Below is the tentative timeline for the formal portion of the Conference, which will take place on Saturday, April 10 from 9:00a - 5:30p. This is subject to change due to the schedules of some distinguished speakers.

7:45 - 8:45            
Breakfast

9:00 - 9:30            
Opening Remarks

9:30 - 10:30          
The Charitable Landscape:  Representatives from various troop supporting organizations will examine how the use of social media has changed the way non-profits communicate with their membership, donors and the general public. This panel will  discuss the challenges and benefits of social media, and how we can assist in their efforts to support the military community

10:30 - 10:45                  
Break

10:45 - 12:00                  
National Security Smorgasbord: A diverse panel of reporters, strategists and pundits discuss a wide range of topics including the state of our National Security, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and media coverage of military affairs

12:00 - 1:30          
Lunch

1:30 - 2:30            
Special Guest Appearance

2:30 - 3:45            
The View from the Top: Senior military and DoD officials discuss the rewards and challenges of social media in a military environment

3:45 - 4:00
Break

4:00 - 5:15              
Legislation, Military-Style: Lawmakers and policy-wonks discuss the legislative side of policy-making with respect to military affairs

5:15 - 5:30              
Closing Remarks

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By Andi

Troop supporting rockers Saving Abel will be in town during the Milblog Conference and have volunteered to stop by the Friday evening Cocktail Reception for a brief, acoustic performance. Saving Abel is currently on a week-long USO tour in the Persian Gulf.

Click here to see the making of the music video for 18 Days, which took place on the deck of an aircraft carrier. I think you can count on the band performing this song Friday evening. Saving Abel are strong supporters of our troops and their families and we're thrilled to have them drop by for a little entertainment, and to meet and greet the milbloggers. Don't miss this!

We've had no less than three bands offer to perform at The MilBlog Conference, and we're grateful for the interest in our conference and the willingness of these bands to donate their time to entertain us.

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The Role of Social Networking in Modern Combat
Last Friday at an event in Washington D.C., U.S. military personnel who were at the forefront of counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq joined Slate Magazine's Chris Wilson at the New America Foundation to discuss the role of social networking theories in modern combat. While Bin Laden doesn't tweet and there may not be an al-Qaida fanpage on Facebook that can be browsed for intel, the experts agreed that understanding the other side's social networks -- as painstaking as the process may be -- can be crucial to operational success.
(OhMyGov!)

Why Do All the Letters Sent by Military Wives Disappear? For comfort, we have blogs instead.
I've written letters to my much-deployed husband, Scott, on monogrammed stationery, hotel letterhead, notebook paper, and even, once, in the margins of a menu from a restaurant in Switzerland. In Japan, I invested heavily in cards that featured cute animals of different species talking to one another; when I worked in an office, I scribbled on the back of recycled meeting agendas. But only the memory of these letters exists. Like most deployed service members, who are always on the move and have to travel light, my husband couldn't hold on to my notes.
(Slate Magazine)

Army, Navy and Air Force continue to ban flash media
The U.S. Strategic Command approved limited use of flash media such as thumb drives on Feb. 18, but all three services have yet to lift their bans until they develop policies and procedures for the devices.  STRATCOM said the services and combatant commands must develop policies and procedures for use of flash media on their computers and networks. The Air Force and Army are still developing their policies.
(NextGov)

Egypt military court releases blogger in army case
A blogger, who had faced a military trial for an article critical of Egypt's armed forces, has been released without bail after apologising and on condition he removes the posting, his lawyer said on Sunday.
(Moneycontrol.com)

French-kissing woman army officer punished
another subordinate had also posted on his blog photos of Lee French kissing the men and women. The captions on the photos named the subordinates as Lee's "concubines".
(AsiaOne)

Army Spouses Urged to Speak Their Minds
Army officials have just sent out the 2010 Survey of Army Families to 75,000 randomly-selected civilian spouses of active-duty soldiers.
(Family Matters Blog)

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The DoD new/social media policy which took some time to officially publish (even after a supportive draft was leaked), has been discussed by bloggers and news sites all over the internet.  Some say the policy is not enough, some say the policy is a step in the right direction, and there are others who say it’s too early to tell what the policy really means.  Will the policy cause a dramatic shift in the way people use social media?  Probably not, because it is too early to tell.  But in my opinion it’s definitely a step in the right direction in providing guidance, especially to people new to social media or people thinking of taking a leap. 

With all the news and opinions, many have said it's not enough for military bloggers.  Sure, it’s honorable for people to come to the defense of the “little guy” in the military community who blogs or tweets or uses any of the hundreds of social media/networking tools available, but people need to keep in mind, security is the most important thing here.  And when it comes to accessing new/social media sites from the frontlines, unless you’ve been there and done that, you might not have all your facts. 

Jack Holt, a Sr. Strategist for Emerging Media has a great write up on the new policy:

We need to also understand what having a policy means to an organization such as DoD. Having a policy means resources can be planned and budgeted for in an effort to support that policy. Because a more open NIPRnet is the policy, we now have a responsibility to train our people in its responsible and effective use. We must examine what security should look like. It’s like moving from a walled city with guard towers to open communities with constables on patrol. Yes, there are significant threats in working on the Internet, but we train to meet the threats  on every field of maneuver; this field is no different. It means as members of the DoD, we each have a greater responsibility to protect each other. We all should have a look at the Social Networking Sites safety checklist and the games that help us teach our families.

I don’t consider myself a social media expert by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a time when I blogged from Afghanistan and Iraq, and the guidelines we followed were called: Common Sense.  Yeah, I know.  Crazy stuff.  I didn’t even really read “directives” or “memos” or “09-026’s”. 

The guidelines should probably have been called “Halo Cheat Codes”.  Or “Downloading new maps for Call of Duty”.  You know, something to grab my attention.   

Read the entire story here.

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Troops in Europe still waiting for access to social sites
STUTTGART, Germany — More than a week after the Defense Department lifted its three-year ban on social media Web sites, U.S. troops in Europe are still waiting to gain access to sites such as Twitter and Facebook.  The new DOD policy, which went into effect on Feb. 25, states that DOD networks will be configured to allow access on government computers to such sites as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and Google Apps.
(Stars and Stripes)

Israeli Soldier Leaks Raid On Facebook, Booted from Army
AOL News said that a soldier from an elite Israeli military unit announced on his Facebook page that, "On Wednesday, we are cleaning out [a West Bank village] -- today an arrest operation, tomorrow an arrest operation and then, please God, home by Thursday."  Other members of the unit who were also among his Facebook friends alerted officers. The operation was scrapped and the soldier was court-martialed, sentenced to 10 days in jail and kicked out of the battalion.
(MyFox Wausau)

Egypt: Blogger trial condemned
Amnesty International has condemned the trial of young blogger in Egypt, calling on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmad Mostafa, 20, a blogger and prisoner of conscience facing up to nine and a half years in prison after he published a post alleging nepotism within the armed forces.
(Amnesty International UK)

Military rebuffs blogger's call for top Canadian general to be fired
The Canadian military in Afghanistan emphatically denied Wednesday a claim by an American blogger popular among soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan that Canada's commander, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, should be fired for not having prevented an attack on a bridge near the Kandahar Airfield where an American soldier and four Afghan civilians died Monday.
(The Gazette)

The diary of a WWI Jersey soldier has been discovered
Clarence Percy Ahier was from Jersey, born in 1892 and served as an artilleryman at the Somme and Ypres in the Great War.  Many of those serving during the war recorded their memories, some became famous accounts, and others were locked away in cupboards and lofts.  The war diary of Clarence Ahier falls into the second category.
(BBC)

Attorney responds to military gag order by starting blog
The attorney for the Army psychiatrist implicated in a shooting at a Texas military base has responded to a military gag order by starting a blog on the case, CNN reported.  Maj. Nidal Hasan, who has been accused of killing 13 people in a rampage at the base in Fort Hood, Texas in November, is being represented by civilian attorney John Galligan. Galligan began the blog after the Special Court-Martial Convening Authority issued a gag order preventing Galligan from releasing or publishing any information from the evidence received from the Army. There is no gag order imposed on the Army.
(RCFP)

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Military blogs appeared today in a USA Weekend article that featured Milblogging.com, Some Soldier’s Mom, and Michael Yon.  USA Today also happens to be one the first major news publications to run an article featuring milbloggers going back to 2005, in which Colby Buzzell and other bloggers from the frontlines appeared (including myself, representing military bloggers from Afghanistan).

Military blogs, or “milblogs,” serve as a first draft of our wartime history, written by those who are living it. Online accounts from soldiers and their families can be dramatic, funny and introspective.

Read the entire story here.

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So as the 2010 Official Milblog Conference fast approaches this April, the 2010 MILbloggies (nominations and voting) will also be conducted just before the conference.   If you’d like to update the Branch Category of your military blog, now’s the time.   Maintaining the data here on Milblogging.com is a sizeable effort, and I rely a lot on some great readers and users to recommend changes and send me corrections, as well as make updates to their own profiles such as country and branch. 

Milblogging.com has now reached over 2,500 military blogs, and I can tell you firsthand, we’re just scratching the surface.  With the popularity of social media, especially with microblogging, the number of blogs written by people in the military community is enormous – and only a fraction of all the military related blogging sites are listed here.

If your blog is listed here on Milblogging.com (which is necessary in order to participate in the Milbloggies) please double check and make sure your Military Blog Profile information is correct, and most importantly, that you’re in the correct Branch Category (such as U.S. Military Spouse or U.S. Army).  

If you haven’t registered for the Conference yet it’s right around the corner, so make sure you register in time.  The Conference is going to be Huge.  Trust me, this is the FIVE YEAR anniversary of the Official MILblog Conference, and Andi has been hard at work for months and months.  There’s going to be a cocktail reception.  A full dinner plus drink tickets.  A party.  A Saturday breakfast.  Drink tickets.  Oh, did I mention there will be Panel Discussions?

Yeah, uh, that too.

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(The Gazette)  The Canadian military in Afghanistan emphatically denied yesterday a claim by a United States blogger that Canada's commander, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard, should be fired for not having prevented an attack on a bridge near Kandahar Airfield where a U.S. soldier and four Afghan civilians died Monday.

Michael Yon, a former U.S. Special Forces soldier who has sometimes had strained relations with the U.S. and British military bureaucracy because of his writing, alleged Canadian troops were not providing security as they should have because they and Ménard were watching the Olympic men's hockey gold medal game on television at the time of the attack.

Read the entire story here.

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(First Things)  Three years ago, the U.S. Army instituted stringent new regulations for online communications to prevent violations of operations security (OPSEC). As the Army regulation explained, “the OPSEC process identifies the critical information of military plans, operations, and supporting activities and the indicators that can reveal it, and then develops measures to eliminate, reduce, or conceal those indicators.” Maintaining OPSEC has always been essential to winning wars and preventing unnecessary casualties.

From a military perspective the move seemed obvious—even overdue. Yet to my shock and dismay, many of the smartest conservative bloggers (including Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, and Ed Morrissey) criticized the policy. They appeared willing to overlook or downplay the danger to security in order to defend the role of the milblogger as a counter to the mainstream media’s coverage of the war.

Read the entire story here.

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Friday, April 9 (6:30 - 7:45P):

A Marathon, Not a Sprint: This kick-off panel brings together a variety of speakers, including some of the earliest milbloggers. Panelists will reflect on five conferences and several years of milblogging. Speakers will discuss the evolution of milblogging and share their thoughts on what they think the future of milblogging may look like

Saturday, April 10 (9:00A - 5:30P):

The Charitable Landscape:  Representatives from various troop supporting organizations will examine how the use of social media has changed the way non-profits communicate with their membership, donors and the general public. This panel will discuss the challenges and benefits of social media, and how we can assist in their efforts to support the military community

National Security Smorgasbord: A diverse panel of reporters, strategists and pundits discuss a wide range of topics including the state of our National Security, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and media coverage of military affairs

The View from the Top: Senior military and DoD officials discuss the rewards and challenges of social media in a military environment

Legislation, Military-Style: Lawmakers and policy-wonks discuss the legislative side of policy-making with respect to military affairs

Confirmed speakers will be announced soon, so stay tuned.

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By Andi

We are pleased to announce the addition of VA Mortgage Center as a sponsor for the upcoming 2010 MILblog Conference.

Without the support of our sponsors, the conference wouldn't be possible. We greatly appreciate all of our sponsors! For a list of more sponsors, click here.

We have a variety of sponsorships available; several options can be mixed and matched. Our packages can accommodate the smallest of budgets and are constructed so that both large and small organizations can participate. For more information on sponsorships, click here.

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By Andi

We have a jam-packed Fifth Anniversary Conference this year. Over the years, the conference has been transformed from a conference solely about milblogging, to a conference rich with blog-worthy content. Our conferences now produce lively, engaging discussions on a variety of issues of interest to the military community. Friday night, we're going to focus on milblogging, and Saturday we'll hear from a variety of reporters, bloggers, strategists, thinkers, senior military leaders and others as they offer their opinions on a host of topics. If you thought the diversity of topics and speakers at last year's conference was an interesting mix, wait until you see this year's line-up!

Our kick-off panel will take place Friday, April 9 from 6:30 - 7:45P. We'll feature some oldies but goodies of the milblogosphere. This is the night to focus on all things milblogging - past, present and future.

A Marathon, Not a Sprint: This kick-off panel brings together a variety of speakers, including some of the earliest milbloggers. Panelists will reflect on five conferences and several years of milblogging. Speakers will discuss the evolution of milblogging and share their thoughts on what they think the future holds for milblogging.

Panelists include:

Greyhawk - Air Force Veteran
Matt Burden - Army Veteran
Baldilocks - Air Force Veteran
SGT Mom - Military Mom
TBA

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Danger Room has posted a story regarding the DoD's official policy on new/social media, and they’ve shared some particularly unscientific, but interesting findings.

So! The Pentagon’s new “open-door” policy on social networking is, oh, around five days old. How’s that working out? The results of our totally unscientific reader survey are in.

Commenter “C2dude” said: “Called the IT help desk yesterday, and they hadn’t even heard of the new memorandum from the DOD … I had to forward it to them.”

A reader with U.S. European Command wrote in to complain: “EUCOM is still blocking access to Facebook and Twitter.”

Read more over Wired.com.

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Late last month, the Army released another iPhone application which according to the news release, “puts Army technology news, social media and job postings in one location.”

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command hopes to advance the conversation about Army technologies, inform the public about Army initiatives and showcase the work the Army technology team does to make Soldiers strong and America safe.

“This is a good match for people interested in science and technology,” said Joseph Ferrare, RDECOM spokesperson. “As we see emerging communications venues, there’s an opportunity to tell the Army story. Our goal is to showcase the exiting new technologies our Army scientists and engineers are developing.”

The application is a mash-up of syndicated news feeds from various sources. Officials said future versions will include more news sources.

The app downloads current news features after it launches. Included are entries to the Army Technology Live blog, the official RDECOM homepage, job listings, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and more.

My wife has an iPhone and she lets me test and download useful apps all the time.  Army Technology Live will make a great addition to our iPhone...right alongside my iBeer app. 

Read the entire story here.

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Here’s what Military Blogger Neil Gussman had to say.

Today the military opened up the rules on social media--Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and the others will be authorized unless temporarily blocked by local commanders. But the authority of local commanders, especially in a war zone, is hard for a civilian to imagine. In November last year, I was accused of an OPSEC violation on my blog.

I wrote a post a week after a missile attack on the base. I did not write about the attack itself, but about one of the dumbest soldiers in our unit. A missile hit the 800 horsepower (huge) generator outside his Living Area compound. It wrecked the generator but did not explode. The idiot in question took out his camera and climbed up on the smoking wreck of a generator to get a picture of the unexploded missile.

You can read Neil's full account here.  Hat tip to David Marron of The Thunder Run.

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This is one story that is getting a lot of interest.  After months and months of speculation, the Department of Defense has finally released its official policy on new/social media, ending the debate on the fate of social media within the DoD.  And the policy is encouraging, however for the average new/social media user, there will probably be more questions than answers.  Either way, the policy is a step in the right direction, but it’s not really shocking news considering the DoD has been launching literally hundreds of social media sites over the past year.  The article announcing the news has been online less than a day over at the Social Media Hub and already has over 200 retweets and almost 1,000 Facebook shares.

The policy Directive-Type Memorandum 09-026, which is effective immediately, states that the default for the DoD non-classified network (the NIPRNET) is for open access so that all of DoD can use new media. This is DoD’s first official policy on new media.  Prior to today, the Services and other DoD components developed and implemented their own ad hoc policies — some banning it all together.  Under this new policy, there will be open and consistent access across the board, but prohibited content sites (gambling, pornography, hate-crime activities) will still be blocked.  Also, Commanders at all levels and heads of DoD components will continue to keep networks safe from malicious activity and take actions, as required, to safeguard missions. 

Service members and DoD employees are welcome and encouraged to use new media to communicate with family and friends — at home stations or deployed — but it’s important to do it safely. Keep in mind that everyone has a responsibility to protect themselves and their information online, and existing regulations on ethics, operational security, and privacy still apply.  Be sure never to post any information that could be considered classified, sensitive, or that might put military members or families in danger.

Of course, does this mean millions of DoD personnel are going to sign up for twitter or facebook or start blogs tomorrow?  In my opinion, the numbers won’t be very dramatic, but hopefully for those who had blocked internet access on DoD computers, can now get online.   Then again, some people don’t even bother using new/social media sites like YouTube or even know what they are.  To put things in perspective, my Mom still calls MySpace, MyFace. 

You can download and read the entire policy here in Adobe PDF format.  I recommend you read it.  It’s only 9 pages long and is fairly straightforward.  Of course, it’s not as intriguing as reading the major theories of physics or the Navy CIO’s blog on interoperability within the Enterprise architecture, but still -- pretty good.

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It’s been a busy work week, and having a little IT background myself, I thought I’d point out a story by SmartPlanet that discusses the Navy CIO’s blog turning two years old.  It’s an interesting write up by John Dodge who takes a look at the phenomenon of CIO blogging and the Navy.

Definitive stats on CIOs who publicly blog are hard to find, but one impromptu search in 2009 turned up a mere dozen and sure enough, Carey’s CIO Blog was listed among them. Several were academics and one CIO was well-known IT thought leader and gadget freak John Halamka MD with CareGroup Health Systems in Boston.

While the CIO Blog from one of the nation’s top sailors is intended to open a dialog within what has long been considered the most change-resistant branch of the military, the comments to his posts tend to be five here and five there.

Make sure to check out the story by SmartPlanet, then jump over to the Navy CIO’s blog --- that is if you haven’t already added it to your daily reads.  I mean, how can you not get excited about things like “Enterprise Architecture” and “Interoperability”?!

It’s practically a nail biter.

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The World’s Oldest Known Military Blogger, Solomon Fein a Normandy D Day Vet, recently wrote about Castle Island, which according to Wikipedia was used during World War II for a ship degaussing station.

Indiantown Gap was a training experience for the 301st Port Company.  We were given the opportunity to use our hard won knowledge in a real situation.  We were very familiar with the equipment and material at our disposal on Base, but...We had no idea of what we would encounter elsewhere.

Early in December of '43, we were shipped to Boston, Mass. by rail, and spent some twenty hours in a crowded Pullman Coach....

Read Solomon’s latest post here.

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The Navy Seals Blog and other web sites have recognized Mark Seavey and other military bloggers for their part in nabbing a war hero imposter, Michael Patrick McManus, for stolen valor.  The story grabbed a lot of attention in January and early February, due in most part to the hard work of military bloggers like Mark Seavey, the Greyhawks and countless others. 

While it seems the mainstream media is sometimes quick to dismiss the efforts of military bloggers for their raw frontline stories, they’re also quick to take credit for breaking stories, that were breaking on the internet long before they made news headlines.  Great work by Mark and dozens of other military bloggers who helped take down this imposter.  Here’s the newest story online by the Navy Seals blog:

It is certainly interesting to note how, despite the growing number of people who are working towards exposing military fakers and the increasing number of bloggers who document the efforts of these volunteers, there are still people with the audacity to try and masquerade as the heroes that they are not.

Case in point is an article on the Army Times that shared how another hero-wannabe was exposed. One cannot help but think: when will they ever learn?

It was, however, another accomplishment for the POW Network as well as blogger Mark Seavey, who, along with fellow bloggers, posted a photo of a self-proclaimed “Army General,” bedecked with all sorts of medallions imaginable.

Read the entire story here.

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Hat tip to Boston Maggie for sharing the frontline military blog of Rajiv Srinivasan, a Soldier who is currently deployed to Afghanistan.  He also tweets from the frontlines.  You can check out his blog here which is loaded with great photos of Afghanistan.

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