Over at The Sandbox, Old Blue from Bill and Bob’s Excellent Afghan Adventure is pleading with military bloggers to keep their blogs online, even if they return home from deployment and no longer feel a need to write. I’ve written about this in the past, and also mentioned it about a week ago after another blogger wrote about it. Unfortunately, many blogs do go inactive or go completely offline once the blogger returns home from deployment or leaves the service. As great as it would be to keep all these blogs online, I completely understand why many delete their blog. I receive dozens of emails a month from Milblogging users pointing out military blogs in the index that have been deleted; some from the original authors. There is a lot more to Old Blue’s story, so check out the excerpt below but also pay The Sandbox a visit for the full story.
Here is my plea: Don't delete your blog. Please don't delete your blog. Whether you realize it or not, whether you can find a post-deployment voice or not, whether or not you feel that you can share the experiences of being a veteran warrior returning to a country that seems to have forgotten or chooses to ignore, please don't delete your blog. You have written history, and someday there will be those who wish to know what you saw, how you felt, how the events such as the summits, the conferences, the elections, the official high level stuff that others will care to prognosticate, spin, alter and otherwise fold, spindle or mutilate affected you as an entity who wore one pair of boots. Someday your story may affect someone's perception of how the big picture looked, and how your little picture fit into the big picture.
It's bigger than you. If you are paying for a domain and you wish to stop, get a blogspot address and import your old posts. Please. It's too easy.
Every historian wants to be the one who unearths the next treasure trove of long-forgotten letters from the front in an old trunk in an attic. We have done more documentation of this war from the ground level than any other war. Except this war, which has been so well documented via electrons, is likely to be the least well-documented for posterity because electrons fade away or are deleted.
So, from one blogger to another (among thousands of others), please keep your blog up on the net, even if you never write in it again.
Personally I have to say: Thanks to my Mom who has encouraged me to keep blogging since 2004. Although, she still spell-check’s my blog and sends me grammar corrections via email. Seriously, she really motivates me. I mean here I am almost 35 years old, and she’ll still call me to make sure I’m wearing my coat when it’s cold outside or to tell me to wear sunblock when the sun is out. She’ll always be a Mom [Bless Her Heart]. But honestly, there’s never a more AWESOME experience than having your Mom call you kiddy names in front of your adult friends or give you life wisdom like “never drive with your eyes closed” --- which she usually tells me when I leave her house to drive a half mile back home.
Good times, High Fives All Around!
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Responding to news as fast as it happens is a struggle for the service, said Lindy Kyzer, a public affairs specialist with the Army’s Online and Social Media Division.
“People are used to the immediacy of getting answers when they want them,” Kyzer said at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s Social Media for DOD Government conference in Fairfax County, Va.
Read the entire story here.
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Interested in learning as much information as she could about him, she had periodically searched online. One day, she somewhat unexpectedly found a posting about his wartime diaries at the UT Web site.
Read the entire story here.
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As most of you probably know, news organizations and blogs have been buzzing about the DoD and social media. I recently started tracking Google News alerts for stories related to Twitter and the military --- and my inbox has been filling up with a hundred articles each week. Below is an excerpt from a Nextgov article that discusses Navy Adm. Mike Mullen who tweets. Fun fact: Navy Adm. Mike Mullen tweeted for the first time on April 3rd. He even added himself to the wefollow Twitter directory. That's pretty cool. But I'll honest, now I’m waiting for his YouTube video of him jamming with the rest of the staff to Guitar Hero.
All I can say is: Move over, Susan Boyle.
Here’s an excerpt to the article:
In response to a question about Twitter, Gates noted, "there are clearly a number of governments, around the world, that try to control these communications ... [they] try to control the Internet and so on. "
But, he said, these governments "can't draw the net tight enough to stop everything.... If you can't text, then you Twitter.... My guess is, in some of these countries, that the leadership is kind of like me. They don't have a clue what it's about."
Gates said he did not use Twitter nor did he have a Facebook page. But Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he does Twitter. In a Tweet after the news conference he said Twitter is "critical and meets needs for flexibility and adaptability."
He added he used Twitter to stay in touch with the 2 million troops whose average age is in the 20s and who grew up with Internet-based communications. The 63-year-old Mullen said even though he might not be as facile using Twitter as the young troops he commands, it was important for senior leaders to understand and use social networks. "I think communicating that way and moving information around that way, whether it's administrative information or information in warfare, is absolutely critical," he said.
Read the entire story here. And you can follow Adm. Mike Mullen on Twitter here.
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Hat tip to @PublicRelations.
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Here’s an excerpt from one of Danger Girl’s recent posts [a big fan of Matt Gallagher's writings]:
Kaboom was one of my fave milblogs . Written by Lt. Matt Gallagher ( Lt.G) during his deployment to Iraq from 2007-2008, it chronicled the day to day challenges and dangers faced by his platoon, a Stryker unit named "Gravediggers".
Lt. G's narratives were poetic, evocative, entertaining, frightening, infuriating and thought provoking - but never an indictment of the war.
Read her entire post here.
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“Our NGB (social media) sites don't focus on recruiting as much as they do on telling our joint story and letting people who support the Guard have a place to share their opinions and connect with others who are in the same boat.”
Read the entire press release here.
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The diary, kept between between May 19, 1917 and March 6, 1918 while he was serving with the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) and Royal Scottish Fusiliers, is full of vivid descriptions: a tearful farewell from Edinburgh; dodging "Jerry's" shrapnel in France; surviving gas attacks and the suffocating mud; the "terrible yet wonderful" experience of going over the top; the boredom of life in the trenches.
Read the entire story here.
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Honestly though, I don't know any of the facts and really have no interest to find out. Plus, I can't seem to find my monocle...
Anyway, if you want to read more about the story for yourself, here’s an excerpt:
"Though the story has not yet gone public, this isn't a good time for milblogger's freedom of speech. I myself am facing potential charges for having a different political opinion than some of my leadership believes I should, and another milblogger who shall remain nameless is as well. Certain prominent milblogs, especially ones from Iraq and Afghanistan, have been removed-Pink's War, Big Tobacco, and LT G among them. Too much honesty, too much humor, too much reality. Too much free thinking.
In something straight out of Joseph Heller, however, at the same time that some are getting in trouble for voicing opinions, the Army has apparently decided that it wants to hear Soldier's stories on social networking sites..."
You can read the entire story here.
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Mitch Wagner has a good story on the recent news about the Army unblocking some social media sites. Mitch goes a bit further in his story questioning why some social media sites were unblocked, but not others such as MySpace.
(InformationWeek) Moreover, the order doesn't overturn a long-standing, military-wide ban on sites including MySpace, YouTube, and Pandora.
So why is Facebook allowed, but MySpace blocked? Why is video-sharing site Vimeo allowed, but YouTube blocked? Why is photo-sharing site Flickr allowed, but Photobucket blocked? Why block Pandora?
The Photobucket blockage is particularly puzzling. While Flickr is popular with big nerds like me because of its tasty Web 2.0 coating, in my personal experience, normal people -- such as the kind of people who join the military -- are more likely to use Photobucket to share pictures of their family and friends...
You can read the entire story here.
Granted, the Army has made amazing progress, considering most civilian workplaces I've been in, block pretty much the entire internet for productivity and security reasons.
When it comes to unblocking some sites, but not others, I'm pretty sure I know why the Army still blocks MySpace, at least. I mean, just take a look at the screenshot above from my Profile page. It makes my eyes hurt. Seriously, I’m not even sure what I’m looking at. My wife set up the page for me when I was deployed to Iraq last year [Bless Her Heart], but apparently, lots of MySpace pages are overloaded with photo slideshows, videos, cute avatars, Flash movies, music --- ALL displayed on the same page. Almost makes me pass out and throw up every time I view a MySpace page.
I'm assuming it’s probably safer to look directly into the sun. From 2 feet away. Just saying.
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Charlene Li has a great write-up about the Navy hosting bloggers on the USS Nimitz. Forget what you thought about the military cracking down on bloggers or imposing strict rules and regulations on blogging and other forms of online communication. Over the last several months --- lo and behold --- the DoD has been adopting social media at an impressive pace. Here's an excerpt from the story that was posted today:
(VatorNews) When the Navy issued the invitation for 16 bloggers to spend a day on the USS Nimitz, I thought there had to be string attached, or that the Navy wanted to use us bloggers as propaganda spreaders. But hey, I'm used to people pitching me and trusted myself to be able to figure out the real story behind the Navy "story".
But surprisingly, there were no pre-conditions, no restrictions on access other than to safeguard our well-being. The schedule was packed with organized tours to different parts of the trip, but we were free to approach anyone and ask them anything...
You can read the entire story here.
On a sidenote, I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few hosted blogging events since 2004 when I first blogged from Afghanistan. This year alone, I've been to Blackwater, The White House, even the world's largest tank farm. But that being said, I really don’t get too excited about policy or things like that, unless of course it involves care packages or unicorns or ninjas. In which case, if anyone knows about real-life Ninjas hosting an event for bloggers, I’m totally in. Call me.
Heck, I’ll even wear a purple mask and wield a pair of my kid’s plastic nunchucks. TURTLE POWER!
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The Indian Army has circulated that if any soldier found violating the order, dictionary action will be taken against the soldier, under the Army Act; the soldier could be for up to seven years. According to the Indian Army estimate, about 35,000 of its 1.1 million soldiers, from all ranks, are active internet users.
Read the entire story here.
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Here’s what I’m thinking --- when I sign in to Twitter on Mondays, I’m gonna sign every single one of my 'riveting' entries with #MilitaryMon. Including, but not limited to just the military. I'm just saying. It could work. For example:
5:04AM: Good morning. Just went running..I like to run. I run fast. #MilitaryMon
5:29AM: I’m eating a donut. It’s tasty. It makes me happy. #MilitaryMon
6:15AM: Getting dressed for work. Putting on my shoes. They are nice and new. #MilitaryMon
You get the idea...
I suggest you do the same. As a reminder, don't use #MilitaryMonday, use #MilitaryMon. And just in case you’re wondering, the #MilitaryMon hashtag was designed by @kissmygumbo and @carsonjdaly. If you’d like to learn more, I’ve written about it in-depth here, here, here, here, and here.
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(via Kaboom) Upon our unit's redeployment, the Gravediggers all went their separate ways, many of them staying in the Army and continuing to do great things for Uncle Sam. I separated from active duty earlier this month, and will be moving to New York City in the fall. After the Washington Post article ran about Kaboom, I signed with Wm Clark Associates, a literary agency based out of New York. A few months after that, I signed a book deal with Da Capo Press, and the print version of Kaboom should be out in late 2009 or early 2010.
Thanks to Joe for the tip.
Read the entire story here.
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Webmaster Update: Damn, "Unicorn" is already taken.
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My pal Noah over at Danger Room broke this news earlier in the week, but in case you’re interested, the Army just issued their official press release.
(U.S. Army) The commander said the unblocking of some social networking sites was in keeping with direction from Army senior leaders to have Soldiers tell the Army story.
"This order first and foremost is about establishing web-filtering standards. However, it was crafted deliberately to meet the intent of Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army, who are encouraging Soldiers to tell their stories and maintain contact with the American people. Leveraging social media is an effective way to tell the Army story."
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(The Kitchen Dispatch) Yes, there are MilBloggers who have fabulous voices, and maybe they don't even realize it yet. I'm not going to tell you which ones they are because I don't want to induce any of them to thinking they are the next gift to the world of publishing.
I'm not sure whether or not they'll continue writing after their service is finished. Some will, others won't. It's not every person who writes that writing in itself becomes their lifeline...
As Kanani points out, it’s a fact, that many military blogs have either stopped or gone offline once they finished up their tour or service in the military. Most notably, 365 and a Wakeup who garnered tons of readers and buzz when he actively blogged a few years ago. Thunder6’s impressive blog is still online, but his last post was about a year ago.
It’s no mystery though, when some of us get home from a deployment, the last thing we want to do is maintain a blog. I mean, it’s possibly not that interesting to write about drinking beer and sleeping in until 1 in the afternoon. But I suspect if your wife finds you in a dumpster at three in the morning eating cat food while petting an alley rat you think is a Unicorn; that might be pretty neat.
Obviously, I’m not talking about myself. I’m just saying.
Read the entire story here.
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(CNN) Acevedo catalogued the atrocities in a diary he kept hidden in his pants, using a Sheaffer fountain pen to record what he saw all around. When the soldiers were on their forced death march, Acevedo asked to use his pen for a tracheotomy to save a soldier named George Buddeski. Metz refused...
Read the entire story here.
If you want to view actual pages from Acevedo’s wartime diary, click the image above. Several pages are available for viewing online. The first written entry shown on the website says, "Was captured 6th of January 1945.".
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Army public affairs managers have worked hard to share the service’s stories through social sites like Flickr, Delicious, and Vimeo. Links to those sites were featured prominently on the Army.mil home page. The Army carefully nurtured a Facebook group tens of thousands strong, and posted more than 4,100 photos to a Flickr account. Yet the people presumably most interested in these sites — the troops themselves — were prevented from seeing the material. Many Army bases banned access to the social networks.
Read the entire story here.
Thanks to my pal Noah over at Danger Room for the tip.
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The library has recently completed scanning, digitizing and posting online the hand-written Civil War diary of Henry Pippitt, who fought for an Ohio regiment around Nashville and in other states.
The three journals, which the university hopes to have in typed form on the Web site in the near future, are being praised for their thoroughness.
Read the entire story here.
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