliate disclosure

Task & Purpose is owned and operated by Recurrent Ventures and may contain advertisements, sponsored content, paid insertions, affiliate links, or other forms of monetization. Task & Purpose and its partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our affiliate links.

Designated advertising content, topics, or posts may be influenced by compensation received. That content, advertising space, or sponsored posts will always be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

Task & Purpose is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Pages on this site may include affiliate links to Amazon and its affiliate sites on which the owner of this website will make a referral commission.