By the way, thanks to Google News Alerts, who notify me about anything newsworthy, including the Olsen Twins.
Here’s a glance at the articles:
Pentagon Keeps Wary Watch as Troops Blog
The Army is encouraging personnel of all ranks to go online and collaboratively rewrite seven of its field manuals. And on Aug. 17, the Department of Defense unveiled a Web site promoting links to its blogs and its Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube sites.
The Web, however, is a big place. And the many thousands of troops who use blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to communicate with the outside world are not always in tune with the Pentagon’s official voice. Policing their daily flood of posts, videos and photographs is virtually impossible — but that has not stopped some in the military from trying.
Leashing the Blogs of War
The Pentagon may have helped invent the Internet, but these days it is vigorously debating just how to use the Web.
In the coming month, the Defense Department, citing growing concerns about cybersecurity, plans to issue a new policy on social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Links to Blogs and Military Resources
In recent months the Pentagon has created accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and started blogs to help advance its message. But even as officials seek to use the Internet to shape public opinion and humanize its troops, ambivalence runs deep among many commanding officers.
A Reservist Describes Life on the Warfront
Sept. 1, 2009 On returning home
All this last year, every bit of [expletive] that I went through, all the explosions, all the bullets, all the[expletive], all the insanity, all the stupidity, all the heartache, all the pain...led up to that moment when I stepped on the ground, looked out into a sea of bloodshot and tear-glazed eyes, and found my family. There are no words to describe what it’s like to see your loved ones again after something like this so I won’t even try. Suffice it to say...I kissed my mom today!
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Military.com announced the launch of a new military blog called The Line of Departure. Military.com reports:
CNN alum Jamie McIntyre brings his years of military reporting experience to a new national policy and news analysis blog at Military.com -- "The Line of Departure." Each day Jamie will offer his unique take on events affecting the military, giving readers a behind the scenes view of issues surrounding the wars and exclusive profiles of the newsmakers involved with them. Read one of his latest entries, "When Body Counts Count" -- When Gen. Tommy Franks famously remarked, "we don't do body counts" in 2002, at the beginning of the Afghan war, he wasn't being callous. He was making it clear he wasn't making the mistake of measuring battlefield success by the number of enemy forces killed.
I want to personally welcome Jamie to the Military.com community of bloggers. He’s got a lot of experience, and can offer differing points of view, which I’m usually no good at. I’ve always enjoyed hearing opposing points of view, even if I don’t agree with them.
And I won’t hold the fact that Jamie was with CNN against him, even though I’ve never been a big fan of CNN mostly because of their liberal spin on the news. And I saw quite a bit while I was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. I mean, pretty much anyone with a brain cell knows they put a liberal spin on just about everything.
My 3-year old is staring at me right now nodding his head up and down, while I read my post aloud.
Now his finger’s up his nose.
*Daddy’s so proud!*
Check out Jamie’s new blog here. Jamie’s even on Twitter.
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To many sailors, it's necessary.
"These are communication devices that younger sailors are well-versed in," said Senior Chief Bill Houlihan, a spokesman in West's office. "If we're going to reach them, it's important that we go to the tools that they use."
Such an embrace of social media comes at a time when the broader military is wrestling with the technology.
Read the entire story here.
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(dvids) The Internet has become an indispensible tool for Soldiers, allowing them to keep in contact with friends and family and share deployment stories from across the globe through social networking sites and blogs.
Maj. Brian Nomi, chief of client services for the consolidated legal center at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, said he started his blog August 2008 after being notified he would be deploying.
"My blog depicts what life is like for a Soldier in Iraq," said Nomi, a Camarillo, Calif., native. "It shows people back home what life is like and helps them support us better."
The Army respects every Soldier's First Amendment rights to publish what they want as long as operational security is enforced, according to Army regulation 530-1.
Read the entire story here.
You can check out MAJ Brian Nomi’s blog here.
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Alex Horton from Army of Dude sent me an email earlier with this sad news:
I regret to inform you that Jordan Shay, the creator of the blog Through Amber Lenses, was killed in Baqubah, Iraq on Wednesday in an apparent rollover accident. The DoD has not confirmed his death but his local newspaper wrote that the police assisted the Army in notifying his family.
Jordan was new to blogging, writing only 16 posts since May. He was in my sister company but I never met him. He was a very talented writer on his third deployment, all at the age of 22. His blog is at:
http://throughamberlenses.blogspot.com/
Alex wrote a wonderful story about Jordan here.
God bless Jordan and his family and friends. In addition to blogging, Jordan also had a Twitter account where he tweeted about his deployment. The official DoD announcement has been released via DefenseLink.
In his most recent tweets, Jordan wrote:
two days off!
12:36 AM Sep 2nd from web
i met a deaf ten year old kid at an iraqi police station in diyala province today. he wanted a watch. we gave him earplugs.
5:49 PM Aug 25th from web
back in iraq for round two, probably won't fire a shot in anger all tour. sucks.
1:18 AM Aug 24th from web
follow my sweet blog @ throughamberlenses.blogspot.com. word.
6:37 PM Aug 17th from web.
------
UPDATE:
Jordan's Twitter page is no longer available online.
Related News Articles:
PHOTOSLIDESHOW: Jordan Shay
Newburyportnews.com
Amesbury Soldier Dies in Iraq
The Boston Globe
Soldier recalled as 'ray of sunshine'
Newburyportnews.com
Newburyport soldier killed in Iraq
WWLP.com
2 Fort Lewis soldiers killed in Iraq
Seattle Post Intelligencer
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The folks over at Federal Computer Week, have posted five reasons why the Department of Defense should and should not embrace social media. Lots of bloggers and news sites have weighed in on the subject over the last several weeks as the DoD decides how to handle social media on it’s own networks and beyond. Here’s the top five reasons (according to Federal Computer Week) why the DoD should embrace Social Media:
# 1: Web 2.0 technology improves collaboration.
# 2: It streamlines internal and external communications.
# 3: It costs little or nothing to use.
# 4: It has the potential to attract to young recruits to DOD.
# 5: It’s highly portable.
And here are the top 5 reasons according to Federal Computer Week why the DoD shouldn’t:
# 1: Sensitive information is on the public Internet.
# 2: The tools can make it difficult to comply with federal regulations.
# 3: The technology lacks standards.
# 4: Sharing personal information can put employees at risk.
# 5: The tools demand a lot of bandwidth.
You can read the full story here.
It may sound like a huge debate is going on within the DoD over social media, but I don’t think that’s the case. It’s simply about security. There’s nothing more my generation and the generations after me want to do more than: tweet, facebook, youtube, and blog. Even though it seems to be taking forever to arrive at a decision, I think it’s cool that the DoD is getting input from the public and researching this Technology topic in depth.
I mean, it took my Mom like five years to get her first computer. Just last month she bought her first DVD Player because her VCR finally stopped working after the grandkids stuffed a Pizza Pocket in it. They thought it was a microwave. Technology takes time, people...
If you'll excuse me, my pager that my Mom bought me for Christmas to keep in touch is beeping.
Reads: *I still can’t find the ‘Any Key’ on my keyboard? Can you HELP?*
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They have been kept in an album, along with a selection of photographs from his days in captivity that his son, Roy, who served with Durham Light Infantry, plans to submit to the military archives at County Hall, in Durham City.
Read the entire story here.
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If you’re not familiar with the Combined Arms Center Blog, it’s the brainchild of Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell who is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. LTG Caldwell is a huge supporter of social media and more importantly Milbloggers. I had the honor of introducing him as he addressed the audience via video at the Third Annual Official Milblog Conference held in 2008. Not only does LTG Caldwell blog himself, but he requires his students to blog. The students blog regularly and the site is open to the public.
Here’s an excerpt from one of the latest posts by Major Matt Chambert a CGSC Student about “Fair and Balanced Journalism”:
Believe it or not, even Bill Kurtis stayed on message. To their credit, however, they have all acknowledged the media is a for profit enterprise (and that business, interestingly enough, is not very good right now). Fred Francis was the only journalist among those to recently visit Ft. Leavenworth that admitted the “for profit” (and therefore “in competition”) issue ever affected the quality of the media’s reporting. When asked, Francis was quite candid about the tendency of 24 hour news agencies to “get it wrong” in their haste to be first.
What they have all failed to acknowledge is the cumulative effect of their editorial decisions.
There may be 25 news worthy stories that come out of Iraq or Afghanistan every day. 20 of them may be about American forces rebuilding infrastructure or providing medical treatment to the population and five may be about violence. 99% of the time, the firefight stories will get coverage because they’re sensational (“if it bleeds, it leads”) and the infrastructure stories will not be reported at all. Over time, the cumulative effect of which true stories the media reports and which true stories they don’t does, in fact, slant the larger narrative and espouse a wholly inaccurate accounting of the facts. Are they unaware of this or do they simply not care? Enter Ralph Peters.
A lot of media organizations try to score with the big story. They’re a business, I get it. They need the money to keep their business going. In today’s economy, media organizations have to go big or go home as many are shutting down because they failed to adapt to new media online. While it sounds good in theory to be “fair and balanced”, when you’re a business that relies on money, it’s pretty hard to stay fair and balanced.
That’s why military bloggers are so important – especially those from the frontlines of Afghanistan and Iraq. And even those of us now stationed back at Fort Living Room. Every story is important, even if you're just sharing it with family or friends or just keeping your own personal journal.
Have I ever told you that I can blog, vacuum the family room, play Guitar Hero, do the dishes, and eat a cheeseburger all at the same time? It’s a good thing Mr. Ruffles (the family dog) is a Chihuahua “the dog for lazy people”. The salesman was right when he told me I could just hold him out the window and give Mr. Ruffles a squeeze. I like to twist too, for good measure. What can I say? I don’t like to get up off the couch while I’m tweeting.
I tried putting him in a diaper, but my wife says that was cruel.
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According to the bio page:
Elaine Wilson, editor and writer for American Forces Press Services, launched the “Family Matters” blog to Elaine Wilson is the author of the "Family Matters" blog to provide resources and support to military families, as well as to encourage a dialogue on topics ranging from deployments and separations to the challenges of everyday life.
AFPS started as a weekly collection of articles distributed by mail to military newspaper editors worldwide, and has grown into a timely news service available on the World Wide Web. Press service stories are available for use inside and outside the military on the Defense Department’s Web site, www.defenselink.mil, as well as through free e-mail subscriptions, RSS feeds, Facebook and Twitter.
Check out the blog here. While I'm on the subject of the DoD and Social Media - I haven't seen any definitive position announced by the DoD yet regarding their possible ban on social media, but an official decision should be coming soon...
Meanwhile, they've launched 300 new blogs, 56 Facebook accounts, 86 YouTube sites, and eleventy jillion Twitter accounts. Give or take.
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With most kids back in school or starting back shortly, chances are you’re gonna see more milblog research from the classroom posted online. Last year, I posted several stories about Milblog Research in the classroom, and earlier I’ve already come across a homework assignment for a Writing Composition Course. Here’s an excerpt from the student’s posting on blogspot:
Despite of my inaccurate believes, of solders being confined in a military base without the communication of the outside world. When I read this Milblog, my viewpoints of the relationship between American soldiers and Afghanistan soldiers changed. I read many of this milblogs, and almost all of them had one thing in common, the help that American troops provided to the Afghanistan soldiers and other was very impressive. I was very amused on how they provided training, and the observations they had on the hierarchical structure of the Afghan troops.
The cool thing is, you don’t see other types of blogs being studied in the classroom, like blogs about cats or cheeseburgers. That’s like going to college to learn how to be a ninja assassin. Or a pirate. I mean, it sounds cool and all, but it’s not necessarily a resume builder.
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Read the entire story here.
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Carson Daly is a huge troop supporter and he tweets support to the troops each and every Monday, along with thousands of other amazing Twitter users. Carson regularly supports the troops in other ways as well, but as part of his #MilitaryMon efforts, he interacts with military bloggers and military support organizations too – looking for new ways to support the troops and for bringing attention to various organizations. Here’s a look at some of his tweets from earlier today:
Good afternoon America. Today is #militarymon. God Bless our troops,vets,disabled vets,families home and abroad. We are in debt to u all.
about 7 hours ago from UberTwitter
RT @OpGratitude: We're all about supporting the troops! If you're following us, please add #militarymon to your tweets today. Thanks!
about 7 hours ago from UberTwitter
via Lori_Ann_38 i wld like 2 tk time 2 thnk someone who savd 8 ppl. Staff Sgt. William Amundson from Georgia. He saved 8 ppl in an ambush
about 10 hours ago from web
#militarymon honors Pfc. Mathew E. Wildes 18, Hammond. Louisiana, died 8/27/09 in Afgan. Thank-u for your service brother.
about 10 hours ago from web
#militarymon honors Pfc. William Z. Vanosdol 23, Pinson, Alabama- died 8/19/09 in Diwaniya, Iraq. 172nd Infantry Brigade. You r a hero.
about 10 hours ago from web
And in case you know who Tim James is, he’s the former NBA player from the Miami Heat who quietly joined the Army as a Specialist and is serving overseas in Iraq. Here’s an excerpt from the Miami Herald story that recently wrote about his journey:
James is in Iraq, in a suffocating desert 105 miles north of Baghdad, but he isn't making one of those celebrity visits to cheer up the troops.
No, he is the troops.
The former University of Miami basketball star and former Miami Heat first-round pick enlisted in the Army a year ago, at the age of 31, and now he finds himself in the dusty, dirty center of a war.
******
Betty James wanted to scream. She knew she had raised a tough man in Liberty City, but did he have to go and be this tough? He had other career options. Teaching. Coaching. Couldn't he choose a new career path in his 30s that didn't involve insurgents and explosions?
Usually when I read about Hollywood doing anything, I usually say to myself, "It's about damn time." Carson's and Tim's story are no different than thousands of others out there already who do it day in and day out - but hopefully their unique stories will help bring more attention to the troops. Tim and Carson do it because they believe in it. And that’s what matters.
I mean, it’s not like you'll see Britney Spears or her ex K-Fed knocking down the door of the local recruiter’s office to join up. Then again, I’m not sure they’d make the best soldiers based on what I’ve read about them in the news over the years.
I’d probably be safer running missions with Mr. Bean. Or the Cookie Monster.
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(NewMajority) Michael Yon is ex-SF, and he brings honor to the Regiment with his heroic work covering the wars going on out there, reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004.
Read the entire story here.
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I've written about Solomon several times over the last year, and even had the honor of speaking to him by phone. Recently, Solomon has been re-printing his earlier posts sharing his D Day experience. The D Day posts are some of the first stories he posted online to his blog back in 2007.
Here’s an excerpt from the blog post Day Day. First Light:
D Day. First light revealed, an LCT nestled up against the S.S.Picketton the port side,amidships,next to the No.2 hatch. No.2 is the largest hatch on a Liberty ship and contained the heaviest units. The booms on No.2 are rated for 50 tonnes, so the order was to place our tank cargo aboard the LCT along side. The Landing Craft Tank, can deliver its freight by dropping its ramp like bow, right on the beach and tanks are driven off, each with its own driver,one after the other.During the loading process we were taking fire from shore and the bridge of the LCT was hit by an 88 shell from a German gun.We found out later that a Naval Lt.on the bridge was decapitated. The crew was replaced and the LCT cast off,beach bound.The empty spot was taken immediately by another vessel.The action on the starboard side was used for offloading, fuel, ammo and Infantry into LCVPs.(Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel).
Read all the entries here. The writing is amazing.
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MG Oates, the Fort Drum Commanding General who has been blogging on the 10th Mountain Division blog Mountain SoundOff, posted his final story this week as he prepares for the new incoming Commanding General. Here’s what he had to say in his final post:
As I depart Fort Drum I would like to ask you to post some ideas for the new CG, MG James Terry, on any topic you feel would make the Division or Fort Drum a better organization.
***
FYI - We have compiled and examined all of your comments over the past year and will use the next couple of weeks to provide you a roll-up of your ideas as a way to provide feedback.
Thanks for your support of YOUR blog over the last year.
You can read more here, including comments left by his troops. It’s great to see Officers and higher ranking officers blog in the military, which hopefully encourages more troops to do the same.
The buzz of his final post even made the news. Which I gotta say is neat. My final post from Afghanistan in 2005, pretty much made it to my Mom’s refrigerator.
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The media-military relationship is often contentious enough that the Army's war college devoted three days this week to consider and discuss ways to improve it even though no official military doctrine exists to foster good working relationships.
"We're not enemies, but we're not exactly allies, either," two-time Pulitzer Prize winner John Burns of The New York Times said Wednesday during one of the sessions hosted by the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
It was the seventh symposium by the institute, but the first to focus on media relations.
Read the entire story here.
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In July, in a sharp break from tradition, the Army began encouraging its personnel — from the privates to the generals — to go online and collaboratively rewrite seven of the field manuals that give instructions on all aspects of Army life.
The program uses the same software behind the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and could potentially lead to hundreds of Army guides being “wikified.” The goal, say the officers behind the effort, is to tap more experience and advice from battle-tested soldiers rather than relying on the specialists within the Army’s array of colleges and research centers who have traditionally written the manuals.
Read the entire story here.
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Over the years I’ve updated the rules on Care Packages that I began writing in 2004/2005 while deployed to Afghanistan. The most recent update took place while I was in Iraq in 2007/2008 which you can read here. From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Newsweek Magazine to Bloggers, to readers from all over the world, that post introduced me to a global audience. Which after reading has inspired many readers to send me colorful responses. The latest response comes from a good friend and longtime military supporter Wendy Stewart: a guest blogger at YouServed who posted a rebuttal today here.
You’d think all the hate mail I receive about the list would deter me from tweeting to my 40,000 friends on Twitter, but no, it doesn’t. To me, this list is almost as important as the Military’s General Orders. Here are some excerpts from Wendy’s post alongside excerpts from my post.
WENDY: Communication is our strong suit. Here’s a clue…if you ask us how we’re doing, we’re gonna tell you. Most of us are girls. We like to talk. We will tell you how we’re doing, what we’re doing, what we’ve done, what our dog just did, and what color we painted our toenails. If long boring emails or letters aren’t your thing, don’t ask.
ME: Do not continue to write a soldier when the soldier never writes you back. If you really want attention that bad, jump off a building.
WENDY: Don’t ask for electronics. I’m way better looking than Bill Gates, even though HE could probably get you the iPods and such, and I will send stuff to you, but asking for electronics is greedy. I have 2 kids to fulfill the greedy need-need-wanna-gotta-have hole in my life, m’kay? Unless I squeezed you outta my hoohah, you’re not getting a new iPod, thankyouverymuch, so stop asking. (By the way, I still don’t have one, so I’m considered a luddite in JP’s eyes. Whatever).
ME: If it's not electronic, it's not worth sending. I'm convinced 99% of what people send us is garbage. I haven't seen a soldier yet, complain about receiving an iPod in the mail. I'm just saying.
And remember, the meanest thing you can do to a soldier is to send generic, not name brand goods [see picture above]. Sending generic brand goods is worse than taking a dump in a cardboard box and shipping it over. Bon appétit!
Be sure to check out my page to read all the rules, then check out Wendy’s page over at YouServed.
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You can track the full statistics here. Nice work for a trend only started this past May.
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Col. Tim Kopra will be returning to Earth on September 6th with the Shuttle Discovery. He is the first Soldier to tweet from Outerspace (and the first person ever to tweet from the Space Station). NASA is a big user of Twitter, and the next crew going up with Discovery has more tweeting astronauts including: @Astro_Jose and @CFuglesang. Here are some of Col. Kopra’s latest tweets:
233/10:00: We have a monthly physical fitness test on the stationary bike – just finished. We hook up an ECG and heart rate monitor.
about 23 hours ago from web
GMT232/18:30: I talked with KIPP school students in Houston on Ham radio and answered their questions – smart kids!!
about 23 hours ago from web
GMT232/14:00: All is looking good for STS-128. We had a video conference with their planning team to review the plan.
about 24 hours ago from web
GMT231/17:30: Spent this afternoon collecting items to go home on the shuttle.
2:35 AM Aug 20th from web
GMT231/14:00: Looks like STS-128 will plan to launch on Aug 25 – my ride home is not very far off.
12:21 AM Aug 20th from web
GMT230/16:10: Getting my stuff ready to go home on STS-128 – should have word soon on whether they will launch on time.
12:26 PM Aug 19th from web
I’m still amazed by this miraculous technology called Twitter. I mean, tweeting from outer space? I dunno what rare Tweeting feat could top that, but I’m guessing it would have to be something super, super awesome. Like hand-to-hand combat. With ninjas. And pirates. While riding on the back of a unicorn...
Extra points if it can fly.
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