(Soldiers in the Blogosphere) 57% percent of respondants (14 total this time) said Soldiers should blog under their own name. This is certainly not a whopping majority, so I'll take the response to suggest that we're split on whether or not Soldiers should use their own name when blogging or should continue to use creative aliases.
Here's my take on this issue: If the Soldier is blogging about military related issues he should use his rank and position at a minimum, but if he's blogging about other topics there's no need to do so. The reason I believe this is twofold. First, when talking about military topics, one of the best reasons for Soldiers to blog is because of their experience and credibility. Therefore, the Soldier should use rank and position (maybe even a quick background) to support his comments. On the other hand, there are rules governing what Soldiers can say in uniform - specifically about political leadership - and if blogging about any of these topics, the Soldier is wise to remain just "Joe Civilian" to avoid the risk of violating rules.
For sure I’ll be participating in future surveys. Though I can't promise that I’ll always be able to respond to each and every one. In between blogging, rescuing orphaned kittens from burning buildings, and helping the elderly cross streets, sometimes it’s hard to visit other sites. Just saying...
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So, if I were you, I'd read the Men's Journal piece first and read the back and forth between the Army and RYP (the comments on the article are priceless too - Does Ace's peeps read MJ?).
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13 Stoploss has the story.
Thanks to Robin for the tip.
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My good friends and fellow military bloggers,
Here's a little more information about the launch from Bouhammer.com:
"I have a new blog up, but it is not just me. CJ from over at ASP and myself came up with the idea collectively. We both maintain very popular milblogs that focus primarily on military issues, and of course mine also focuses on
More than just an outlet for CJ and myself to voice their opinion and views on political matters, we wanted to open it up to any and all military or past military members to also have a place to vent, unload, share or whatever they wanted to do about political matters. We have put together a group of milbloggers who represent both sides of the “aisle”, who belong to very different political parties, but most importantly who have all raised their hands and swore to defend this country against all enemies foreign and domestic..."
Kudos to
See? I've set the bar pretty high with blogging. Good luck catching up,
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This Friday I've been invited to view a private pre-screening of Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Brothers At War. The pre-screening will be followed by a Q&A session with producer Gary Sinise and Director Jake Rademacher. The pre-screening is being held at the National Press Club in
If you'd like to learn more about the film, I've placed a trailer below and you can check out the official website here.
I'll be tweeting the entire experience, so stay tuned. Mil-tweeting is my new thing. You can follow me here. Did anybody notice that I tweeted when I went to the gym the other day? Because I did. I totally went to the gym. I also tweeted when I sat on the couch. Then I scratched myself. That's just me. Pretty exciting stuff. 2008 Weblog Award Finalist??? Pfffttt...I totally smell a 2009 'Best Military Blog' Weblog Award.
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While experimenting with Twitter I found a deployed National Guard Officer, who not only blogs but tweets. No word on whether he has a YouTube channel or BlogRadio account, but its great to see how some frontline bloggers continue to adapt and use social media technology to get the news out.
Right now he’s got a post up on Afghans, Viagra and iPhones. Apparently if we gave the Afghans iPhones they could communicate more, and who knows, maybe even Tweet.
Now, despite all the people I'm following on Twitter, I'm not sure I'd follow Osama Bin Laden. However, if Osama had a YouTube channel of him hiding in caves, drinking his own urine, and eating his own poop just to get by while he acts like a coward, that's another thing.
Below is a bio of Deployed Teacher:
(Deployed Teacher) I created the blog deployedteacher.com as a kind of diary, to share my thoughts with you while deployed. I am hoping to offer observations and insights that might pique your interest, or a student’s interest. No pat answers here, that would be easy. I hope to propose questions I think will entice you to learn more about the subjects presented.
If you are looking for a political slant, I certainly have my opinions and they will surface at times. I want this site to be informative; to give you some of what you might not see elsewhere. Hope you enjoy, thanks for visiting, now read on.
Read more online here and you can follow him on Twitter here.
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The Official Department of Defense website hosts a regular Roundtable online for bloggers and journalists. Who knew the folks at The Department of Defense were so geeky. They even have a blogroll (but sadly, Milblogging.com isn't listed). For those of you who didn’t know about the roundtable, as the website states, "The Bloggers Roundtable provides source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the Department of Defense (DoD) by bloggers and online journalists. Where available, this includes transcripts, biographies, related fact sheets and video.”
If you work for Defense Link and you’re reading this, *secretly* add me to your blog roll and I’ll buy you a beer the next time you’re in the Northern Virginia area on a temporary duty assignment. If you put me at the top, I’ll make it two.
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I still don't get it, but micro-blogging with a website like Twitter is extremely popular. Twitter.com just received $35 million in venture capital this week.
If you don't know what micro-blogging is, you basically write about what you're doing at any given time, but you keep it very brief. There’s something to it, but I still haven't figured it out.
I'd like to hear from military bloggers if you’ve found Twitter useful. Shoot an email to Milblogging@gmail.com.
In the meantime, if you follow me on Twitter, I'll follow you *wink wink*.
I'm not sure what to Tweet about, but in the event I grow a third hand out of my forehead I'll be sure to Tweet about it...
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Or from any newsroom.
They came from Larry Scott's cluttered living room in
In an age of shrinking news organizations with ever-dwindling numbers of reporters covering the VA, Scott's five-year-old blog is filling a role that once fell exclusively to traditional media.
Read the entire story here.
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Millions of materials are available online now, including profiles of nearly all of the soldiers and officers who fought. I’ve got a History degree, so this is pretty neat. I love the internet!
Wheeee!
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And here's my first specific recommendation. For several months, I've been browsing the "
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I haven't watched the film yet, but based on everything I've read and seen online, it's by no means political. Simply put, "It's a true story", as Kevin Bacon has said in interviews.
The film airs Saturday, February 21st at 8 PM.
In case you're wondering about the song playing during the Trailer, it's called "Comes and Goes (In Waves)" by Greg Laswell.
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Staff Sgt. Ross Hedlund is a Fire Support Sergeant (E-6) with the National Guard. He previously served in the Balad,
Here’s an excerpt from a recent news story about Staff Sgt. Ross Hedlund and his National Guard unit.
(Minnesota Daily) Staff Sgt. Ross Hedlund is a University student and one of 96 Red Bulls who had to put their college plans on hold while they were deployed to Iraq. Hedlund was on a long weekend exercise with another unit when he found out he was being transferred to the Rosemount , Minn., portion of the 34th Infantry Division because they were being deployed.
After his initial shock, Hedlund decided to apply to graduate with two degrees in December — 14 credits short of the four majors and a minor he had planned on receiving from the Carlson School of Management.
He said he plans on coming back for a semester after his deployment to finish the degrees.
For Hedlund, this will be the second time delaying college plans to go to Iraq. He was deployed for the first time in February 2004.
Read the entire story here.
Check out his blog here.
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(reporternews) Almost five months after a Chicago banker gave up the comforts of home and family to walk across the country to honor friend and fellow Army Ranger Pat Tillman, he is making his way across the Big Country, raising money for a cause that moves his feet as well as his soul.
Rory Fanning is making a 3,000-mile trek from the
Fanning, 31, is making the journey to raise money for the Pat Tillman Foundation, an organization created to identify young leaders and provide scholarships.
Read the entire story here.
Visit Rory’s blog at http://blog.walkforpat.org/
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You know, some of the Army Strong commercials are actually pretty damn good, particularly if you're interested in the Infantry. As you can probably guess, my wife doesn't like it much when I watch these videos online since I've already deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and I've only been home a short while. But I thought I'd share my favorite Army Strong Commercial because this one totally kicks ass!
Of course, it's not as kickass as the commercial I would've produced. But my commercial idea was totally shot down by the Military. Pftt...
Apparently, showing Ninjas being tossed around like rag dolls, getting roundhouse kicked to the face by American Soldiers doesn't seem to be all that believable. And okay, I'll admit, maybe the flying Unicorns air assaulting in at the end were a bit much...
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I’ve copied and pasted the survey exactly as I received it through email. Unfortunately, the intent of some questions is sometimes lost in translation, so if you need more information, you’ll need to email Second Lieutenant D'HOOP Anne-Lise.
Survey Questions
1. How long and why have you been starting up a military blog?
2. How often are you updating your blog? What's the level of importance you're giving to your blog?
3. Describe in a few words the content of your blog.
4. Are you adding photos and/or videos? If the answer is « yes », why? What kind of photos and/or videos are they? And what source are they from?
5. Have you any idea of the kind of people consulting your blog? How often is it, on average, daily and/or monthly visited?
6. Did you ever get in touch and/or have feedbacks with bloggers visiting it?
7. According to you, what's the rate of influence your blog could have on your private and/or professional life?
8. Do you think your blog did really help you to bring your mission, to a successful conclusion? Why?
9. Did you receive any instructions about the type of information you were allowed to spread in your blog?
10. Have you ever been confronted with security problems in connection with the spreading of information in your blog? Who with? Have you ever been obliged to delete some subjects and/or comments stored?
11. What do you think of the control of the Defence on military blogs?
12. In the future do you think keeping on with the making up of your blog? Why?
13. Do you often visit other military websites? Which ones? Why?
14. Are you satisfied with the military information available on these different sites? Why?
Additional Questions (completely optional)
Your Blog's Link :
Age :
Sex :
Nationality :
Native language :
Foreign spoken and/or written languages :
Staff category (Privates-NCO's-Officers) :
Component (Army-Air Force-Navy-Coast Guard-Medics) :
Function in the Army :
Marital Status :
Do you have children? How many? :
Which military missions did you take part in? How long did it/they last? What was your function?
If you want to add any comment about this inquiry, don't hesitate to it hereunder :
Webmaster Note: By no means is this an insult, but the email survey above kinda reminds me of something I would write at
Anyway, my apologies ahead of time in case anyone does receive an email message from me on an early Saturday or Sunday. Let's just say there will probably be some "f bombs" and references to ninjas. Most everything will be misspelled and chances are I’ll probably end up signing my email something like:
“Your Idol and Favorite Blogger in the World,
the Milblogging.com Webmaster.”
Basically what I’m getting at, is that when I send messages on Saturday or Sunday mornings (between the hours of
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"The
The public affairs department has even arranged to fly friendly bloggers to
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The freelance writer and mother of three moved to
She started a number of blogs, offering her impressions of life as a military wife and
That’s when she met Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers’ Angels, a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides aid and comfort to men and women serving in all branches of the Armed Forces. The two met at a 2007 military blogger’s conference in
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Don’t be shy to apply. We know things are tight financially with many individuals and families across the country, and we don’t want to see your military blog disappear. Every contributor to this strong community online is important to the “conversation” and spreading of ideas.
Contact us today, we’d be happy to hear from you.
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