The Marine Corps is a fighting force with many time honored traditions that include but are not limited to inducing epiphanies over copious amounts of alcohol as well as creating logos that are way cooler than those dawned by most units from other branches of service. The skull and the paddle have played a steady role in the history of some of the Marine Corps’ most elite units, featured on badges and unit crests. This is why Travis, Jason, Kevin and Joe knew that when they were ironing out the details of their new business idea that these were symbols that would play a heavy role in everything from the image to their values while also paying homage to the communities they are proud to be a part of.
As a newly minted clothing company, Skull & Paddle is owned and operated by active duty Marines and Sailors with past and present assignments in Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) and Reconnaissance units. S&P was founded in 2015 while two of the founders were deployed. Travis and Jason had a long discussion about how they couldn’t think of a clothing brand that truly captured their style, while also supporting veteran charities. That conversation turned into a test run of shirts worn by the guys and their close friends, Kevin and Joe, who invested the same amount of energy and time once everyone reconvened on U.S. soil.
Although starting a business on top of a career in special operations is demanding, Travis says the best part is that it extends that brotherhood past the end of the duty day.
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(Featured image courtesy of spotterup.com)
