(National Post) Facebook status: Reporting for duty, sir.
The Canadian military is considering developing its own version of social-networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter to help soldiers communicate and improve teamwork in the increasingly networked environment of modern warfare.
The research and development arm of the Department of National Defence plans to hire a contractor to research and develop social-networking software for military use, with a view toward developing an internal prototype by as early as next March.
Read the entire story here.
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I sat directly behind these two and from that vantage point saw that there wasn't blogger there these men didn't treat as respected colleagues. They took the time to ask and answer questions when approached, offer encouragement and simply listen to other conference participants during each session. Their active engagement and enthusiasm within the milblog community represented there made a lasting impression on me. Meet Troy of Bouhammer's Afghan Blog , YouServed, Military Pundits and AfghanLessons.
How long have you been blogging? I started blogging in 2005 on my family website. I ran a blog about our family in general, travel tips (since I travel so much) and military topics i general. However in 2006 when I was mobilized for my deployment to Afghanistan I migrated my general military blog to be specifically about my deployment.
To read the entire interview and learn more about my pal and fellow military blogger Troy Steward, click here.
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According to a story in Computer World, Former US National Security Adviser Mark Pfeifle believes Twitter should be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize for its role in the aftermath of the Iran election. In case you didn’t know, Mark Pfeifle was awarded the Army's Outstanding Civilian Service Award by LTG William B. Caldwell --- who is very well known among the Milblogging circle for his support of military bloggers. I think it’s pretty neat how Twitter has transformed real-time communication.
Still, you have to wonder about putting Twitter and Mother Teresa in the same category. I mean, it’s like nominating my cat for a Pulitzer Prize because he learned how to spell his name in the kitty litter box. Just saying.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
(COMPUTERWORLD) Twitter and its creators are worthy of being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize for the role they played during the recent civil unrest in Iran, according to a former US national security adviser.
Mark Pfeifle, a former aide for George W Bush, suggests that Twitter be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded to those who push for "fraternity between nations" and for "holding the promotion of peace", reports Brand Republic.
Read the entire story here.
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"They killed my son, Aaron!" tweeted David M. Masters, a public speaker, author and weight-loss coach in Aberdeen, Wash., at about 6 p.m. EDT Saturday.
"He was minding his own business BS-ing with an Officer on base in Afghanistan... When a suicide bomber, driving a truck breached the perimiter and pushed the button...Killing my son, Aaron and the Officer," continued Masters in three more "tweets," which have a limit of 140 characters each.
Read the entire story here.
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Read below to learn more about the hashtag and then head over to Greta’s site to check out the full post here:
1. Who is @kissmygumbo?
My name is Greta Perry and I’m just some 41 yo stoopid housewife (hate that word - but I never sit on the couch and eat bon-bons), mom of 3 who supports the troops and bleeds red white and blue. Nah - actually I’m a little more complex than that:) You’ll have to read my bio for the rrrreeeeeesssst…of the story.
2. What drives me?
My husband retired from the Army in 2006 and I chose Soldiers’ Angels (actually it chose me) as the non-profit I would work with permanently. This happened after Patti Patton-Bader, the founder, invited me to spend a day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center during a Milblog conference in 2007. I realize how effective I (yes, there is an I sometimes) can be as a volunteer to help the troops and their families and put my heart and soul into it (sometimes neglecting having a hot meal on the table or keeping the house 100% spotless). Needs arise every day and some days it is morning until night SA - all as a volunteer! Yes, I would love to be paid for doing what I do - that would be a dream come true!!!!
3. How was #militarymon created?
Carson Daly and yours truly put our heads together to create this. Read here and here for that.
4. What is the mission of #militarymon?
To recognize our Veterans, those who are currently serving, honor our fallen heroes, recognize military family members, talk about military topics, recognize the Milblog community, recognize resources and non-profits that support the troops and let those serving know we support them!
5. What do I personally gain from #militarymon?
The satisfaction of knowing that this concept might work. Getting thank you’s from heroes and their families and being able to connect a hero or family member with resources. I have not used it to drive traffic to this blog (a banner day is 300 visitors) or my other one or beg for sponsors for my radio show ( I reserve that for other days & I really do need sponsors). All good things come back to you and that in itself is enough for me.
Milblogging.com Webmaster Note: All this talk of hashtags has inspired me to create one of my own. It’s called ‘#Beer-Four-Thirty’ (and it can be used Mondays through Fridays). Whaaaa?? Too many dashes?
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Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple writes about the stray dogs, the rice, the curious-looking beetles, the bombs and the enemy.
He is in Afghanistan for his fourth deployment and final tour in the Middle East, but this is the first time he has blogged about it. Rex is in the U.S. Air Force, but is on loan to the U.S. Army.
He spends up to an hour a day documenting his day for his wife, his parents, friends and a growing number of readers drawn to his accounts from the front lines.
Temple left Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base in May for a base in Afghanistan near its border with Pakistan. The Pennsylvania native mentors the Afghanistan National Army with an Embedded Training Team.
Read the entire story here.
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(Aish.com) Saturday night, December 27, the seventh night of Chanukah. I'm listening to the news at home that the IDF has launched a major operation. They called it "Cast Lead," from the song by Chaim Nachman Bialik known to every Israeli child, about a dreidel made of cast lead. Suddenly, a children's Chanukah song has become an army operation. "This is it. Maybe it'll put an end to the suffering in the South. It's no accident that they gave the operation this name. The courage of the Maccabees lives within us!" I think to myself.
Eight years of never-ending mortar attacks. Eight years of air-raid sirens. Eight years of destroyed streets and homes. Eight years of fear. An entire generation of children in the south born into this; all they know is a life of "red alerts" and bomb shelters. "Color Red" is the slogan over the PA system that warns you you've got 15 seconds to run to shelter. And in the midst of this "routine," people try to lead normal lives. Eight years of Israelis in the south feeling abandoned. Maybe we'll finally be able to change things.
The call isn't long in coming. At 2 AM, the phone rings. It's my unit commander. "Ephraim, it's an emergency call-up! Report to the unit first thing tomorrow morning."
Read the entire story here.
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Soldiers are already using Twitter and YouTube overseas, and now troops at home are starting to use various social tools.
Lt. Gen. William Caldwell is Commander of the Combined Armed Center at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
On Wednesday's Daily Debrief, he told Amy Morris about why he blogs -- and why he's encouraging his students and staff to do it, as well...
The Army is also starting a pilot program on a wiki site for field manual development. This will begin July 2.
"The intent here is that we want to employ knowledge management [and] help shape the future of our Army's learning process so that, ultimately, these digital natives -- these young men and women coming in today -- will be far more engaged in helping us transfer best practices from one individual to another."
Read the entire story here.
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Read the entire story here.
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I hope the Coast Guard does follow the Army's example. In recent years when I've held the Milbloggies, I haven't been able to include the Coasties because of the limited number of active bloggers, so hopefully we see more and more Coasties using Social Media to tell their story.
High Seas?! Pirates!? Pfft... You kidding me?! Who wouldn't wanna hear more?!!
Here's an excerpt from the story:
The Coast Guard in recent months has embraced web 2.0: The service launched a new multimedia site and took enthusiastically to Twitter. Even Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant, has been updating his blog. And some smart search-and-rescue controllers even used Facebook to locate an overdue mariner. It’s something of an about-face for the service, which once looked on the new media with some suspicion...
Over at CGBlog, an unofficial Coast Guard blog, Ryan Erickson recently wondered if the Coast Guard would follow suit by giving its personnel more access to social networks. “As some of you already know we on the Coast Guard network can already get to, and without any work-around, sites such as Delicious and Flickr,” he wrote. “But the popular social site of Facebook and the micro-blogging system of Twitter have been cut off from the inside… for the most part.”
Read the entire story here.
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Heck, a year ago if you had asked me my opinion of the military and their use of social networking tools, I would've told you my cat [Mr. Muffin] was more likely to use social media tools. And he eats lying down. Now that the Army has beat Mr. Muffin (aka Fat Face) in the race to using Twitter, I'm now 100 percent convinced he's the laziest cat in the world. Damn.
Here's the story:
(Federal Computer Week) Now, perhaps, a case might be made that social media is more than a passing fad.
Granted, a year ago — even just six months ago — it seemed that feds spent more time talking about social networking than actually doing it. Social-media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and GovLoop were popping up all over the place, but the social-media champions were greatly outnumbered by the skeptics, who raised the usual objections:
“Social networking is nothing but a time suck.”
“Facebook is fine for connecting with friends but has no place at the office.”
“The security risks far outweigh the benefits.”
Read the entire story here.
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“(The future learning division is) looking into different media and how we might be able to use it,” said Col. John Thompson, AETC Future Learning Division director. “We look at any sort of innovation to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of our education and training programs.”
Twitter allows users to file “tweets” posing questions, posting links to articles or general status updates. Brevity is key as users are allotted only 140 characters for their posts.
The division’s entrance into Twitter coincides with top Department of Defense officials announcing the benefits of social networking as a “huge strategic asset for the United States” citing social networking Web sites use in allowing information to continue to flow about recent conflicts from the Iran election.
Read the entire story here.
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(Fast Company) Twitter gained a lot of credibility thanks to its use by Iranian protestors recently, and we already knew that it was useful for spreading breaking news. But did you know that NATO, the global military machine, Twitters too?
Check out NATO's main feed at Twitter here. It's a real mixture of news: Job opportunities, internal organizational matters, news feeds from Afghanistan and Iraq, links to NATO publications, and so on--basically it's like a traditional PR feed mixed with interesting tidbits. Of course the Tweets are careful to remain apolitical, in keeping with NATO policy, and they're never going to reveal any sensitive info. Unless someone makes a slip-up.
Read the entire story here.
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If you’re on Twitter, don’t forget to use hashtag #MilitaryMon each and every Monday to show your support for the troops. It's catching on thanks to Greta and Carson and to hundreds of other Twitter users. Even more Hollywood celebrities are on board like Alyssa Milano [see screenshot above]. Carson Daly has been plugging it and doing his best to get more Hollywood to use their starpower. Which is totally awesome. I pretty much respect anyone who supports the troops. But with Alyssa, I have to say I respect her even more because of her work as an actor and artist. I mean, seriously, did anyone ever hear her voice in Ghostbusters: The Video Game as Sigourney Weaver? Or watch her play Phoebe on Charmed?
Now she’s on Twitter supporting #MilitaryMon...
I smell Lifetime Achievement award ;)
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I just received a number of back issues of Veritas, the magazine of the Royal Military Colleges Club of Canada, and was encouraged to find none other than the dean of Canadian military historians, Jack Granatstein, echoing those concerns in his convocation address to the Class of 2007...
Read the entire story here.
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“If they put these kind of conditions on it, then I’d say the whole program will collapse,” said Kelly McBride, Ethics Group Leader at the Poynter Institute, a media training facility and think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla. “It’s not meant to be a public relations program for the military.”
Read the entire story here.
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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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