The military blogosphere is getting a bit smaller this week.  Line of Departure blogger and Iraq war veteran, Carl Prine, who took over the blog in 2011, published a post saying “Goodbye” to his readers.  A week earlier, Carl had blogged about a lasting migraine that made it difficult to write, hinting that if things didn’t change, he would not continue blogging.

This will be his last week.

Although I don’t know him well, I did get an opportunity to meet Carl at this year’s Milblog conference.  I wish him all the best.

Here’s an excerpt from Carl’s Goodbye post:

For much of my days, I’m holed up in a cool, dark room surrounded, ironically enough, by many thousands of my books, all of them glaring at me much as I do the Carl I vaguely remember, a hazy figure in the distance of weeks who always was quick with a phrase he turned as if on a lathe.

I’m no longer that man.  I’m a diminished, pathetic and stupid creature who now looks forward only to the reassuring clucks of doctors in an antiseptic room overlooking a river, a man who pointlessly rubs at his skull to get to the headache that might never leave.

This is what happens when a brain that got bludgeoned by overblast in Iraq suffers two quite different, really maudlin, spills in Pennsylvania.  It’s also why at 1139 on Saturday I begged Ward Carroll to do the right thing for my readers and fire me.

This morning he did.  This week shall be my last at Line of Departure, a swell site I inherited from Jamie McIntyre and grew into a curmudgeonly – and very successful — oasis of sanity in the milblogosphere.

To read the full story or leave him a comment, visit Line of Departure.

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According to The Fayetteville Observer, an hour before Fort Bragg Spc. Ricky G. Elder fatally shot his commander and then himself Thursday, he posted one last Facebook message that read, "My mind in the past couple of years has folded on itself. I just went to the Dr. and they said I just tested positive for Dementia."

There is a lot more to the story than just that one message, so I strongly encourage you to read the full article.

Facebook has been at the center of many recent military social media stories.

In the past week, Facebook and the military grabbed headlines when Gov. Nikki Haley's husband used Facebook to call members of the state Senate cowards for not voting on a bill favored by his wife.  Her husband, who is an officer in the National Guard, was found not to be in violation of any rules.

In mid-May, Alex Hernandez, 21, was found unresponsive in his room in Kandahar.  Hernandez had posted a message on Facebook earlier in the day that said, “To everyone who ever knew me, I hope the best for you. To my family, I love you always and even though I never showed it , life is worth every precious second. I thought I’d be stronger but I can’t deal anymore,”

That same month, a military wife's racy pics ended up on the social media site after a Fayetteville-area mother paid for a private boudoir photo shoot at her home.  The sexy photos were supposed to be for her husband's eyes only.

In April, Ariell Taylor-Brown found out her husband Staff Sgt. Christopher Brown was killed through Facebook after another soldier in his platoon posted a message on her Facebook page that there was an emergency.

You don't have to search the news headlines very long to encounter a story that involves Facebook and the military.

Full story of Fort Bragg shooter’s Facebook post can be found on fayobserver.com.

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Banned WW1 diary details trench warfare. A remarkable piece of Australian war history has been handed over to the State Library of New South Wales.  The handwritten diary of a World War One soldier details his life on the frontline before he died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  Australian diggers were banned from keeping diaries, but 25-year-old Gunner Norman Pearce took no notice, neatly writing down the harsh reality of life on the western front.  "He was obviously studying and following the war on a variety of levels, as someone on the front would be doing, and that's what gives it particular value," said The Trust Company CEO, John Atkin...
(SBS World news)

Want to help defend Israel? Become a virtual soldier. It could be the solution that millions of Jews and supporters of Israel worldwide are looking for: A chance to sign up for the Israeli army and help in the fight to defend the Jewish state – virtually.  A new initiative launched this week by the IDF Spokesman’s Office on its blog provides an online option for those cannot or do not want to physically join the army, but nevertheless want to contribute to the well-being and future of the Jewish state.  “Have you ever wanted to join the military and fight to defend Israel?” reads the introduction to “IDF Ranks,” an online game that allows participants to sign up via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and earn points by disseminating as much positive information about the army and its activities as possible...
(JPost)

Whippany man's World War II stories help him cope with loss. Sunday was a bittersweet day for Robert Ferraiuolo and his family.  His wife, Mildred, died in February, and July 1 marked the Whippany couple’s 61st wedding anniversary.  One of the things that has helped the 89-year-old World War II veteran cope is telling his war stories to his children — not in a boastful way, but more out of pride for living through history.  “Sometimes the kids get carried away,” Ferraiuolo said recently. “Last week we were looking over some old photo albums when I was in the Navy. I lived in foxholes because I was in a communications outfit.”
(Daily Record)

A revolution and a presidential election: Egypt’s social media mania. Egyptians have won the right, for the first time in 7000 years, to democratically elect their president. From the outset of the revolution Egyptians took to social media to express their opinions, thoughts and concerns. Subsequent to the first round of the recent  presidential elections, two candidates went head to head into the runoff which led to two polar opposites competing: Ahmed Shafik, the last Prime minster for the former regime and Mohamed Morsy a former Muslim Brotherhood member. The first candidate, perceived by some to be a “liberal” (albeit part of a former oppressive regime) and the latter formerly part of a religious party that was persecuted for several years under the former regime...
(memeburn)

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Military spouse bloggers Tammy Munson and Greta Perry are spreading the word about the Sangria Summit:  A Military Writers' Conference.

What is the Sangria Summit?

"New and established writers, agents, editors, journalists and subject-matter experts will gather Sept. 12-14, 2012 at the premier Sangria Summit: A Military Writers’ Conference, at the Denver City Center Marriott. Writers working in this niche-market will share ideas, learn from the experts and build lifelong connections.

Active-duty personnel, veterans, military spouses, and other enthusiasts interested in finding inspiration for their next book, can register at www.sangriasummit.com."

According to a recent press release:

The early bird conference price is $195, and runs through Sept. 9. Afterward, the price is $225. The conference includes: All workshops, presentations and two lunches. Rooms are available at the Denver City Center Marriott at the group rate of $179 per night. Lunch is included Thursday and Friday.

The official website can be found here.

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Fort Bragg's 525th BSB Facebook Page Brings Support. Following Thursday's tragic shooting at Fort Bragg, the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade posted this on their Facebook page:  On behalf of the Command, Soldiers, and Families of 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, thank you for your thoughts, prayers and condolences. At this time we would like direct all inquiries to the Fort Bragg Public Affairs Office. Due to the nature of this tragedy and the ongoing investigation, we ask that you please refrain from discussing specific information about this incident out of respect for the Families and unit members who are directly involved.  By Sunday afternoon, over 40 comments had been left on the page...
(Fort Bragg, NC Patch)

‘Military Experience’ coming to Eastern. Madison County veterans will have the chance to engage in creative, therapeutic expressions for free during a three-day symposium this week at Eastern Kentucky University.  The “Military Experience and Arts Symposium” is scheduled for July 5-7.  “We have award-winning authors and artists coming from all around the country to volunteer time,” said event coordinator Travis Martin, who serves as editor of The Journal of Military Experience. “And your skill level does not matter at all. Many of the classes are basic introductions. If you’re concerned about not being able to bring your family or loved ones, don’t be...
(The Richmond Register)

Diary recounts experiences of Larne First World War veteran. A FASCINATING new book has been launched detailing the experiences of a former Larne Grammar School pupil who went on to serve in the 36th Ulster Division during World War One.  Young Citizen, Old Soldier is the eagerly-awaited diary of James McRoberts, who as a 19-year-old enlisted in the 14th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and was shipped off to fight in the trenches of France and Belgium.  From a farming background, James was educated at Larne Grammar School for five years before going on to study at Queen’s University Belfast. But he set aside his engineering studies in 1914 to answer his country’s call to arms... 
(Larne Times)

Tecumseh Library to present Civil War stories event. Tecumseh District Library’s Clara Waldron Historical Room presents “Civil War Narratives and Stories from the Michigan 4th Infantry” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17. The presentation will be held at Franklin Township Hall, located at 3922 Monroe Road in Tipton.  Martin Bertera and Kim Crawford, co-authors of The 4th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War, will tell the story of a regiment at the center of Civil War history. The real-life adventure emerges from accounts of soldiers who served in the 4th Michigan Infantry, gleaned from their diaries, letters, and memoirs; the reports of their officers and commanders; the stories by journalists who covered them; and the recollections of the Confederates who fought against them...
(The Daily Telegram)

NJ Race Fans Join NASCAR on Facebook to Salute our Heroes. NASCAR has always been a big supporter of our military, it's personnel, and their families. A race weekend does not go by without some inclusion of one or more of our country's military divisions participating, whether it is a presentation of colors, or the much loved fly over. As the Fourth of July approaches this week, NASCAR has dedicated it's Facebook page to honoring our heroes with the help of their fans.  New Jersey residents, especially race fans, have a long history involving the military as well. The Garden State has a military history that dates back to the Revolutionary War, and still has active bases within a short drive of most of our homes...
(NJ.com)

Army baker can tell you some gruesome stories. Retired Mansfield baker Jack Palmer has one good memory from his service in Italy during World War II.  He didn't eat Pauline. He didn't even know she was on the menu.  "Pauline was a good cat that wandered into our bakery in Livorno," Palmer said. "There weren't many cats around there (in wartime Italy). They were getting eaten."  Palmer, now 93, was an Army baker running a civilian bakery while on detached duty. He said Italian prisoners of war did the work, while he and other Army bakers ran the show. There were problems with mice and other pests. So when she showed up, Pauline was a welcome addition to the staff...
(Mansifeld News Journal)

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I’ve put together a shortlist of Twitter responses to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Stolen Valor act.

@PaulRieckhoff
How's the old joke go? There were about 500 Navy SEALs in Vietnam, and I've met all 20,000 of them. #StolenValor

@mattspencedc
Hey everyone! I'm a medal of honor recipient! The Supreme Court says I can do this. Awesome. #stolenvalor

@mpoindc
Stolen Valor Act struck down. People have a First Amendment right to lie about military honors, to the delight of wedding crashers.

@LeoShane
From #StolenValor ruling: Faking a Medal of Honor isn't a crime, but those jerks should be ridiculed by newspapers

@laurenist
As a Navy SEAL, I approve. RT @JesseRodriguez: NBC: Supreme Court strikes down Stolen Valor Act

@USMC
Today, the Supreme Court ruled the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional http://bddy.me/MEhzND  #Marines

@tonyquartararo
#SCOTUS says it's ok to pretend and masquerade as a #Veteran, lie about medals as "freedom of speech". #SCOTUS just stole #Valor from Vets

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Here’s a quick look at some of the military blogs added to Milblogging.com in June.

Shayla : Praying. Loving. Teaching., Shayla, United States, Coast Guard Wife that writes about the military, h...

Go David Strong, David Moore, Afghanistan, Hi! I'm David Moore and I am an American Soldier. ...

Switch, Lisa Nagorny and Dan Pick, United States, A career transition blog for veterans by veterans

Army Wife, Mommy Life, Alejandra, United States, My journey as a military wife and stay at home mom...

The Gunship Escorte, Mohd Ismail Bin Mohd Hashim, Malaysia, An ex-Royal Malaysian Air Force Warrant Officer II...

Enlisted Mom, Tamara Charles, United States, A voice for a female soldier who is also a mother

Books, Bombs and Brothers, Todd Uebele, Afghanistan, A self-styled author on his first deployment to Af...

Paving the Road Back, Rod Deaton, United States, I am a psychiatrist working at the VA Hospital in ...

Diamonds, Dog Tags & Diapers, Chelsea Hickey, United States, THE outlet for a Shopping Addict, Marine Corps Wif...

Military Wives Central, Ken Muise, United States, A blog developed around helping military spouses c...

The Best Defense, Tom Ricks, United States, Tom Ricks' daily take on National Security

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, Group blog, United States, Mixture of national news, vets' stories and inform...

The Firearm Blog, Group blog, United States, This blog is dedicated to all things firearm relat...

GearScout, United States, News and reviews on the latest gear

USMC OCS Blog, Group of Patriots, United States, Teaching future candidates about how to properly p...

AskTOP, CSM (ret) Mark Gerecht et al., United States, AskTOP is a blog that con­nects you to a net­wor...

The Marine Sentinel, Marine Sentinel, United States, Communicating with todays warfighters and their ex...

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Haley cleared of ethics charges, still faces questions over husband's Facebook post. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was cleared of ethics charges Friday for the second time in two months, though her family continues to deal with a separate controversy after her military husband took to Facebook to call state lawmakers "cowards." The House Ethics Committee on Friday cleared Haley of charges she illegally lobbied while a member of the House.  Haley's attorney Butch Bowers said the verdict ends the matter and shows Haley's conduct was appropriate. Haley issued a statement saying she is pleased with the results.  "The Ethics Committee did its job thoroughly, professionally and well," she said. "It's just a shame that our judicial and legislative bodies have had to waste so much of their time on phony political charges that never had any evidence behind them or any basis in fact."
(Fox News)

Air Force mulls smartphone gaming app for new recruits. The Air Force is considering rolling out a smartphone application to ease new recruits into military life, contracting databases show.  It’s casting the net for ideas for launching a mobile application for the Air Force Reserve Command’s development and training flight program. The initiative will help orient newly enlisted airmen and acquaint them with the Air Force’s rank structure and practices, documents indicate.  The mobile app is likely to include a gaming element for service members to interact with one another. The agency’s vision is “to obtain a smartphone application that allows all participating Reserve members the opportunity to engage in training and gaming activities with other members across AFRC,” reads the request for information. The Air Force is mulling over ways the app could connect airman, for instance by facilitating carpooling, the document indicates...
(NextGov)

Boris campaign chief gives Twitter generals lesson in psy-ops. While Twitter and Facebook were on everyone's lips, one military chief broke from the cover of anonymity granted by the conference's Chatham House rule to insist propaganda units were not permitted to work on civilians in their home countries - only those overseas.  General Edward Burnley, who completed a 2010 tour as head of the 2nd Psychological Operations Group of the US Army, said: "Social media is very controversial. Primarily forces use it more for public affairs. For US military forces it's a rule set down in law: we are not able to do influence or psychological operations activity that could possibly impact US citizens."  But experts warned the distinction had been lost in the twittersphere where information operations could not be confined to a "target audience".
(Computer Weekly)

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Jonn Lilyea and Mark Seavey, who run the military blog This Ain't Hell, were featured on MSNBC today.

While their blog covers a wide range of military topics, the pair have been the first to expose people with phony claims of military service and heroics for years.

One of the biggest stories so far that was broke online by This Ain't Hell is the story of "America's Got Talent" contestant Timothy Michael Poe, who told the television audience and judges earlier this month that he was injured in Afghanistan in 2009 by an RPG.

Here's an excerpt from the MSNBC story titled “Lying about your military service? These bloggers have you in their sights”:

“But almost as soon as the standing ovations Poe received had died away, his story began to fall apart. A lieutenant colonel for the Minnesota National Guard issued a statement saying that Poe’s records didn’t show he was injured by a grenade. His fellow service members began posting online that Poe left Afghanistan due to an ear infection, and that he’d broken his back in an earlier incident back in the United States. Some questioned his stutter, which disappeared completely when he spoke excitedly to “America’s Got Talent” host Nick Cannon after his performance, and pointed out that he was hardly new to singing, as he’d fronted a Minnesota band for years. And it was revealed that Poe had previously claimed medals he didn’t earn, and had provided the talent show with a photo of another soldier from the Department of Defense website when they asked for one of him.

Fans of the show may have been shocked, but Poe's discrepancies didn't faze Jonn Lilyea and Mark Seavey. The two men, both veterans, run the military blog This Ain’t Hell, and they’ve been on the phony soldier beat since 2008.”

You can read the full story here which goes into much more detail about the Poe story and discusses more about the military blog.

Congrats to Seavey and Lilyea for all their hard work.

You can find "This Ain't Hell" online at http://thisainthell.us

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Michael Haley’s Facebook post not a violation. First gentleman Michael Haley did not violate federal rules when he posted comments on Facebook comparing the deaths of three S.C. soldiers in Afghanistan with the state Senate’s failure to vote on one of his wife’s pet political proposals, the head of the S.C. National Guard said Tuesday.  Adjutant General Robert Livingston said he spoke Tuesday with Haley, a civilian technician with the Guard and a lieutenant with a medical corps unit, about why he wrote the post. After a review of rules about federal and Army personnel making political comments, Haley returned to work, Livingston said.  “I understand that he was expressing some frustration,” Livingston said, noting Haley had met disabled soldiers on the day he wrote the post. “He has the right to make these comments.”
(The State)

Meet Fort Stewart Patch Blogger Kaleh Sapp. Do you read the blogs on your local Patch? Blogging is fun, easy, free and open to everyone. This summer we are going to take some time to get to know our local bloggers. Today we are featuring Kaleh Sapp, whose blogs may be found on Fort Stewart Patch.  What are your ties to the Fort Stewart Patch? How did you become involved with blogging here?  I was looking for a job after moving to Fort Stewart in November 2010. I responded to an ad on Craigslist of all places looking for freelance writers. Shortly after, I spoke to my editor (Ryan Smith) on the phone, and he assigned me my first article. Working for Patch has been a great experience, because I’ve been able to learn a lot about the area, as well as build my experience and resume for future writing gigs. When my husband found out that he was going to be deployed, I asked Ryan if I could start a blog about it...
(Fort Stewart Patch)

Vet-targeted website to be turned over to feds. A California-based company accused of preying on veterans for their education benefits agreed Wednesday to pay $2.5 million to 20 states and turn over its website - GIBill.com - to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  The consumer protection settlement between the states and QuinStreet Inc. was filed Wednesday in a Frankfort, Ky., court.  "The actions were unconscionable and purposefully drove veterans to for-profit colleges who were perhaps more interested in getting their hands on the federal benefits than in educating our soldiers and their families," said Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway in announcing the settlement...
(KFVS)

Scarborough man saving stories of World War II vets. Just in time for Independence Day, the experiences of two Scarborough veterans who fought to preserve democracy during World War II have been preserved in the Library of Congress.  Mark Dyer, a 35-year Central Maine Power lineman and troubleshooter, completed the first round of 25 interviews between 2003 and 2007 in cooperation with one of the subjects, Kenneth Dolloff, now 92, who went ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day.  Dolloff was then an active member of Libby-Mitchell American Legion Post 76, and through that association learned of the Veterans’ History Project, launched by the Library of Congress in 2000 to preserve oral histories and other artifacts from those who fought on the front lines in the nation’s various wars...
(Keep Me Current)

Rascal Flatts Contest Earns Military Wife Opening Performance Spot at Va. Show. A military wife and mother, who is also an aspiring country singer, earned the opportunity to sing at Rascal Flatts' concert last Sunday (June 24) at the Farm Bureau in Virgina Beach, Va. FOX News reports that Kimberly Morlino, 28, of Virginia Beach, was the Grand Prize winner in the nationwide Flatts Fest Karaoke Challenge.  Her soulful karaoke performance of the pop-country hit "Black Velvet" nabbed nearly 15 percent of the more than 35,000 votes cast via Facebook, giving Kimberly the chance to perform for the crowd just before the trio took the stage last weekend. (Watch her karaoke video below, followed by her performance at the Flatts' show.)  In a statement announcing her win, Kimberly credited Rascal Flatts with helping ease the difficulty of spending time apart from her husband, who is currently serving with the U.S. military...
(The Boot)

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According to DefenseNews the U.S. military is launching a website that mirrors Reddit called “Eureka”.  

Because it’ll be a restricted site as part of its milSuite, access will be very limited and likely so will participation.

Via DefenseNews:

If all goes according to plan, the U.S. military will soon have its own analog of Reddit, the popular social site where user votes push the best content and ideas to the top for all to see.

Called Eureka, the project is slated to go up in mid-July, joining a collection of other Defense Department-only Web tools that mirror popular social media sites such as Wikipedia and YouTube. Eureka will be a part of the Facebook analog known as milBook, though the site has been designed to feel independent.

The idea is to host discussions that lead to revolutionary solutions; for example, improved training, better ways to secure mobile devices, or any other problems that plague the military and hamper efficiency.

Over at Wired, Robert Beckhusen had this to say about the Reddit knockoff:

For years, the military has struggled over what to do about social media. One response has been to create dull, Pentagon-controlled versions of popular websites Facebook and YouTube. Now the Pentagon is preparing to launch its own version of Reddit, in another small step in the military’s quest to strip the fun out of everything on the internet.

Personally, I’m a huge fun of Reddit myself.

So if Eureka achieves even a fraction of the success that Reddit enjoys, I’m willing to bet that Eureka may become one of the more popular offerings of milSuite.

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There’s a lot going on with the military and social media from my friends over at Army Strong Stories getting props for their social media efforts, to an Air Force Reserve basic training app, to the controversy surrounding Gov. Nikki Haley’s husband (who happens to be an officer in the Natl. Guard) for calling members of the state Senate cowards on Facebook. Here are a handful of today’s news highlights.

What B2B Marketers can Learn About Blogging From the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army’s blogging program, in support of its recruiting efforts, was discussed in an interview conducted by Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner. Commenting on the Army’s blogging was Greg Swan, VP of Digital Strategy at Weber Shandwick, one of the Army’s marketing agencies.  In the interview, Swan explained that in the recruiting blog, Army Strong Stories, soldiers describe their experiences in joining and serving in the Army. This gives the Army’s potential recruits an honest and authentic sense of what Army life has to offer.What’s noteworthy is that the Army does not censor the soldiers’ comments. The soldiers must only notify their chain of command of their intent to blog, and adhere to the Army’s social media guidelines...
(Business 2 Community)

Haley defends military husband's Facebook post. The head of South Carolina's National Guard said Tuesday he will conduct an internal review of the Guard's policy on social media use after Gov. Nikki Haley's husband used Facebook to call members of the state Senate cowards for not voting on a bill favored by his wife.  Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston said he spoke with Michael Haley about the matter, and Michael Haley told the general he intended to express himself as a private citizen, not as a member of the Guard.  Michael Haley is an officer the South Carolina Army National Guard.  Sen. Jake Knotts, a Lexington Republican who has often clashed with Gov. Haley, called late Tuesday for Michael Haley to resign his commission if he can't abstain from "contentious partisan issues."
(The Republic)

Air Force Reserve wants an app for basic training. Military recruits have marched off to boot camp with nothing more than their families' well-wishes in the past, but today's warriors could get a little help from their smartphones. The U.S. Air Force Reserve has drawn up a wish list for a smartphone app that can help recruits adjust to basic training and military life.  The dream app combines nutrition and exercise features that even civilian smartphone owners might envy. One app feature would count calories based on photos of food taken by the phone. Another would map a recruit's runs based on their smartphone GPS. A third feature would even provide a digital assistant similar to the Apple iPhone's Siri that can talk fitness encouragement to trainees...
(MSNBC)

From cold waters to Cold War: The story of a Navy seal. It was his curiosity that turned Gunnar into a Navy seal, and if, in the end, he washed out — if he didn’t have the right level of no-questions-asked obedience — well, those who knew him said he still retained a sense of calm and precision.  And his military service got Gunnar a comfortable retirement, including a place to live and three square meals a day: herring, butterfish, a tiny sardinelike fish called capelin and squid.  “He really liked squid,” Rebecca Miller said.  Rebecca met Gunnar in 2007, in her second year as an animal keeper at the National Zoo. Until his death Friday at age 38, Gunnar lived at the zoo’s Beaver Valley...
(The Washington Post)

Twitter Transformed Into a Barometer of Anxiety as Egypt Waited for Election Results. Since The Lede used Twitter on Sunday to report from Tahrir Square live as Mohamed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt’s presidential election, readers might be unaware of just how tense the atmosphere was in the country’s capital before the dramatic announcement.  The public counting of votes on election night, a week earlier, had appeared to show that Mr. Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, had narrowly defeated his opponent, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafik...
(The Lede)

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I received an email yesterday from a producer looking for a story for a NPR program called "To the Best of Our Knowledge".

They are looking for someone who has served in the U.S. military to submit a short, moving story about intercultural miscommunication.

Naturally, given that bloggers like to write, I was contacted to see if any bloggers might be interested. 

Apparently, there is even a small payment available for the chosen essay, which the writer may be asked to read aloud.

If you have a story no longer than 700 words that you’d like to submit, you can send it to sara.nics@wpr.org.  The deadline is Monday, July 2nd.

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Famous military phonies. At the popular military blog This Ain’t Hell, retired Army Sergeant First Class Jonn Lilyea is doing his part to end stolen valor by publicly embarrassing phony heroes who are caught in the act.  “I kind of have a loud megaphone to broadcast this, and I present it in a unique way so I can point and laugh at them,” he told Human Events. “That’s why I think my blog is the public square for stolen valor...It reminds people of the idiots who are out there doing this.”  Lilyea said he receives four or five military fraud submissions per week from readers, from news articles to anonymous photographs. And each year, he has a bracket run-off so that his readers can choose the most infamous fraud.
(Human Events)

Military family thankful for Facebook, but happy for face-to-face. Tim Sheaffer was 7,000 miles away in defense of a nation and in a world of chaos when his daughter, Brooklyn, was born last November.  But thanks to social media, from a coffee shop in Afghanistan, he watched Brooklyn enter the world and the loving arms of his wife, Amanda.  "It was the best thing short of actually being there," said the 2008 Twinsburg High School graduate. "In a way it was sad, but at the same time I was so happy to get to be with Amanda during the birth."  Through Skype, he spoke with Amanda during her contractions as she brought their tiny bundle of innocence into being at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna...
(StowSentry.com)

Colorado Mother and Daughter Charged in Online Dating Scam With Fake Military Members. A mother and daughter in Colorado were indicted for their role in a "Nigerian internet romance scam" in which associates in Nigeria posed as members of the U.S. Armed Forces and stole over $1 million from 374 victims.  Tracy Vasseur, 40, and her mother, Karen Vasseur, 73, of Brighton, Colo., about 21 miles north of Denver, face a hearing on Tuesday in the Adams County District Court. The Colorado Attorney General, John Suthers, said the two were part of a scam since 2009 that "lured unsuspecting women to internet dating sites by posing as members of the U.S. military serving in Afghanistan...
(ABC News)

89-year-old World War II vet's bankruptcy case draws attention after eviction from Mont. home. A World War II veteran who lists a $981 monthly Social Security check as his only income has had to move out of his western Montana home after his late wife's medical bills led him to file for bankruptcy.  Warren Bodeker, 89, was ordered by a bankruptcy judge to leave the home that he and his wife built in Plains. His case has gone viral on the Internet after the group Oathkeepers posted a YouTube video featuring him and wrote a sympathetic account of his story on its website... 
(The Republic)

Ohio agencies team up to gather WWII era stories. Ohioans from the World War II era are being asked to share their memories of surviving the tumultuous 1940s in a project that state officials hope will provide valuable lessons for other generations.  The state’s departments of aging and veterans services have teamed up to produce the War Era Story Project, which is gathering personal recollections from Ohio’s WWII military veterans and civilians about their life during the war and through the recovery years ending the decade. While the project focuses on Ohioans’ recollections, it has sparked the interest of at least one national organization about the possibility of similar projects in other parts of the country... 
(The News-Herald)

Android Made More Secure for Army Grunts. Earlier today, Lifehacker ran down a few of the stupidest things that people do with their smartphones. The list includes distracted driving, relying on gadgets for everything, and ignoring real life people in favor of your iPhone (AAPL) or Blackberry (RIMM).  However, it might be the most easily forgotten item on the list that stands as the most important. Many of us fail to properly secure our smartphones, leaving private data vulnerable to thieves and snooping apps. A password and remote data wipe can help solve this problem.  Interestingly enough, issues of smartphone security have spread far past our country’s borders. For those defending America in the Middle East, secure smartphones can be a matter of crucial importance...
(Minyanville)

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This is truly terrible for the friends and family of Army Sgt. Sean P. Fennerty.   Sgt. Fennerty died Jan. 20 in Karma, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle.

While family and friends have had to endure his loss, the Pensacola News Journal is reporting that an internet scammer used photos of Sgt. Fennerty to try and raise money for an online fundraising campaign. 

The fraudulent campaign “solicited money to help with the recovery expenses of a purportedly wounded combat veteran named Chris Fennery”, but used the photo of Sgt. Fennerty.

PNJ was able to contact Sgt. Fennerty’s father.

According to PNJ:

 “Dr. Fennerty isn’t sure why the scammer picked Pensacola as the place to originate the Internet scam, but he has two theories: First, the scammer wanted to focus the appeal in a town far from Oregon where people wouldn’t readily recognize his son’s photograph. Second, Pensacola has so many residents with connections to the military who might be sympathetic to the supposed plight of a wounded soldier. 

But Fennerty said his memories of his son aren’t marred. 

“Sean died doing what he wanted to do, “ he said. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Full story here.

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I've never heard of self-proclaimed journalist Charles Davis, but he created a storm of controversy on Twitter after filling in the blank space of a tweet posted by the U.S. Army (@USArmy) on Friday.

On June 22, @USArmy (the official Twitter account of the U.S. Army) tweeted:

"Finish the Tweet: You know you're a #Soldier when _______."

Charles Davis then tweeted the following message back:

"You're statistically more likely to rape a colleague than defend freedom. RT @USArmy: Finish the Tweet: You know you’re a ‪#Soldier when ____"

He has a disgusting point of view and obviously has no facts.

And sadly, Davis’ tweet wasn’t the only negative one.  A quick search on Twitter turns up other anti-Army responses to the same tweet.

But on Twitter, you can expect a reaction from people by writing baseless comments like these.

As Examiner.com points out, "A post at Twitchy notes that Davis also retweeted a message referring to Vietnam veterans as baby-killers."

Twitchy.com has published some good media coverage regarding the tweet as well as several responses posted on Twitter.

And many people are upset, tweeting messages about Charles Davis like:

"What a douche."

"Im not gonna sugarcoat this....he needs to get his ass kicked"

"The Twitterverse saw what you wrote about the US Army being rapists, Chuck. And they will not be happy. Jerk."

Twitchy Staff ends the story fittingly by saying, "Charles, you aren’t fit to lick the boots of our military. You aren’t fit to call yourself a man."

Read more at Twitchy and Examiner.

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US ambassador taps Facebook to drive wedge between Syrian military and Assad. US ambassador taps Facebook to drive wedge between Syrian military and Assad. Now Ambassador Ford, holed up in Washington and relying on social media to continue getting his message out, is using Facebook to relay a stark warning to Syria’s armed forces: Stop carrying out President Bashar al-Assad’s dirty work for him, or risk finding yourself prosecuted for crimes against humanity.  “The officers and soldiers of the Syrian military have a choice to make,” Ford says in an entry on his Facebook page that he posted Wednesday. “Do they want to expose themselves to criminal prosecution by supporting the barbaric actions of the Assad regime against the Syrian people?”
(The Christian Science Monitor)

Troop Talk: Veteran shares stories of D-Day, World War II online. Twenty years ago, Aurora native Ed Peters started putting together a book of memorabilia from his experiences in World War II. By understanding the changing dynamics of learning through the different generations, he is sharing his book on the Internet for everyone to read.  Peters, former Navy seaman, was on the shores of Okinawa when the Allies invaded Japan on April 1, 1945. He served as a signal man for a Navy landing craft in the final battle of WWII. He wants to share his story with school children from Illinois...
(The Beacon-News)

MANning the Homefront links male military spouses. It has been said that spouses have the toughest job in the military. They support the military member and their children through frequent moves, long spans without their significant other due to deployments, and even learn a new language filled with acronyms, “hooahs” and the occasional “roger that.”  Military wives clubs have been around since the dawn of the military spouse, and have even evolved into “spouses clubs” to accommodate male military spouses. MANning the Homefront, however, is a group geared specifically toward male military spouses...
(Cap Flyer)

U.S. Military Hunts for Safe Smartphones for Soldiers.  The military has long needed computers that are tough enough on the outside to withstand the rough and tumble of the battlefield. Now, with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets in the hands of soldiers, those devices also have to be strong on the inside. They are loaded with contacts, location information and all kinds of military-grade applications, so it can be deadly for a soldier to lose a mobile device or have its data leak out unwittingly...
(The New York Times)

Photo’s Publication Leads a WWII Cover Girl to Tell Her Story. Seventy years after she was photographed working on a navy airplane, Irma Lee Smentek saw the photo on a magazine cover and decided to tell her World War II story of life, work, tragedy, and love. Her story appears in the August 2012 issue of America in WWII magazine.  The photo is a haunting image of America’s World War II home front: A lovely young woman in white overalls carefully paints a star on the wing of a navy plane. On the bib of her overalls are her photo ID badge and a winged star with the slogan “Keep ’Em Flying.”
(PRWeb)

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It’s never too late to join Facebook, right?

Yesterday, The Armed Forces of Malta announced that it officially launched its website ( www.afm.gov.mt ) and Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/ArmedForcesOfMaltaafm ).

According to a story in The Malta Independent Online, the sites were launched in order bring the army and its work closer to the public.

“During an event held at the Officers’ Mess at the Luqa Barracks, AFM Commander Brigadier Martin G. Xuereb described the launch of the website as a milestone and said that together with the Facebook page, it will serve as a means for the AFM to pass on its message in a faster and more efficient manner.

Lieutenant Keith Caruana – who recently took over from Major Ivan M. Consiglio as the officer in charge of the AFM’s public information cell, gave an overview of the website, saying it is “the image of the AFM in 2012.”

Among other things it features news, events, podcasts and videos, a photo gallery, and a great deal of interesting information about the force structure, the type of equipment that is used, the AFM’s history and its assets, as well as useful information for anyone interested in joining the force.”

As of today, the Facebook page has fewer than 300 Likes.

Here are some brief facts on the AFM (via Wikipedia)

The AFM was formed upon Malta becoming a republic in 1974.

The AFM is a brigade sized organisation.

Budget:  $60 million (2000 est.)

Full story here.

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The Los Angeles Film School to Host First-ever GI Film Festival Hollywood as Part of its 3rd Annual Salute.  The Los Angeles Film School (www.lafilm.edu), a creative arts college in Hollywood that offers students an immersive experience, world-class facilities and a supportive culture in preparation for a career in the entertainment business, today announced that it has teamed up with the GI Film Festival to host the first-ever Hollywood event in conjunction with its 3rd Annual Salute event honoring military servicemen and women.  The GI Film Festival, the first and only film festival in the country dedicated to honoring the successes and sacrifices of American GIs through the medium of film, is now accepting submissions for its Hollywood event to be held at the Los Angeles Film School campus on Saturday, November 10, 2012...
(PR Newswire)

Veterans Beat: Veterans encouraged to tell war stories.  Ohio Department of Aging Director Bonnie Kantor-Burman and Ohio Department of Veterans Service Director Thomas N. Moe announced on June 17 the launch of the departments' War Era Story Project. The effort will pick up where the Department of Aging's award-winning 2009 Great Depression Story Project by collecting Ohioans' memories from the start of World War II through the 1940s. The agencies are seeking stories by the people who lived them -- from veterans of World War II, to the men, women and children who held steady on the home front... 
(The-News-Leader)

The Egyptian Presidential Candidates on Social Media. Ahmed Shafik and Mohamed Morsi are two presidential candidates who have claimed victory in Egypt’s election, the results of which are expected Thursday. The process has been muddled by allegations of fraud and Constitutional Court rulings which consolidated power in the hands of the military, which has been ruling the country since the ouster of ex-President Hosnai Mubarak.  While officials sort out last week’s voting, both candidates have been making their case on Facebook and Twitter, as social media and the Internet have long been a hotbed of political activity in Egypt...
(Mashable)

Send us war stories, veteran photos for the Fourth of July. We are looking at doing another soldier-related project for the DNJ.  We are interested in tell your war story or hearing a retelling of a deceased loved one's service. We prefer the veterans have some sort of connection to Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.  So many military folks moved here for Sewart Air Force Base, and then stayed. While others went to war and came back home to Middle Tennessee.  These would be brief snippets on a soldier, with a photo, that we'd run the week of Fourth of July...
(The Daily News Journal)

Tom Eblen: Veterans' love stories, donations, sought for book. Jennifer Bryant was 16 when her grandmother died in 1991. As she helped her grandfather choose family photographs for the funeral visitation, she noticed a stack of small pictures and letters on the top of his dresser.  Kenneth and Dale Johnson were married for 46 years and raised three children in Webster County, where he worked as an underground coal miner. The small stack of correspondence represented much of their first two years of marriage, which they spent apart. He was an Army machine-gunner during World War II and fought on the front lines in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge... 
(Kentucky.com)

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Over the years, I've written about now-former Army Captain Lee Kelley because of his many contributions to the world of military blogging.

Kelley started military blogging in 2005 and early on his writing was recognized by many.

A major milestone was reached in the milblogging community, when Kelley became one of many individuals selected as Time's Person of the Year in 2006.

"Kelley is a military blogger, or mil-blogger, one of at least 1,200 servicemen and -women who write about their lives online. So far his blog, Wordsmith At War, has logged more than 200,000 hits. Mil-bloggers are a different breed from the domestic blogger who keeps, say, a record of his cat's mood swings. Here's Kelley on driving in Ramadi: "You have to go around big potholes and chunks of concrete blocking part of the lane. It's not a good feeling, because all your training tells you that these are ideal sites for IEDs ... The threat is very real, and you can sense it in the air. You can't think 'it won't happen to us,' you have to assume it will. Yet we discuss it in the same tone we might talk about last night's football game."

Kelley, like  other notable bloggers, went beyond blogging.

His writing culminated into a book  in 2009 called Fire In The Night – Creative Essays From An Iraq War Vet.

“Already a freelance writer, Lee started a blog when he was sent to Iraq in 2005. His family and friends expected to read of his experiences, and a blog was the perfect medium. A hometown reporter visited his unit in Iraq, and Lee ended up on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune. That's how it all began. Since then, he's been in the top 10 military blogs on milblogging.com for years, featured in TIME magazine, read some of his essays on radio shows, and even been on the local news in Salt Lake City, Utah. Through it all, readers have been very supportive of Lee's writing and he has received thousands of queries about when he might publish a book. Here are 53 of the most popular essays. They have been adapted from the blog, and writing that he's done in other forums, such as The New York Times and Doonesbury.com. All of the work in this book was either written while he was still in Iraq or as a direct result of his experiences there.”

In 2010, Kelley announced his highly acclaimed blog 'Wordsmith at War' would move away from its well-known web address after Blog-city, the platform used for publishing the site, announced it was closing its doors.

Kelley wrote in his last post on his original website:

“I began this blog five years ago when my Iraq deployment was only beginning, and the most chaotic years of my life were upon me. Last year I changed the name, because I'm out of the military and it just didn't feel like a military blog any longer. But this blog kept me sane when I was in Iraq, opened up so many opportunities, and brought so many incredible and supportive people into my life experience. Thank you for being one of them!

Blog-city is shutting its doors soon, so I'm moving The Glass Half Full Report over to my business website. Please update your favorites with the new web address, and check back often for new posts, updates about my writing projects, and general musings from the perspective of a devoted father, Iraq war vet, and professional writer. “

So what ever happened to Captain Lee Kelley?

We recently chatted over e-mail and he caught me up on his goings-on. 

While he isn’t blogging from the frontlines anymore and he has left the military, he is still very much involved with the military.

Kelley is now creating books and training for veterans.

He has co-authored a book with the president of a career management services company, called Roadmap to Job-Winning Military to Civilian Resumes.  The book teaches vets how to write their own military to federal, defense contractor, and corporate resumes.

Kelley is also involved in the development of online training and resources.  You can check out some of the links below to see what he’s been up to.

- First Steps for Vets: Know Your Options and Define Your Career Goals:
http://bit.ly/rLOA94
- Five Steps to Writing Strong Accomplishments:   
http://vetshq.kajabi.com/fe/17595-five-steps-to-writing-strong-accomplishments

In case you’re wondering, Kelley still blogs, only the subject matter is a bit different. He now posts over at the blog for CareerPro Global which can be found at:  http://veteranstransitionhq.wordpress.com

For those of you wondering about Kelley and his accomplishments, here are some more highlights:

Publications:

- New York Times Op-Ed Contributor (2006, 2007)
- Popular Military Blogger with over 20,000 readers each month (Wordsmith at War)
- Accomplished creative freelance writer/ editor (7 years)
- Featured in Dec. 2006 Time Magazine “People of the Year” issue
- Author of “Fire in the Night: Creative Essays from an Iraq War Vet” (honorable mention in - Writer’s Digest 18th Annual International Self-Published Book Award for non-fiction
- Author of “The Authorized biography of Brigadier General Richard E. Fisher (honorable mention in Military Writers Society of America’s 2010 Book of the Year Award for Biography)

Published in four anthologies:

- 2006 Writer’s Blog Anthology
- Blog of War (2007)
- Doonesbury.com’s The Sandbox (2008)
- War Is … (Sep . 2008)

Additional Career Highlights:

- Education: Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing, University of New Orleans
- Former U.S. Army Public Affairs Representative
- Member, American Author’s Association
- Member, Military Writer’s Society of America
- Member, Career Director’s International
- 14 years in U.S. Army (culminating as Captain, Company Commander, U.S. Army Signal Corps)
- Iraq War Veteran (Jan. 2005 – June 2006), awarded Bronze Star for exemplary service
Served as Fire Support Specialist in 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
- ROTC, University of Montana
- Former Communications Project Manager, Motorola

Readers:  If you’d like to learn more about other military bloggers and where they are now, drop me a line at milblogging@gmail.com





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