In just the last few years, it’s becoming easier to stay connected, especially with all the different options ranging from Web chat and cameras, to Facebook and Twitter, even cell phones. Trib (a Wyoming online news source) has a story about the Wyoming National Guard and how they stay connected with family and friends.
Cell phones now offer international calling plans. Soldiers post pictures and comments on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace with ever-better Internet connections on military bases. Web cameras make it possible for families to talk face to face, more or less, over their computers.
The military has approached the use of social networking cautiously. It is studying policies that would allow it to use the fast communication potential of services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter without compromising sensitive information or opening its computer systems to hackers.
Soldiers are also trained about what they can and cannot post, as many of them carry cameras, shoot video, blog or use their own personal networking accounts.
I’ve been doing a lot of coverage of DoD and the Social Media these last couple months, while waiting for the Final Policy to be published. But I’m going out on a limb here and guessing the final policy might not be released until after the New Year. I was excited back in September after Price Floyd said it would be done and out in a few weeks, but if you do the math, that came and went like a month or so ago.
While I applaud the DoD for putting together a Social Media policy, I’m starting to lose interest.
Honestly, I’ve been more enthusiastic about eating a bagel. Plain.
Read the entire story here.
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In 1755, 30-year-old Jeremiah Bancroft signed up for one year as a militiaman with the British military.
He kept an almost-daily diary of his service, which took him from Boston to Beausejour, N.B., and later to Grand Pre, N.S., where he participated in the deportation of Acadians.
A transcript of the diary was found by historical archeologist Jonathan Fowler and was publicly displayed Thursday at Saint Mary's University by Fowler and Earle Lockerby, an expert on the deportation.
Read the entire story here.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’ll be sharing the day with my extended family and most importantly my wife and kids. So I most likely won't be online, but I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy and a very safe Thanksgiving.
If you’d like to give thanks to those who give so much – from troops on the frontlines to families on the homefront – feel free to browse the Milblogging site to find and view blogs written by veterans, members from every branch of the Military, spouses and more.
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The Federal Times has an Op-Ed by Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley (the chief of the National Guard Bureau) that talks about how he uses Twitter. The title of the article is even, “Why I tweet…”.
It may surprise some to learn how high up the chain of command interest in social networking sites has risen. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Jim Stavridis, commander at U.S. European Command; and Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, all were on the bow wave of the tweeting trend. Price Floyd (@PriceFloyd), the principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs, has been an outspoken supporter, along with other civilian DoD leaders, of broader use of Internet capabilities for communications.
I asked the help desk technician to sign me up for an account. Today, I am up and running on Twitter, have a great group of followers, and follow many users. It may not be the most powerful tool in my communications arsenal, but it is certainly the most personal and the most enjoyable.
This is another great endorsement for the use of social networking tools by the Military. I should send him a #FollowFriday shout out this week. I heard that Adm. Mike Mullen and Gen. McKinley compete to see who can get the most followers on Twitter – and with Gen. McKinley trailing Adm. Mullen by several thousand followers, every shout out can help.
I also hear those two like to battle it out on Facebook over social games like Mafia Wars or YoVille. For tie-breakers: Bejeweled Blitz.
I picture them kicking out each other’s network cables or saying distracting things like, “Hey look, The President.”
Ahh, kids. [at heart]
Read the entire story over at FederalTimes.com. You can follow him @ChiefNGB
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If you’re not taking part in Military Monday on Twitter, get over to Twitter each and every Monday and use the hashtag #MilitaryMon and help recognize the troops, families, veterans and supporters through a Tweet. Even celebrities are in on the action, using their fame for causes that are important to them: like honoring the troops with #MilitaryMon tweets, which hopefully results in more and more people recognizing the military.
Celebrities like Carson Daly and Alyssa Milano are regulars on #MilitaryMon. They tweet every Monday something to the troops.
I must say though, it would be nice to see more celebrities use their fame to support the troops, like Britney Spears who has nearly 4 million Followers on Twitter. But I could see why she doesn’t. In her defense, Britney is said to be devastated after her “It’s Britney” iPhone app got poor reviews.
Plus, I heard her Twitter account got hacked recently, after someone typed "Password" into the "Password" field. It may have even been Paswerd. Just saying.
Give her a break, folks.
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To get a little more information on the DoD’s stance on Social Media from the DoD themselves (even though the Policy hasn’t been made public), the Social Media Hub is now online and less than a month old. I can actually access and surf the website even though I didn’t have much luck earlier in the week. The really cool thing about the site is that it’s full of information, whether you’re a family or a friend of someone in the DoD, deployed or not deployed, the site aims at sharing and explaining information. The site includes sections on Social Media including videos, games, FAQs, a blog, a directory of DoD social media sites and much more.
Here’s a snippet from the site:
As a family member or friend of a U.S. servicemember, you have a special role in helping to maintain morale, especially during times of war and deployment. Just like thorough training and proper equipment, the support you provide is a key enabler for the Department of Defense’s mission. Social networks and other online tools can help you maintain this critical contact and communicate in rich, new ways, but you need to stay vigilant with what you do and say online so that this opportunity doesn’t turn into a liability.
Protecting privacy and defending against viruses and unauthorized access are consideration for anyone who goes online. Your connection to the military means you have extra concerns when you operate on the Web. In this section, you will learn about:
personal communication with your family and friends;
controlling rumors and assisting your community;
appropriate behavior on social networks; and
educating children about online threats.
Although the DoD Policy on Social media still hasn’t been made Public, I think it’s going to be fairly supportive and explain pretty much every scenario you might find yourself in. Since rumors of a revised policy in the makings, they’ve launched literally hundreds of sites.
I’m guessing the Policy is going to be in favor of Social Media. But who knows, it’s hard to tell. The DoD is so subtle.
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The rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Short and sweet, I had a serious heart attack on Wednesday night. I'm in the hospital, hooked up to a bunch of tubes. I have had a catheterization done and a stint put in, but there is still some blockage. So next Wednesday the doctors are going to do a little carving and install some new parts. No big deal.
Pray for the doctor and my family.
You can read his latest update here. Concrete Bob also tweets here.
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Some of the earliest memories of my father are from the words he sent through his letters home. My dad was a career airman, and much of his time was spent in far flung parts of this world.
Read the entire story here.
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(Afghanistan My Last Tour) From Liisa, SMSgt Rex Temple’s wife: Rex wanted me to post a quick “Thank You” to the USF Bulls and to his home base at Tampa’s MacDill AFB for adopting the “School Supplies for Afghan Children” project at this Saturday’s football game against Louisville. It’s an honor to have this project be part of the team’s military appreciation game. And I’m thrilled to have Rex’s friend SPC Christopher “Kit” Lowe join us at the game; he’ll be enjoying a few days of leave from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. and his rigorous physical therapy and recovery training after being wounded in Afghanistan in August.
Read the entire story here which also includes coverage by the press.
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The BBC and other news organizations as well as fellow bloggers like Daniel Bennett have more information on Rifleman Andrew Fentiman, a Territorial Army Soldier who was killed earlier this week in Afghanistan. A blog that Andrew wrote on November 4th is receiving a lot of attention because he writes about waiting on new body armor and helmets.
God bless Andrew, his family and friends, and his battle buddies.
In Andrew’s last post, Andrew also wrote about everyday life on the frontlines:
One of the best things out here is that cigarettes are $5 for 200! There is the odd brand I recognise but we will only have access to the local ones when we are in the FOB.
That’s about it for the moment; I will try and send a post every now and then when things are a little more interesting.
PS they made me shave my head and the run through loads of dust with full kit on in the middle of the day – hence the picture!
Regards, RFN Fentiman
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With the much-anticipated publishing of the DoD’s Social Media policy, the DoD has been launching its own social media sites online. Earlier today, I stumbled upon the DoD Social Media Hub (which right now appears to be down). But by the looks of the Social Media Hub and other online efforts by the DoD, something could be announced soon.
I found the DoD Social Media Hub link through DoD Live in a story titled “How to Stay Cyber Safe, and NetSmart” – which is an interview with Mr. Price Floyd, the principal deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
Among other things, Floyd explained that what you do on these social networking sites can come back to haunt you in one way or another. Passwords can be easily figured out; personal information can be gathered by our adversaries; computer viruses and malware could be transferred, which could risk yours, your families’, and your countries security.
You can read the interview here which also has a link the video interview (but I can’t get that link to work, either). The DoD Social Media Hub looks like it will be the main site for official Department of Defense Websites and command-sponsored sites to share information online for social media.
Even better, the DoD is cataloging all the DoD Social media sites in one place ranging from Blog sites and Delicious sites to Facebook, iReport, MySpace, Twitter and dozens more. Wanna read tweets by the USAF Band? You can find their web address on the DoD’s index. And if you want, you can even submit your own link. That is, if you run an Official Department of Defense website or other DoD social media site. There’s even a DoD Social Media Agreement.
I’m just spitballing ideas here, but I’m guessing the DoD Policy on Social Media is gonna be pretty encouraging. It was unsure at first what the DoD was going to do, but with all the Social Media efforts, it seems pretty obvious. I’d imagine that when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff isn’t busy being the principal military advisor to the President, he’s busy tweeting. Or maybe updating his Facebook status. Or who knows? Seeing how many friends he can get on MySpace. To which I say: AWESOME.
I’m gonna be in the front leaning rest here pretty soon, aren’t I?
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Click here to watch the video of Woody Harrelson and Oren Moverman thanking Military bloggers for their support of the upcoming film The Messenger.
You can clearly hear Woody in the video thank the Milblog Community, but it’s hard to make out what Oren is saying. I’ll be the first to admit though, I never expected Woody Harrelson to star in such a Dramatic role like this. But you have to remember, I grew up with him playing the simple-minded Woody Boyd on Cheers. And one of my favorite movies of all-time: White Men Can’t Jump. Classic.
I’m just impressed he didn’t start “oohing and aahing” when he saw the camera. Or start poking at it with his fingers in bewilderment.
Note: My wife has no clue what I'm talking about when I say "Woody Boyd", cause she’s a few years younger than me and never saw Cheers. So I explained to her: it would be like watching Joey from Friends, play Russell Crowe in the movie A Beautiful Mind.
Thanks to Maja for the tip. Seriously, I can’t wait to see the film and from what I’ve read and seen already, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster give great performances.
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Many news stories have been written in the past week arguing over citizen journalism – with the tragic day at Fort Hood as the center of the debate. TechCrunch’s Paul Carr wrote about Tearah Moore, a soldier based in Fort Hood who tweeted the day’s events as they unfolded and also took photos. Some bloggers, tweeters, and even the MSM re-published the information as they were learning it from Tearah’s account. In his story, Paul Carr writes:
And so it was at Fort Hood. For all the sound and fury, citizen journalism once again did nothing but spread misinformation at a time when thousands people with family at the base would have been freaking out already, and breach the privacy of those who had been killed or wounded. We learned not a single new fact, nor was a single life saved.
What’s most alarming about Moore’s behaviour is that she probably thought she was doing the right thing. Certainly, looking at her MySpace page and her Twitter account (before the army finally forced her to lock it down) we see the portrait of a patriot. Someone who clearly cares a great deal about others, and who – despite the rhetorical question “remind me why I joined the army again” on her profile – is proud to serve her country. In tweeting from the scene, and calling out the media for not reporting the rumours from inside the base, I’m sure she genuinely believed she was helping get the real truth out, and making an actual difference.
On Friday, Paul Carr and Jeff Jarvis debated over citizen journalism which was covered by the Editors Weblog:
Jarvis, a longtime advocate of citizen journalism, argued that the ability for the media to gain information from eyewitnesses through Twitter and other social media, and then use said information in a journalistic story following vetting and fact checking, was a large advantage that the Internet has provided.
Carr, calling in form his home in California, argued that social media was instant, and thus did not allow for the kind of vetting that would constitute traditional reportage. To Carr, there is a difference between tweeting and tweeting the truth.
Citizen journalism takes advantage of the idea of the general population that because "someone is tweeting from the ground that that is the unfiltered truth that the media is somehow going to mess up... its just rumor that happens to be able to be shared with the whole world. The word citizen journalism suggests truth and facts that often times are not there," said Carr in the debate.
Social media and citizen journalism in my opinion are very important, but there are rules. The debate surrounding the use of Social Media at Fort Hood will likely (if not already) change the soon-to-be-published DoD Policy.
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Being an avid Twitter user has opened me to a whole Military community online. This past week, Maja Stevanovich who is a huge military supporter and tweets as @MajaStevanovich, sent me a link about the upcoming release of The Messenger. The film stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster who are assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification Service and must give the terrible news to families that have lost loved ones. Maja had a chance to see an early screening of the movie and even got a chance to meet the director. On her site, she writes:
In a reference to a previous movie Oren did that focuses on Bob Dylan, he made a comment that the American public seems to know a lot more about celebrities than the men and women serving our country. The Messenger is one great example of the media showcasing our soldiers and helping bridge that gap between the civilian and military communities. Although the military community may not be that large, they sacrifice a great amount for our freedoms and it is necessary to bring that to the American public. A tribute to the brave men and women in the service, this movie is sure to make you walk away with appreciation of our troops and a new perspective on grief, friendships and survival. The movie opens nationwide on November 20th.
You can read Maja’s entire review here. Having read her review and now watching the trailer, I look forward to seeing the movie. The official movie site is here.
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It’s always fun to get some Press, even when it’s CNN. In this week’s Tech Weekly Feature, CNN recommends Twitter feeds about hot topics in the news.
With Veterans Day, the continuing investigation into the shootings at Fort Hood and talks continuing on future U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan, the military has been all over the news this week.
Those featured in the “Follow Friday” story include several Twitter users who tweet about Military topics – and includes a Sample Tweet, the number of followers, and a brief Bio about each. The list of featured users includes:
@thejointstaff (Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. John Mullen)
@WWIIToday (The National World War II Museum)
@milblogging (my Twitter feed)
@USForA (U.S. Forces-Afghanistan)
@taps4america (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors)
@ArmedwScience (U.S. Defense Department science team)
You can read the entire story here and learn more about the Twitter users they featured.
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The Leavenworth Lamp is reporting a story about Australian Chief of Army Lt. Gen. Ken Gillespie speaking to the "Command and General Staff College" students at Fort Leavenworth. The topic: Building an Adaptive Army. Among the topics discussed, he also mentioned social media according to the story.
Gillespie said the army needs to improve its knowledge management and provide soldiers access to social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and army Wikis.
"Given the social networking tools that are available to us, it would be almost negligent of senior leaders like me not to enable their use," he said.
Right now a lot of people are waiting on the U.S. DoD to publish a policy on Social Media. Back in September NextGov got their hands on the draft memo, but nothing has been made official to the Public. It was rumored the policy would be out by the beginning of November, but we’re fast approaching December and still nothing. I'm patient, because I know these things take time.
I sometimes laugh to myself though, and wonder if other companies or organizations will write AND publish a social media policy before the DoD does. Like Actors. Or the NFL. And then: Presto!...they have.
Read the entire story here.
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Last week, though, it was a comfort to those at the base who were trying to sort out what happened and deal with the overwhelming emotions it unleashed. For example, a Facebook user created a page called "Prayers for Fort Hood" on Nov. 5; so far, nearly 19,000 users have signed up as members.
Thousands used Twitter to share information--such as safety status--and their feelings about the event, as well. "I was off Post here at Fort Hood when it happened. I am OK and uninvolved," one tweet said.
Read the entire story here.
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Some messages were simple observations, others expletive-laced commentary.
But in the shooting's aftermath, the soldier, Tearah Moore, 30, has found herself at the center of a sharp debate about the real-time sharing and whether the military should police the use of new media.
Read the entire story here.
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We came across this post over the weekend, and in the wake of last week's tragedy at Ft. Hood, it offers some poignant thoughts on the men and women of our armed forces. Here, a member of the SB Nation community that's currently stationed at Fort Hood in Texas offers his perspective on a national tragedy:
“We are still waiting for the real story behind why a commissioned officer (a Major if you understand the Army's rank structure), a doctor with an oath to do no harm, and a soldier sworn to defend the U.S. Constitution and to live the Army Values would do such a thing.
More importantly, though, are some of the stories just starting to emerge. Soldiers running into the chaos multiple times, trying to help the wounded and lead others to safety. Two soldiers, in the middle of their college graduation ceremony at the theater next door, ran - wearing their graduation gowns - into the shooting site and brought out more wounded. Meanwhile, other soldiers outside the building were loading up the wounded into their personal vehicles, fully loading them, which includes pickup truck beds, and speeding their way to the hospital.”
Read the full story here.
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Blogging is no longer worth the trouble. Everything is fine as long as the stories are happy and positive. The military wants happy stories, not honest stories. Everything must be 100% in concert with the Army spin. If it's not, you're considered an "embarrassment" to the Army, the installation, and/or the NCO Corps. Integrity is no longer an accepted method of leadership. If I can't be honest and open, I won't write at all. I refuse to allow my private blog's message to be dictated with threats and intimidation. It's been a fun six years!
-CJ
I've been pretty absent from writing here at ASP for quite some time. I really appreciate CJ for being a great "boss" for the last few years, and have found an extended family in CJ, Emily, and their wonderful children that I couldn't imagine not knowing. While I wish the last year was easier for us here at ASP, I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet some amazing people and form friendships that will last for a very long time. Thanks to everyone for the great ride!
-Marcus
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