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.
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(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.
Security first
Establishing an operationally secure yet information-rich social media network for the 3rd Brigade did require careful consideration of current Army and Department of Defense social media policy, Anderson said.
While the Defense Department has no current policy in place to govern the use of sites such as Twitter, Flickr and Facebook, the Army and Marines do, according to the Army’s Web site.
Read the entire story here which includes links to all their social networking sites.
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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.
The future is now, people.
Read the entire story here.
[And yes, I’m joking. Carson Daly and The Spectrum are great for doing what they do. Hopefully, more in the Mainstream will follow their lead.]
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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.
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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.
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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.
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(Gather) When Alex Horton joined the Army, he was a shaggy-haired kid from Frisco, Texas, who read military histories and who had failed English twice. To avoid the endless e-mails to mom, dad, grandma and the cousins, he started a blog, called Army of Dude.
Spc. Horton of the 3rd Stryker Brigade blogged from Kuwait City, Mosul, Baghdad and Baqubah, through 15 months in Iraq. He blogged about seeing his first dead body, his quick realization that the Army was not for him, and his countdown of days until he made it home.
He returned to Texas almost a year ago and enrolled at Austin Community College. Now 23, he blogs about the bewildering transition to fresh air, and the strange disconnect between his Gen Y classmates and the life he left in the desert.
"There's not too much reporting from Iraq, just body counts and hard numbers," Horton said recently. "I can't look into the faces of the kids at school and see that there's a war going on. They have no idea what's going on."
A recent entry caught our attention.
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I received this email earlier from Lindsay Hopkins who works for Penn State Public Broadcasting in University Park, PA.
…Back From Iraq, about a Penn State course aimed specifically to Iraq War veterans, "Narrative, Oral History, New Media Technologies.". This course was designed to teach student veterans how to use video and web technologies in order to chronicle the stories and experiences of the Iraq War. Over the duration of this class students are asked to create a documentary about some aspect of the war. This website features their final movie, their experiences making it, and their feelings on the war. The website features 4 student veterans. Some of the students turn the camera on themselves, while some feature other veterans. All the students discuss the process of making their video and recount their experiences in Iraq. The website also features interviews with the creators of the course discussing the importance of veterans interviewing veterans. The instructors also discuss how the idea for the course came about…
This is one amazing course. Thanks to Lindsay for the tip on this project. The site is jampacked with videos, blogs, and more. Here’s the link: http://wpsu.org/backfromiraq
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Amateur Photographer has the story about Captain Alexander Allan, a former Grenadier Guards officer (now Retired), who took pictures in the Helmand, Afghanistan during a six-month tour in 2007. He has now published the photos in a book called Afghanistan: A Tour of Duty. Profits from sales will go to British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association.
Writing in his forward to the book former Head of the Army Sir Richard Dannatt said Allan's photographs give an 'authentic insight into the realities of life from the British soldier on Afghanistan's front line.'
Dannatt added: 'Along with service, sadly, comes sacrifice, and this photographic record does not flinch from the issue.'
Allan has dedicated his book to Adam 'Goolie' Ball who lost a leg while trying to save two Afghan colleagues injured by landmines.
From the few photos I saw online, they’re stunning. And also, there’s been quite a bit of news lately with people stepping up and donating money to military charities and organizations. Today, it was reported that Bob Barker (ex-host of The Price is Right) donated $3M to the brain trauma center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This is awesome.
I’d probably make a joke about spaying or neutering cats and dogs right about now, but my cat Doritos has basically threatened to kill me if I take him to the vet for the procedure. Doritos full-on scares me and most of the dogs in the neighborhood...
I SEE YOU DORITOS HIDING BEHIND THE BOOKCASE!!! WHAT’S THAT NOISE?? ARE YOU SHARPENING YOUR CLAWS AGAIN?!
Read the entire story here.
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The Toronto Star has an interesting story about Capt. Ray Wiss, a Canadian Military doctor who served two tours in Afghanistan. Emails he sent home while deployed have been published into a book.
Capt. Wiss was posted to several Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) in the Panjwaii, the area of most intense fighting, because of his background. In the 1980s he had served as an infantry officer with the Canadian forces. As a civilian doctor, he is recognized internationally for his use of ultrasound in emergency medicine.
During his first tour in Afghanistan, November 2007 to March 2008, he kept a diary in the form of emails sent home describing his experiences. They have been turned into a book, FOB Doc, published Oct. 3. Book royalties will be donated to the Military Families Fund.
Read the entire story here. The article also includes an online interview with Capt. Wiss.
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If you're looking for military users on Twitter, soon enough you’ll be able to create your own lists and you’ll be able to organize them however you want. Last week Twitter announced the soon to launch Lists feature which is currently in Testing. The twitter blog reports:
The idea is to allow people to curate lists of Twitter accounts. For example, you could create a list of the funniest Twitter accounts of all time, athletes, local businesses, friends, or any compilation that makes sense.
Lists are public by default (but can be made private) and the lists you've created are linked from your profile. Other Twitter users can then subscribe to your lists. This means lists have the potential to be an important new discovery mechanism for great tweets and accounts.
Many military bloggers and twitter users have been organizing lists of military twitter users using various third-party sites and tools. Lists that range from troops on the frontline using twitter to veterans and spouses who tweet. We even began indexing Twitter feeds months ago on Milblogging.com. With the upcoming feature of Twitter lists, you’ll be able to easily organize military twitter users into targeted categories. Several sites like WeFollow.com have been doing this already, but by using Twitter, you can simply sign into one account. And Twitter plans to offer an API to integrate Twitter lists onto your own site.
I plan to create several lists of military users such as veterans, army, frontlines, spouses, supporters and more. I also plan to create a list of the strangest Twitter accounts I follow...
If you happen to be a cheeseburger or a cat reading this and you use Twitter, shoot me an email and I’ll make sure to place you in my upcoming AWESOME list.
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(photo: Cpl Jason M. Bogar)
According to CBS:
Carlene says her son believed in what he was doing. He was "always reaching out to the people and the children," of Afghanistan. She says he constantly volunteered for any humanitarian missions, and he would often try to connect with the children during his time overseas.
Carlene sent CBS News three entries from a journal that Jason kept, and a last letter home. They were on his computer titled, "Afghanistan OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) VIII '07-'08," and "TO MY FAMILY."
Here’s an excerpt from one of Cpl. Jason Bogar’s journal entries dated 8 December 2007:
Coming into Afghanistan again after just finishing a year long tour 6 months ago isn’t the best feeling in the world. But this is the life I expected when I re-enlisted active duty. BAF is still the same every branch of the military there getting the exact same hazard duty and hostile fire pay as the soldiers out in the s--- getting shot at daily, somehow thinking there in danger.
Over the years I’ve come to accept everyone has there job, but I can’t help but have animosity towards any American fighting age male in shape that doesn’t have the balls to do a job that doesn’t involve working in a building sleeping in a warm bed their whole tour. So I’m not going to the Korengal valley witch is somewhat dissapointing but at the same time a relief.
The whole death thing doesn’t nearly bug me as much as it used to but of course I don’t want to die. What f---- me up in the head is the thought of my Mother, Father, Sisters and whole family dealing with me dying at such a young age. I still believe in this fight and figure it has to be done. My last stent back home in Seattle I was disgusted by how the majority of Americans view the war and oppose Bush so hard. A huge percent of American males my age are just cowardly in my eyes. Enlistment in the Army is way down because Americans are scared of war but enlisting in the Army is no problem for allot of those same types during peace time. My previous 2 tours I’ve really been around the only kind of Americans I want to be around.
To read more go here. God Bless Cpl. Jason Bogar, his family and friends.
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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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According to Price Floyd’s twitter page, he spent yesterday speaking with Google VP, Vint Cerf on how social media can be used. Vint Cerf is the person most often called “The Founding Father of the internet”.
No word on the actual conversations that took place, but needless to say this is good news, and will hopefully help to craft the Pentagon’s final policy on social networking.
Speaking of “The Founding Father of the internet”: what’s Al Gore up to? Rumor has it he’s busy inventing Twitter. And working on a new invention called an: a-i-r-p-l-a-n-e.
Apparently it’ some type of craft that flies through the air that has fixed wings and is powered by propellers... Crazy talk.
UPDATE: I received a tweet from Price Floyd after asking if he could share more about his meeting:
pricefloyd @milblogging The most interesting thing about the meeting was the questions he asked. Ex: Why do you want to use social media?
I know it's short, but that's the thing about twitter: 140 characters or less. For a minute there, I thought I was reading a fortune cookie. Just saying.
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Living on the East Coast, I don’t have an opportunity to meet up with Battle Buddies from the California National Guard – the National Guard Infantry unit I deployed with in 2007/2008. Last Sunday my good friend and Platoon Sergeant Toby Nunn was in town for Soldier’s Angels and we had a chance to grab lunch with my family at one of my favorite restaurants in Arlington: Mexicali Blues. Toby not only supported my blogging during our deployment to Iraq, but he also blogged himself. We even had a chance to make a film with Deborah Scranton called Bad Voodoo’s War which aired nationwide on PBS last year.
It’s always a little awkward talking buddy-buddy to your Infantry Platoon Sergeant. It makes me kind of nervous even though we’re great friends.
I mean, I didn't stand at parade rest or anything during lunch, but I did knockout fifty pushups after forgetting to order enough guacamole for the table. Then had to knock out another fifty after trying to blame it on my Wife. Pfftt.
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Read the entire story here.
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There are several media stories online today discussing the “draft” policy on Social Networking by the Department of Defense. NextGov apparently got their hands on the draft memo...
The Defense Department, which had seen some services ban the use of social networking sites, will allow troops and their families to use the popular online communication tools such as Facebook and Twitter on its unclassified networks, according to a draft memo obtained by Nextgov.
The memo, written by Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn III and due out in days, solidly backs the use of social network sites, which Lynn calls "Internet capabilities," for both official and unofficial purposes and envisions these tools as providing an information advantage for Defense.
Even though several news outlets are reporting the story, Price Floyd the Military’s New Social Networking Guru is tweeting that no final decision or deadline has been made, but “the review and policy should be done and out sometime in the next few weeks”.
Let’s face it, social networking is here to stay and this discussion has been brewing for months. Although truthfully, whether or not NextGov really got their hands on the memo, really doesn’t matter until the official policy is published. I mean, I could start a rumor suggesting I got my hands on the “draft” policy and that it says the DoD plans to invest $10 million in Twitter. You know, to show it’s commitment to social networking.
There is even talk of the Pentagon giving free iPods to everyone serving in uniform. I'm not talking iPod Shuffle, I'm talking iPod Touch. 64GB. True story.
Related News Stories:
NextGov
Defense to allow troops, family members to use social network sites
VatorNews
Defense Dept. may OK social media surfing
Switched
Pentagon Might Soon Give Troops the Okay to Tweet
Zikkir World
Draft Policy Would OK Troops’ Tweets
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Military Blogger Armed and Curious has an interesting story online today that asks the question whether the military really knows how to use social networking to engage the public.
Today a growing number of military units and organizations have an official presence in social media and especially on Facebook. Unfortunately, it seems that most organizations just seem to think that being there is good enough. Their fan pages are nothing more than a place to push the same news releases and self congratulatory comments.
A perusal of many major organizational pages shows that administrators don't seem to have an idea how to truly build a community and leverage the power of social media and its ability to engage the public in ways unimaginable through traditional means. It truly seems that most military organizations are just happy to have finally built a page and that is the extent of the progress.
The last year has seen an explosion of organizations building outposts in the social media world and specifically a wave of Facebook fan pages. Some are having a measure of success in a large number of friends and followers who are linking to the pages.
I dunno, I’d have to say the military is trying better. It’s kinda like my Mom and social media... Social networking is still pretty new to her, but she’s catching up. In the beginning she was forwarding me emails about pleas for help from Nigerian princesses, now she writes about her cats: they eat people food. Only 2 weeks ago, I explained to her what a Twitter is.
It takes time, just throwing that out there.
Read the entire post here.
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The Defense Department may allow troops and military employees to freely access social networks — if a draft policy circulating around the Pentagon gets approved, that is.
Read the entire story here.
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It's #MilitaryMon every Monday on Twitter. If you're on Twitter, remember to send a tweet to a service member, veteran, or supporter using the #MilitaryMon hashtag. Twitter has been a great way to show appreciation for the military and the trend continues to spread each and every Monday across the globe.
I know what you're thinking, but no, that picture up above is a hashtag (#), not a gang sign. But I must warn you, you probably don't want to stop by a MySpace Meetup and throw a hashtag sign. Just saying. You could run into some trouble... One minute you’ll be throwing a hashtag, the next minute you’ll be getting insulted by a bunch of teenagers.
Or worse: a wedgy.
Here are links to previous posts about #MilitaryMon: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and more.
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