(Photo of my youngest son)

Since I started blogging in 2004 from Afghanistan, a lot of time has passed.  I figured I’d recall some of my favorite memories since I started blogging.    Given all the buzz surrounding the DoD’s policy on social media, I thought I’d contribute my two cents.  Blogging has certainly opened doors for me.  And one of the great things about blogging, especially military blogging is the people who I’ve connected with over the years.  It’s been an eye opening experience and I don’t think any other blogging community is like the Milblogging community.   I feel like social media is really starting to gain more momentum with tools like Twitter, and I feel lucky that I’ve been able to be part of it.

10:  Bad Voodoo’s War – After I launched Milblogging.com in 2005, I was contacted by Deborah Scranton who produced the War Tapes, a documentary film that won a number of awards for its innovative filmmaking.    She had reached out to a number of Military Bloggers to help spread the word of the film, me being one of them. Shortly before deploying to Iraq, I contacted Deborah and asked if she wanted to tell the story of my Platoon and with my Platoon Sergeant Toby Nunn behind the wheel we got the film made.  Telling our story on film was bitter sweet.  My family finally got a chance to understand what I did on deployment, but having the film air while we still had six weeks of missions left in country made it difficult for my family to watch.  But they still appreciated every moment, and were grateful for Deborah telling our story.

9:  Milblogging.com and Military.com – I launched Milblogging.com after returning home from Afghanistan.  The purpose of the site was to create an aggregator site of military-related blogs from around the world.   In an effort to accelerate the spread of soldier-journalism, the Milblogging website was acquired by Military.com in January 2006.  This was a big surprise and a no-brainer for me.  Having the largest veteran and military organization take notice was a big deal.  And since that time, the staff at Military.com have been awesome – going above and beyond in the military blog community with conferences, support and so much more. 

8: Care Packages – I’ll get to my supporters in a few bullets, but writing candidly about my previous deployments has gained me friends, haters, but best of all – I’ve gotten some of the best care packages in the world that I was able to use both in Afghanistan and Iraq.  And I was able to share them with soldiers in my Unit who weren’t so fortunate to receive stuff from home.  Writing candidly gained me some notoriety, but trying a crack at humor helped me better cope with each deployment.  And writing about care packages was one of my favorite outlets.  In fact, the care package rules even made Newsweek and other news sources.   Rules including things like, “1.  Do not send party invitations for weddings or Independence Day or any other festivities while we are deployed. Probably, because we can't attend.  Anybody who sends a party invitation to a deployed soldier is clearly retarded.

7: Lack of writing skills – You don’t have to be a writer to blog.  Never in a million years did I think I’d be writing a regular blog.  If somebody had to told me back in College I should pay attention in English class because I’d be writing a regular column online, I probably would’ve paid attention better, so my Mom wouldn’t nagging me with each and every post.  But early on, everyone was very encouraging and the folks at GX Magazine really encouraged me to keep going when they published stories about how my son coped with deployment.  It made his day and mine.  Even through my Iraq deployment they continued to publish stories, particularly about my son and I - like Flat Stanley Visits Iraq.

6:  Sharing my experience - whether or not my experience in Afghanistan or Iraq encouraged or discouraged others to be part of the military, being able to share my experience through the past five years has been something more personal for me that allows me to reflect on my military career as I wind down my 8 years of service next July. 

5:  The White House, Wall Street Journal and more -   I’ve had the chance of lifetime to do some pretty cool things, ranging from going to the White House as a Military blogger to being on the cover of the Marketplace section of The Wall Street Journal.  The overall experience has been a treat and never in a million years did I expect any of that to happen.  But without Milblogging, it would’ve never happened.

4: The Official Milblog Conference – If you’ve attended the Official Milblog Conferences, you know how awesome they are.  After missing out several years in a row, I finally got a chance to attend after returning home from Iraq – and had the chance to not only attend, but to also MC the 2008 conference, which gave me the opportunity to “roast” other bloggers in person, rather than online.  My first conference was especially amazing, because I finally had a chance to meet the people who had supported me and my family through two deployments – people like Wendy, Sherri, and dozens more.  And my entire family joined me at the conference and they had the opportunity to meet the very same people that I had been connected with over the years.  Andi, who works tirelessly to organize these conferences each and every year - is absolutely amazing.   

3: Making new friends – my top 3 are all pretty close. I thought college and high school was about making lifelong friends, but with blogging I have made more lifelong friends than any other time in my life, with people from all over the world. 

2:  Communication with my friends and family – with limited resources in the middle of Afghanistan, blogging was the only way I could reach everyone at once.  And when I went to Iraq that was the only way I knew how to do it.  I’ve never been big on writing about missions or other things, but writing about everyday life and writing about my family back home, was the best way to stay in touch with all my friends and family so they knew I was ok – and more importantly so they knew my family was ok.

1:  Supporters.  What more can I say? I have had the pleasure of meeting some great people, but the people who deserve the most recognition are those who supported me and my family back home.  You all know who you are and you all know how important you are.   If nothing else, the supporters who have been there for me and family have made military blogging all worth it.

The Toronto Star has an interesting story about how the Canadian Military documents their official war history.  In Afghanistan, Canada sends Military Historians to the frontlines in Kandahar to gather the war stories that ultimately goes into their history books.

"I've been shot at, rocketed, mortared, all of it. My view always was that I needed to understand these things so I could do the job properly," he says.

Maloney is not a soldier, but he is on a mission. When he ventures outside the relative safety of Kandahar Airfield, there is a Canadian flag on one arm of his military-issued shirt and a patch on the other arm identifying him as a military historian.

He's one of a small group employed by the Canadian Forces who are gathering the facts and details of today that will make up the official record of the country's involvement in Afghanistan for generations to come.

It is their year-round work that defines the Nov. 11 experience for countless Canadians. But for the corps of military historians, every day is Remembrance Day.

War histories have been around as long as there has been conflict between factions, cultures, nations or ideologies, but the job of an official military historian demands an urgency and sometimes reckless devotion to the profession that is far removed from the academic's reflective perch.

At its safest, Canada's military historians are in constant contact with the bomb-strewn front lines in Kandahar, demanding precise, detailed, written accounts of soldiers' experiences which are recorded in war diaries. From the weather to operational plans and results, to casualties and nuances of the fight, the war diary is the traditional treasure trove for historians.

Speaking of November 11, I’m headed to Applebee’s for Veteran’s Day. If you’re wondering why I’m going to Applebee’s, they’re giving away free meals to Veterans and Active Duty.  And if you don’t have proof that you were in the Military, no worries - you can bring a picture of yourself in uniform.    It’s also my son’s birthday on Wednesday so I should be able to score a free cake.

It’s like Applebee’s is making this the best Veteran’s Day yet – but with Fire Pit Bacon Burgers.  Mmmmmm.

Read the entire story here.

(StandardNET)  It may be that Bill Allen, 81, was the youngest World War II vet in Saturday's Veterans Day parade, because he was almost certainly the youngest of every-one there when he enlisted in 1942 at the ripe old age of 14.

How did he do it? "I lied," he said.

"And he signed his mother's name," said his wife, Geri.

That's how Allen ended up wading ashore at Normandy and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge as a 16-year-old.

Read the entire story here.

I stumbled across this story that was published on The Huntsville Times about the difference Maj. Ken Arnold and the people of Hunstville, Alabama made in Afghanistan, simply by donating shoes.  Maj. Arnold wrote a blog called “A Soldier’s Diary” from Afghanistan that was published weekly by the Times.  He recently returned home and made a visit to the offices of The Times.

Arnold wrote about the boys who needed shoes. Soon, shoes began pouring into The Huntsville Times.

"After that, both of us wondered what their lives will be like in the future," Arnold said. "Will they think about the two Americans who threw them shoes over the fence? Will they remember? Did we make a difference?"

Did they make a difference? The answer was waiting for Arnold on Monday when he walked into lobby of The Times, boxes of shoes everywhere.

"I guarantee you, these shoes are better than any shoes I saw there," said Arnold, plucking a pair of inexpensive tennis shoes from a donation box. "They'll touch a lot of people, and they're coming from the people of Huntsville, Alabama."

Note:  That photo above isn’t Maj. Arnold, it’s actually a photo I found on AfghanistanChildren.org. A web blog run by Bagram AFB hospital who accept shoe donations, then deliver the shoes to the children who need them.  And they blog, upload photos and share the great stories about what they’re doing.

You can read the entire Huntsville Times story here.

(Leicester Mercury)  They tell of the harsh life in the trenches, coping with tough conditions while under fire and thoughts for family back home.

Now letters, diary entries and postcards revealing a Leicester soldier's experiences in the First World War are available to see online.

The powerful memories of Private Arthur Trolley are being used by teachers and museums to bring history to life for youngsters.

Read the entire story here.  Visit the following URL to see the documents:

www.learnwithmuseums.org.uk

(The Collegian)  Echoes of contemporary war tales and first-hand accounts of experiences in Iraq filled the air in the Performing Arts Center on Oct. 27, as the Harding Distinguished Lecture Series and the South Dakota Humanites Council featured U.S Army machine-gunner Colby Buzzell.

The book My War: Killing Time in Iraq is a compilation of Buzzell's blog posts while in Iraq.

"Buzzell brings a diverse perspective on the war," said Laura Wight, assistant professor in Briggs Library and chair of the Harding Lecture committee. "Students don't always hear a person with his experience from the war."

Read the entire story here.

The Daily Mail has a story online about the Online Engagement Guidelines published by the Ministry of Defense, although the MoD published the guidelines way back in early August so the Daily Mail is a little behind.

British troops have been given new rules about what they can and cannot post on the internet – after being warned that careless Tweets cost lives.

Military chiefs have issued 13 pages of guidelines about the use of websites such as Facebook and Twitter – where messages are known as Tweets – amid fears that service personnel could accidentally reveal sensitive operational secrets online.

The Ministry of Defence also fears they could be embarrassed by troops posting racist or other offensive opinions on such websites.

The new guidelines relax earlier rules that banned troops from posting anything related to their job on the internet without permission.

If you’d like to read the 13-page guidelines published by the Ministry of Defence you can go here.  The date stamp on the guidelines is August 5th.  Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for the new Social Media policy formulated by the DoD to be published to the Public.  The rumor is the DoD policy should be here any day now.  I’m NOT holding my breath though, even though I’m pretty good at it.  Like David Blaine good.

I tried it for hiccups once and nearly passed out.
 
Screw it, I’ll try anything twice.  *1, 2....exhale.*  Shew!

Anything on the Policy, yet?

Read the entire story here.

(Raw Story)  The New York Times lied when it said it had not paid a ransom for the release of report David Rohde, a freelance war correspondent is alleging.

In a series of Twitter statements, blogger Michael Yon asserted that the Times "paid millions to get Rohde released," and suggested the paper was being hypocritical by having kept Rohde's kidnapping a secret while publishing details of the kidnapping of a British couple by Somali pirates.

Read the entire story.

Dr. Chris Coppola, a Military surgeon and blogger who deployed to Iraq in 2005 and 2007 has published a book.  Dr. Coppola blogged about his deployment over at Made a Difference for That One and now has a blog about his book.

Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq is the fierce, true-life account of Dr. Chris Coppola’s two deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom as an Air Force pediatric surgeon. Twice stationed at Balad Air Base, fifty miles north of Baghdad, in what was first a rude M*A*S*H*-style tent hospital and later became one of the largest U.S. military installations on foreign soil, Dr. Coppola works feverishly to save the lives of soldiers and civilians as word spreads among Iraqi families that, no matter what the infirmity, he can save their children.

Dr. Coppola also has a website to learn more information about the book here which includes photos, reviews and much more.  With all the military bloggers writing books, makes me interested to do the same, but then, I have a hard enough time writing a tweet.

Fun fact: The last time I tried writing anything close to a book was an essay I had written in high school for a college application.  I shared it online while I was deployed to Iraq in 2008.

Please write an essay about an activity or interest that has been particularly meaningful to you.  We ask that you limit your response to the space below 

In the locker room I could feel the vibrations in the stadium as the crowd roared my name, "JP, JP, JP!" I took my time as any fine virtuoso must. The game would never begin without me, it never had and it never will. Of course after having my beauty sleep I would finally decide to go up on field to stand ominously before the crowd. The doors I would pass through would automatically open, not electrically but out of sheer  intimidation. As I walked onto the field with a nonchalant gait, the crowd "ooooohhhhhed" and "aaaaaahhhhed" after each of my heavy steps.

The shoes I had on were specifically designed to fit my feet, and of course they had the logo "JP" on the soles. Every step left a deep impression in the soil with my name on it; so someday people could return to this stadium and erect a shrine honoring where I had once walked the earth. I would turn to one of my thousands of loyal young fans and say in a deep cool voice, "Here’s looking at you kid." After those few incredible words, the young women in the stands would faint.

If you feel like it, you can read the full essay here. It’s over fifteen years old.

Thanks to my pal Kathi for the tip on Dr. Coppola.

On October 28th 2009, Dena Yllescas recalled the day she learned her husband Captain Robert Yllescas was seriously injured in Afghanistan in 2008.   Dena had started the blog shortly after he was injured to share the story of his fight to live, but sadly Captain Yllescas lost the fight and succumbed to his serious injuries.  Over the last year, Dena has kept up her blog, writing about her children and sharing personal stories and memories.  In her most recent post, Dena shares the journey she has taken since learning of her husband’s injuries:

There was a purpose he gave Rob to me for the short amount of time he did.  Although I may never know the complete reason, I have figured out a few things.  Before I met Rob, there is no way I could have handled a situation like this the way I have.  He taught me how to live independently and gave me the confidence in living life without him through his 3 deployments.  He taught me to “suck it up and drive on”.  He showed me that through hard work and determination, anything was possible.  He made an impression on everyone he crossed paths with.  He would fill a room up with his presence.  And to this day, I still feel his presence.  I have no doubt  he is up in heaven, guiding me. 

To read the entire post, please visit The Yllescas Family blog.

The military continues to launch new blogs and connect on more social media sites.  From the Army.mil website:

The Army is launching a new blog to help Soldiers and the public discover a little-known side of the Army: the research, development, engineering, testing and evaluation that goes into the technologies that make Soldiers safer and more effective.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command will launch Army Technology Live Nov. 2. It will join the growing family of Army blogs hosted by the Department of Defense's DODLive blog hosting service. The Web address will be armytechnology.armylive.dodlive.mil

RDECOM and its eight subordinate elements create a wide range of technologies used by Soldiers every day, and it's but one of a number of Army organizations that focus on technology, according to RDECOM Public Affairs Officer Robert DiMichele.

Is anyone else seeing a trend here?  Seriously, the social media policy by the Pentagon hasn’t been made public, but the Army and other services continue to get connected. This (and the 4,563 other Official DoD Blogs/Social Media sites) is probably the BIGGEST clue to the Public that the Pentagon is going to fully support social media (without actually saying it).

Perhaps the Pentagon will offer more clues about their seemingly undecided stance on social media, by hosting a Tweetup.  Or maybe by writing Official press releases using hashtags.  Under 140 characters.

Read the entire story here.

(The Daily Mail)  With shells screaming overhead and German snipers only 75 yards away, just staying alive was a remarkable achievement.

Yet huddled in the mud-filled trenches, Sapper John T French found the time to compile a remarkable diary.

Its pencil-written pages, in immaculate copperplate, give an astonishing insight into life on the front line between 1915 and 1917.

Read the entire story here.

It’s not really blog related, but photos tell stories too and  I found an awesome list of National Guard photographers while surfing the net which led me to Afghanistan Today: A Photo Essay by U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika.    The photos are truly amazing.

As an added bonus, turn up the volume on your computer while you flip through the Photo Essay. 

(Combined Arms Center) The workshop, held in January 2008, brought together experts from the Department of Defense, Department of State, Intelligence Community and academia.

According to the USAWC DIME Web site, this report is a synthesis of workshop discussions in terms of key takeaways addressing what is required to "win" in today's operational environment, where cyberspace and new media capabilities are significant components of the battlespace.

You can download the report here.

It was the first time I felt whole since I’d woken up wounded in Landstuhl.
–Major Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, on using a voice-controlled laptop.

Learn everything you need to know about Project Valour-IT from the history to joining a Team, to Sponsoring and more, by clicking here.

Inside Bay Area has an update on the Berkley blogger, Jane Stillwater, who filed a lawsuit against the DoD after her embed with the U.S. Army was cancelled.

Berkeley blogger Jane Stillwater has settled a lawsuit against the federal government for $1,362, the cost of an airplane ticket to Kuwait and the price of 15 mocha lattes at the airport Starbucks, where she spent two sleepless days because her previously approved embed with the Army suddenly was canceled.

"They claim they bought me off, but still it's kind of a win for me," Stillwater said. "I thought they'd fight this to the absolute bitter end.”

The government clearly doesn't see it her way.

I wrote about this story back in January when Jane made news.  And I’ll be honest, I don’t see it her way either.  According to her own website, her "goal in life for now is to send George Bush to jail".  That’s up to you to have goals like that, but most people have goals like: to be happy, raise a family, be financially secure.

I mean, if you look close enough at her computer screen in the picture above, you might be able to make out the rest of her goals in life...  *Squinting eyes* I think it says:  # 2 Goal: To Make a Complete Jerk of Myself.

Check.

Read the entire story here.

I missed this year’s Blog World Expo, but found a great story by Digital Podcast which highlights the Army’s progress in social media.  With blogging in particular, the Army has been making strides.  It always makes me a little teary eyed when I read about the Military getting more connected.  Digital Podcast reports:

The star of the Army’s social media efforts on display at BlogWorld was ArmyStrongStories.com, a blogging system that lets anyone in the Army post to the blog. It can be used to help recruits see what it’s like from firsthand accounts by people like themselves and to bring the soldiers’ voice to life for all of us.

You can check out the Army Strong Stories site and see if it’s for you.  The site already features dozens of bloggers with fresh posts on a daily basis ranging from enlisted to Officers and all sorts of different jobs in the Military.  So head over to the site and give it a go, especially if you’re thinking of giving blogging a shot. According to the About page:

ArmyStrongStories.com (www.ArmyStrongStories.com) is an innovative U.S. Army Accessions Command program that provides the opportunity for Soldiers – every rank, every MOS, every background – to share their unfiltered perspective on daily life in the military through blog entries, photos and video. Everyone is invited to join the conversation by leaving a comment and sharing compelling posts with others. If you are a Soldier and interested in blogging on Army Strong Stories, Sign up.

Of course, I have to wonder if you can really post “unfiltered” stories on the site.  After all, it is an official Army site.  And it has to stay in line with OPSEC regulations.  Which leads me to the question are stories about Oral Pathology and Car Shows really unfiltered stories?  Now I’m not saying pictures and stories about “root canals” aren’t the most exciting and riveting thing, but when I think of unfiltered stories I imagine something a little different.  That said, the newest story titled Clinic Update and Oral Pathology has some pretty graphic pictures of what MAJOR Kendall Mower sees on a regular basis.

I’ll be sleeping with the night light on tonight.
 
Read the entire Digital Podcast story here, and check out the Army’s latest innovation over at ArmyStrongStories.com.

(Camarillo Acorn)  The Web log features photographs, videos and posts from a country many Americans still know very little about.

The blog has attracted loyal followers—many of them soldiers who are headed to the base and grateful for a glimpse into their future—and has garnered the attention of Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, who calls Nomi’s blog “fascinating.”

“His blog helped a lot,” said Ray Calef, a sergeant first class from Iowa who will deploy next year to Balad. “I think it gives an informative view of what life on (the base) is like, and I have filled my wife in about it. It helps her to understand what life will be like for me when we deploy.”

Nomi, a graduate of Rio Mesa High School and a Camarillo attorney, returned last month from Iraq, where he provided legal services to soldiers dealing with personal issues back home.

Since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq two years later, tech-savvy soldiers like Nomi have taken advantage of digital photos, video and the ubiquity of the Internet to offer a personal look inside the trenches and command centers of a 21stcentury battlefield.

For Nomi, like many who post their daily activities online, the blog was also an easy way to correspond with friends and family interested in what’s happening overseas.

Read the entire story here.  And to visit Brian Nomi’s blog, go here.

The Military is getting social and in today’s biggest development, The National Guard is now on Twitter. Honestly, being a Guardsman and deploying twice with the National Guard since 2004, I can’t say how happy I am to see them on Twitter finally.  I’ve blogged since 2004 and it’s been great to see the Guard get connected over the years.  The National Guard even has me beat on the number of social media sites they’re connected to – Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube to name a few. 

Wow, the next thing you know the National Guard will have their own Match.com Dating profile.  Or maybe a Webkinz.

Twitter is here folks.  It’s awesome for a million reasons especially if you’re building a presence online.  But it’s awesome for other reasons too. Namely, Linguini: the “talking, tweeting” pasta.  My newest follower.

(Blogs Over Baghdad)  For better or worse, people don’t sit down and watch the evening news with Walter Cronkite anymore.  Instead they get their news (and share it with others) over the Internet.  Personally, I don’t understand Twitter, but it apparently has played a role in social movements and international relief efforts in places like Iran and Indonesia.

Even the Army has realized the importance of this evolving media.   Military leaders and organizations have their own FaceBook pages to share information, recruit Soldeirs, and maintain a positive and forward-thinking public image.

Will these new communication tools become a permanent part of the information landscape, or will they go the way of the fax machine?  Only time will tell….but for now, I have tried my best to engage when it makes sense (and when this old dog can learn the new technological trick easily).  As long-time readers of this blog know, I have a love-hate relationship with technology that fails me.

You can read the entire story here.  And to read the issue of Warrior Citizen magazine that includes a feature of Blogs Over Baghdad, you can download the PDF.

It looks like any day now we can expect to hear the much anticipated DoD’s Official Policy on Social Media.  More and more news stories about cybersecurity and social media are popping up all over the DoD sites.  In a recent story on DefenseLink.mil, Pentagon Officials stressed cybersecurity:

“The threats change, the software changes, the sophistication of the threat changes,” she said. “We also change the way we defend. It’s a persistent threat, and [hackers] will look for other ways to attack. If you had computer defenses that worked two years ago, they won’t work today.”

The Internet is a lot like a large city, Jamshidi said. Overall, it is a safe area, but it’s safest on Main Street – where all the lights work and there are police and people around, the captain said.

“But any city has dark streets and back alleys,” she said. “Some are so dangerous that the military declares them off-limits, and the same holds true for the Internet. It becomes very difficult to separate out legal and illegal activities on the back streets of the Internet.”

Oh yeah, the old analogy trick.  You know? Internet = BIG SCARY city.  Dark streets and back alleys = off limit sites.  I used the same BIG CITY analogy on my 8-year old once and it didn’t work too well. He’s still able to stumble on off limit sites.

Though it’s been better recently.  I like to make up Urban Legends like telling him he’ll grow an ear out of his forehead if he goes to MySpace.  Or the computer will catch fire if he ever clicks a button that says “I am 18”. 

And when he spends way too much time online, it helps if you tell him Webkinz can die from lack of sleep.

The DoD’s policy on social media is expected to be announced any day now.  According to Price Floyd’s own tweets back in late September “the review and policy should be done and out sometime in the next few weeks.”  There are more hints that the final policy is very, very close.  From DoD Live:

Coming soon on Defense.gov, you will find links to stories, videos and other information to learn how to safely use social media to stay connected with your family while deployed; learn how to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter appropriately and legally as a DoD employee and servicemember; and how to use the latest DoD social media tools to stay informed.

The Defense Department also released a quick video with the slogan, “Be Social, But Be Smart”.  You can click the picture above to watch the video.  I thought it was pretty funny, especially the opening part of the video with the service members dancing to Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow. 

The video goes on to say you can use social media to share what you do best with your Mother, your Future Boss and “300 MILLION of your closest friends”.  Can you even imagine having 300 MILLION, close, online friends??  I mean, I certainly can’t.  

If you ask me, it would've been just as believable if the DoD had said “300 JILLION” of your closest friends.  Even a KERJILLION would’ve been better.  Or Infinity plus infinity.

Thanks to Price Floyd for the tip.

Nice, almost 5 years later after writing a blog and a book, the "Military Blogfather" Colby Buzzell is still making the news.

Buzzell will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Performing Arts Center on campus. Copies of his book will be available for sale before and after the lecture. His appearance is co-sponsored by the South Dakota Humanities Council.

Started in June of 2004, Buzzell's blog one of the first kept by a boots-on-the-ground soldier gained recognition for its realistic portrayal of war and its often less-than-flattering depiction of military leaders, President Bush, the anti-war movement , Army cooks and the media. By September of 2004, the Army told Buzzell he could no longer post original writing about the war.

I’m starting to think Colby just shows up at places and says something cool like, “I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse.” 

You can do those kinds of things when you’re the Blogfather.  Just saying.

Read the entire story here.

This is a picture of my Twitter account when I sign in.  The Twitter Lists Beta feature displays at the top of my account.  A little over a week ago I posted a brief story on the soon-to-launch Lists feature that Twitter had announced on their blog.  With Twitter lists, I can now organize my friends and followers into groups.  My plan is to begin organizing lists in a similar way that military bloggers are organized into Branches on Milblogging.com such as Frontlines, U.S. Army, U.S. Military Veteran, and U.S. Military Spouse. 

The Twitter Lists feature is in Beta, so I can't Tweet about it according to the little splash page up top (my bad, Twitter).  Thankfully a fellow twitter tweeted me after I had been tweeting about "Twitter Lists" since last night.  I can't say I really knew you weren't supposed to tweet about it...I mean, I can barely read a billboard, let alone text that's written in 3-point.  Because there's nothing more obvious than text this small.

Anyway, the lists are easy to setup and maintain.  Once you’ve created your lists, you can only organize people that follow you by clicking on the List icon then checking one or more List boxes.  Here’s an example:

Lindy Kyzer posted a story today on the Army’s Official Blog that discusses the importance of military bloggers.  Here's an excerpt:

As little as 2 years ago the relationship between the military and bloggers was not an overly positive one. Unclear policies and the growing disconnect between traditional and social media outlets left us in a strained relationship, at best. For me, from the beginning of my Army career the milblog community was one I knew I needed to reach out to in order to be able to successfully tell our Soldiers stories. Since then they have grown even more critical, and more connected to traditional media outlets.

There has been a serious culture shift among our Army leadership which has helped for forge positive relationships between the Army and milbloggers. Former Secretary of the Army Pete Geren had a particular interest in military bloggers – so much so that he participated in three blogger’s roundtables during his tenure and encouraged his staff to do even more.  Chief of Public Affairs Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner had participated in Department of Defense blogger’s roundtables as MNF-I spokesperson and wanted to increase the Army’s engagement in that medium upon his arrival. This kind of senior leader “buy-in” has boded well for the Army’s relationship with the milblogging community.

It’s in our best interest to support the efforts of milbloggers – many of whom are active duty Soldiers, veterans or others with a close personal connection or awareness of military issues. If we really believe that our Soldiers are our best spokespersons – and most of us do – than who better to tell the stories from the front lines than our own people. And it’s not just on the front lines of battle, it’s on the homefront where milbloggers make an impact. the number of spouse and family member bloggers continues to increase, and the online support network created is an important one.

I’ve got to admit it’s a nice story.  It’s like a major public demonstration of affection towards military bloggers by the U.S. Army.  I mean, it’s kinda hard to do a take-back at this point.  I copy/pasted the text into Word and saved it to my computer.  Then burned another copy to CD and printed about twenty copies.

And just for the heck of it, I took a picture (it’ll last longer).

Read the entire story here.

(Ledger-Enquirer)  Last winter, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team embraced the world of social media by jumping on the YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blog bandwagons.

In a story about the launch of a website that focuses on veterans, The Spectrum mentioned the popular Twitter hashtag #MilitaryMon:

The Web site is sponsored by Ted and Vivian Spilsbury, of Spilsbury Mortuary, and features six local veterans each month with an article and photographs, and several videos help foster the emotional tug of the content.

The thought behind the site has garnered national attention as well — hundreds of participants on the online social networking site “Twitter” commended St. George and the area’s support for veterans as part of “Military Mondays.”

Television talk show host Carson Daly highlighted the “Military Mondays” idea during one of his shows, and the phenomenon has grown into a community of thousands who honor veterans each week. Each Monday, posters hit on military news, mention those in the news or who support the military, or even list names of those soldiers lost in foreign wars.

The “hashtag” #militarymon marks tweets on the web site that trend with the military – from the main Twitter site, users can choose to follow anything tagged with #militarymon by entering the term in the search field.

A writer for The Oregonian Editors will be writing about the Oregon Army National Guard’s 41st Brigade over a period of four to five weeks while he's in Iraq with the Unit.  The paper reports:

Oregonian writer Mike Francis left Oregon on Sunday headed for Iraq, where he will write periodically on the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Brigade.

In addition to providing stories, photos and multimedia for the newspaper and web site, Francis will post regular updates to his blog and short updates on Twitter.

In his most recent blog post, he writes, "I've learned that one of the best things I can do is to bear witness to the lives of soldiers far from home, even if it's only to record a snippet of conversation about a candy bar. So expect a lot of small talk, punctuated with some larger looks at how the 41st Brigade is spending its time."

Here’s a link to the Oregonatwar blog, Mike Francis’ twitter page, and to the news story.  Sounds like Mike will be connected a lot during his time in Iraq.  I’m assuming he has some heavy-duty laptop or other method for keeping his laptop dust-free.  If there’s one thing I learned in Afghanistan it’s how to protect a laptop (panty hose, folks).  I’m not even kidding.  Believe it or not, panty hose aren’t in big supply in all-male Infantry unit.  And it was even worse when the dreaded “panty hose run” happened on the laptop.  

I don’t want to start a huge debate about the best panty hose with you ladies, but I spent a whole year with my laptop in the Stan and nearly a year in Iraq, and if you must wear’em, go with: L'eggs Sheer Elegance Silky Sheer Pantyhose Control Top. 80 percent nylon, 20 percent spandex...Smooth as a baby’s bottom.

I'm just saying.

A Red Cross/USO servicemembers' club sign-in roster has been discovered dating back to 1943.  The U.S. Air Force reports:

Dr. Nina Baker, a Glasgow city councillor for Ward 10, was indexing the old books in the city chambers' library when she happened upon a tattered ledger dating from 1943. The 6-inch thick tome revealed itself as a Red Cross/USO servicemembers' club sign-in roster.

"I kept wondering what was in the book cases and decided to have a look. When I found this book, I was so excited," said the councillor, also known as a Bailie. "I knew this was a significant find since we no longer have American military in the Glasgow area. 

American servicemembers began pouring into Glasgow as a stop-over on their way to forward-deployed locations in the European theater. The club served as a morale booster for troops far from home. Signing in by state, Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines were given a chance to have some fun before heading off to the impending offenses inBelgium and various fronts across the (European) continent."

"This is an amazing find that highlights the historic relationship between Scotland and the United States," said Col. Timothy Cashdollar, the 501st Combat Support Wing commander.

Awesome, story.  1943, folks!  Can you believe it?  Although, I find it hard to explain how a book lays around a shelf for more than 60 years before being found.  I mean, does anyone ever clean that place up?  Sounds like they need to hire a summer intern to sweep the floors once a year, maybe wash the windows every bicentennial...

Next thing you’ll know they’ll report finding a 600-year old terracotta bust under a rug while vacuuming.

Read the entire story here.

Nathan Hodge over at the The Danger Room reports:

For several years, the military has been wrestling with the rules of Web 2.0. And while its efforts to regulate online behavior have at times been ham-fisted, the Pentagon has made at least a genuine effort to understand social media — and to think about how troops can use online tools to their own advantage.

Not so, apparently, with their counterparts at the State Department.

Read the entire story here.