"Kaboom, Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War" is a book based on Gallagher's blog that provides an insight of the conflict of which many Americans seemed to be growing immune.
Gallagher joined the U.S. Army in 2005 and received a commission in the armored cavalry. Following a 15-month deployment in Iraq, he left the army in 2009 and now lives in New York City (more precisely, Brooklyn).
Reading the book you will find that Gallagher not only draws you into his war, but you see it through his eyes, read his thoughts and feel his emotions - sometimes frightening, other times light-hearted, a necessity for emotional survival.
Read the entire story here.
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Not long ago I noted government agencies have rigid policies (and corresponding paperwork) in place for nearly every process. Agencies are often described as "bureaucracies," not the kind of management structure that lends itself well to Web 2.0 technologies. Yet despite this – or hmm, maybe because of it – some government agencies are experiencing success with social communications tools...
(ITBusinessEdge)
Men Outnumber Women Among Facebook Users in Muslim Majority Countries
Gender inequality in Facebook’s Islamic markets is expressing itself in the social network’s demographic makeup too. The Group of 20 nations, which includes 19 of the world’s biggest developed and emerging markets along with the European Union, have a virtually even gender breakdown between men and women...
(Inside Facebook)
Real Life Army Wife – News from downrange
A few weeks ago my husband’s unit snagged a bit of media attention. An Army reporter, Staff Sgt. Tonya Thomas, interviewed some of the guys in Andrew’s platoon about the work they are doing in Ramadi, Iraq to teach members of the Iraqi Police some of the fundamentals of EOD (bomb squad) work. I found out about the coverage via a link posted on Facebook...
(Galesburg.com blogs)
Twitter’s Evan Williams: The revolution will be tweeted
The usage of social networking site Twitter as an agent for political and social change will only increase in upcoming years, predicted cofounder Evan Williams at a public debate today, as the service continues to reach more people in real-time...
(VentureBeat)
Enlisted voices: the profession of arms
The profession of arms has a public service orientation, a distinct culture, and a history, science and knowledge base. Each of these can be interpreted to mean one thing to an Airman: duty. As technology advances, our forces shrink, and our destructive capabilities become more mechanized, where does that leave the average Airman's mindset? Are we still professionals with technology at our fingertips? What have you seen on Twitter and Facebook about your Airmen?
(U.S. Air Force)
The veteran age gap: A changing social scene for military members
More young vets turn to web versus clubs..
(Suburban Journals)
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If the U.S. Department of Defense can embrace social networking and other Web 2.0 tools, just about any large organization can, said a representative of the agency's Business Transformation Office.
Other agencies can also overcome long-entrenched attitudes about security, underachieving technology and the cost of embracing new technologies, said David Dejewski, speaking Tuesday at FedTalks 2010, a conference about ways government can better use technology. In the past couple of years, the DOD has rolled out its own Facebook-like social-networking site, its own wiki, and its own blog site and website that hosts dozens of Web applications for DOD employees and executives, he said.
The DOD's milWiki knowledge-sharing site, launched in 2008, now has 90,000 users and more than 11,000 articles, Dejewski said. The site has transformed the way members of the military and other DOD employees share information, he said.
Read the entire story here.
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Historian Captures Evolving Story in Iraq
With a front-row seat to the history unfolding in Iraq, Army Lt. Col. Les’ Melnyk is capturing it all for posterity, so the American public knows the full story behind what happened there, and the military can learn from its experiences. Melnyk, a National Guardsman with a Ph.D. in history from the City University of New York, serves as official historian for U.S. Forces Iraq...
(Defense.gov)
Army drops nearly $500,000 on iPads
Normal requisitions by the United States Army include everything from M240 machine guns to sand-colored uniforms to chipped beef. And now, apparently, high-end tablet computers too. A solicitation out of Fort Knox last month carried the number W9124D10IPADS --- and it was the last 5 letters in particular that caught our attention...
(OhMyGov!)
The new face of genealogy
Social networking site is helping people find and connect with the living relatives of their family tree -bad apples and all...
(The Gazette)
193 policies for securing DoD’s networks
Good luck trying to decipher the Defense Department’s color-coded chart of policies it uses to “build, operate and secure” its networks. The two-foot-long IA policy chart outlines 193 documents (including directives, strategies, policies, memos, regulations, strategies, white papers and instructions) that many information assurance professionals “may not be aware of,” Noah Shachtman points out on his Danger Room blog...
(The Federal Times)
Campaign drops use of 'cannon fodder'
Since its release last month, the ad has enraged many military mothers, and a Facebook campaign against the video succeeded yesterday in persuading the federation to edit out the cannon-fodder reference...
(The National Post)
North Korea opens up Internet for national anniversary
A Web site for the country's official news agency was the first to appear from among a group of 1,024 Internet addresses that had been reserved for North Korea but never used. The Korea Central News Agency's new Web site is different from one operated by a group in Tokyo and carries news and photos a day ahead of the Japanese site. Other North Korea-linked Web sites and a recently launched Twitter feed operate from locations outside the country or via direct connections to China's national Internet...
(ComputerWorld)
Hamas warned against visitng targeted operative's Facebook page
It has been revealed that Hamas issued a warning against visiting the Facebook page of one of the senior members of its military branch – and two days later he was killed in a targeted IDF killing. Nasat al-Karmi and Mamun Natashe were responsible for the murder of four Israelis near Hebron in August...
(Ynetnews)
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Nathan Hangen, who resides in Fayetteville, NC, and is a self-described entrepreneur and author, has launched Twitter Rockstar: Advanced Tactics for Personal Branding & Niche Domination. Nathan is an Army veteran who created the course while deployed to Afghanistan.
While I don’t usually pay attention or write about social networking courses that are promoted by internet marketers and I’ve never chatted with Nathan, his story caught my attention because the press release describes how he started Twitter Rockstar from Afghanistan.
It reminds me of my own journey with Milblogging.com, which I dreamed up during my first deployment with the Army National Guard. I launched milblogging.com shortly after returning home from Afghanistan in September 2005, and was fortunate enough to sell this site to Military.com/Monster.com who are huge supporters of the military blogging movement.
Be wary. Now, I’ll be honest with my readers: I don’t believe in paying for services that can easily be found for free online, especially when it comes to Twitter and other social networking services. But there are still plenty of companies and organizations that don’t understand or “get” social networking – and for those folks, hiring a consultant or paying for a service makes sense.
In my case, I’ve been able to build my own personal Twitter following to over 100,000 followers – all without paying for a single book or course. When people ask me how I built such a huge following, I tell them it’s simple: follow people who follow you, and follow new people all the time. Eventually as you build up your base, your own follower numbers will start compounding. The key is, when people don’t follow you back, you have to eventually unfollow them (usually after three to four days), so that you can follow a fresh new batch of people. There are plenty of free services to help you manage your fans and non-followers, like JustUnfollow.com which operates within Twitter’s terms of service.
I haven’t taken a look at the course, nor am I endorsing it in any way since I haven’t evaluated it, but I’m guessing it’s a good primer to get newbies started on Twitter. That being said, $47 sounds like a lot of money, considering the best way to learn anything in my opinion, is to do your own research, then give it a shot yourself.
Either way, Nathan being an Army Veteran like myself, I wish him all the best in his ventures. Using your military background with anything, helps to build up people’s trust and confidence, so I hope people paying for the course are getting their money’s worth. One of the best lines from the Press release:
Nathan’s trademark statement is, “If I can build a business from Afghanistan, just think about what you can achieve from wherever you are.”
Here’s an excerpt from the Press Release:
Nathan Hangen, former Combat Engineer for the U.S. Army, created “Twitter Rockstar” while deployed in Afghanistan from a small desk underneath a bunk bed. Twitter Rockstar is an authoritative guide for Twitter users to market their brand or niche with Twitter. It is said to be “the most comprehensive Twitter guide on the internet”.
“For 10 years”, says Mr. Hangen, “I tried to convince myself that giving up on my dreams and accepting ‘average-ness’ would be OK. It wasn’t and I became miserable. Eventually I found myself in the military, doing a lot of soul searching and thinking about where I wanted to be once my obligation was over. Fortunately, I didn’t have much time to think and was thrust into Afghanistan and away from my family for 8 months.”
Read the entire press release here. If anyone wants free advice on Twitter, drop me a line: milblogging@gmail.com
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A couple weeks ago, my Mother who is a big fan of reading military blogs, sent me a link to a story on The Computer Whisperer blog that she found through Google.
The story titled Find a successful case study and... discusses how milblogs have created buzz, grabbed headlines, and had their story heard.
The article is an interesting read, one that puts things in perspective for bloggers outside of the milblog community.
Blogging. Not “fast food” like Twitter, not all social like FaceBook, but, as I’ve said in my seminars and coaching: “The Long Form.”
“MilBlogs” (Military Blogs) began to share stories, mostly because they didn’t get reported. Matt Burden of Black Five began what has become the biggest (be readership) MilBlog because the main stream media didn’t even report the passing of his friend in combat. He decided not only would the name of Army Maj. Mathew E. Schram wouldn’t be forgotten, but the regular fare of the early days of Black Five were the “Someone You Should Know” category of posts. Over the years, some living, some casualties of war, all placed on the web, so they would not be forgotten. Matt wasn’t alone, and about 6 years ago, there were about 200 MilBlogs.
These blogs are a model. Grass roots “passing the word” model. Get people’s attention on a topic model. Create large virtual communities of support models, quickly and at little monetary cost besides a few dollars. Buzz up a charity model. See a need and make a charity model. Connect people on the “backchannels model.
Read the entire story here.
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Peach County’s gifted fifth-graders traveled from 2010 to the Civil War South on Friday, all while remaining on Byron Elementary School’s campus. As part of an integrated unit on the Civil War, students from Byron, Hunt and Kay Road elementaries had the opportunity to experience life during the period...
(Macon.com)
A military makeover
Agor said even recruiting has morphed to fit the new generation, especially in the area of social networking. He said the Army is moving to the social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to advertise...
(The Lariat Online)
Transformers 3 Filming Near Air Force Memorial; Casting Call For Military Extras
Transformers 3 is coming to the Washington DC Metro area next week, and word is that prior to filming around The Capitol on Tuesday of next week, the film crew will stop by the Air Force Memorial on Monday, October 11, 2010...
(Tformers)
Quebec women's group apologizes for 'cannon fodder' anti-war ad
In its anti-war ad on YouTube, the group shows a fictitious woman packing her daughter’s duffel bag and discussing how one son was killed in the war and another came home psychologically damaged. Now her other child, a girl, has enlisted, she says as she puts a rifle and a bra in the bag...
(National Post)
Consumer convenience drives Defence applications
Game engines, alternative reality and Apple-inspired mobility gear are among the technologies likely to be used in the near future in Australia’s Defence Force as armed forces come to grips with new methods of warfighting...
(Computer World)
Army: Ignore Obama's statement, of course combat continues in Iraq
This message provides clarification on the awarding of wartime awards and badges for Operation New Dawn (OND). Effective 1 Sep 10, OND began signifying an end to combat operations in Iraq. However, combat conditions are still prevalent. Due to the nature of combat conditions, wartime awards will continue to be issued in theater until a date to be determined. Commanders will continue to process retroactive award recommendation through their peacetime chain of command to…"
(Foreign Policy)
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Today, I read an interesting article by Paresh Dave, a writer for Neon Tommy – a Los Angeles-based news source sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC.
His article titled “The Unused Weapon In Afghanistan? Twitter” examines the power of Twitter and how it could be used by the Afghan population to thwart terrorism to some degree. Paresh provides statistics on the number of Afghans who SMS and text, and discusses how Iranians used Twitter to protest the 2009 Iranian elections. He talks about the State department and Twitter founder begging Iraqis to use Twitter to bring transparency to the government, how Mexicans are using Twitter to describe the drug wars, and other great examples.
It’s a fantastic read that provides some great insight to the social power of Twitter with recommendations on getting more Afghans to use the service.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Almost half of the Afghan population subscribes to cell phone service, yet those residents caught in a nine-year-long crossfire between Taliban terrorists and Western soldiers don't seem to have taken advantage of an important four-year-old tool that could act as both weapon and shield.
Ninety-three million Internet users visit Twitter each month, but usage of the micro-blogging service in the Middle East and Africa trails every other region in the world. Though access to the Internet sits at about five percent in countries such as Afghanistan, nearly 8,000,000 Afghans say they use SMS, or texting.
So why hasn't Twitter penetrated a country that could greatly use it for organizing, sharing news and promoting safety? The service can easily be used through texting to both send and receive Twitter posts in areas where no Internet service is available.
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One journalist is out to defeat American ignorance about the war in Afghanistan. His weapon of choice is Facebook and his project is timely. Today marks the ninth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, following the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Teru Kuwayama, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based photographer with a portfolio including Middle East assignments for Time, Newsweek and National Geographic, is beginning a social media embed project with Camp Lejeune’s 1st Battalion, 8th Marines...
(JD News)
Read our Biking Brigadier's blog
ONE of the most senior soldiers in the British Army is making a pilgrimage across the nation to say thanks to Our Boys and Girls - and he's writing about it exclusively for Sun readers. Brigadier Richard Dennis, 51, dubbed the infantry's 'dad', has been the Army's Director of Infantry for the last two years...
(The Sun)
Army Updates Espionage Rulebook Following Leaks to WikiLeaks
The Army has updated a 17-year-old rulebook on espionage following internal leaks of classified information to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks...
(Wired)
Anti-war video: Military 'mom,' played by actress, calls soldiers 'cannon fodder'
MONTREAL - A fictional military mom packs an AK-47 into a duffel bag. She adds a stuffed doll. Then, staring coldly into the camera, she says she might never have had kids had she known they'd grow up to become "cannon fodder" in Afghanistan. These images are part of a new anti-war video designed to shock. It appears to have succeeded and is now pitting a fake military mother against real ones...
(Winnipeg Free Press)
Cartoonist’s hard knocks led to ‘Fort Knox’
For a decade, Paul Jon Boscacci tried to break into the tough syndicated comic strip market with a handful of strips he populated with twisted characters — humans and animals living in wacky imaginary worlds. They drew nibbles, but no bites from syndicates and newspapers. Then he turned to the crazy real world that he knew growing up, the life of a military family. The result has been a rousing “hoo-ah.”...
(The State)
Military bases will still not sell Medal of Honor
Although EA has changed the name of the Taliban force in the upcoming Medal of Honor title to "Opposing Force", it seems that it is just not enough to calm the rage. Game stores located on military bases seem to be keeping the games off of the shelves...
(Examiner)
Troops can get e-mailed ballots, online tracking
Military voters in Tennessee and Kentucky who are overseas during the Nov. 2 election can now get their ballots by e-mail and track their ballot online under new federal voting requirements. The Military and Overseas Empowerment Act that passed last year requires all states to provide timely and electronic access to voter forms to help reduce the time it takes to get absentee ballots from military and overseas voters...
(Kentucky.com)
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I do my best to keep up with as many military blogs as possible as part of my Milblogging duties, but I somehow missed the NTM-A military blog over the past year.
And it's not just one blog - there are dozens of contributors as well as leadership blogs written by LTG William Caldwell, BG Gary S. Patton, CSM Ralp R. Beam and more.
The "NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan" is located on Camp Eggers in Kabul. According to the web site’s newcomer section, the camp is a collection of walled-in safe houses, with adjacent safe houses where U.S. and NATO service members are billeted.
To check out the site's main blog, go here. From there you can jump to the leadership blogs, read news, check out photos, and much much more.
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The Medal of Honor microsite is LIVE and functioning. Please visit to access SSG Miller's biography, battlescape, video and photos honoring his life and sacrifice...
(US Army)
Israeli Army: 'We May Use Facebook To Update Public During Next Year'
The Home Front Command, an Israel Defense Forces regional command, plans to build software that will allow them the ability to use Facebook to keep Israeli civilians informed during wartime, according to the Israeli Haaretz Newspaper...
(KBOI News/Talk 670)
NH Guard in Afghanistan Blog: Monday morning security duty for weekly shura
A quick Monday morning blog update from Charlie Co. at F.O.B. Zormat. There's a little girl from Manchester whose daddy is immensely proud of a certain stuffed pink pony. Photog Bob LaPree will probably get a picture of it to post later this week. For the moment, Specialist Bernad Hudgens wants his kids to know he is doing well and that that little pony, which his daughter, Abigail, gave him on his deployment to Iraq, is with him at his room with 3rd Platoon. He is very proud of little Alex as well...
(Union Leader)
Boot camp 101: Machine gun training
For one week, Kansan reporter Kelly Stroda was embedded in Fort Leavenworth in Leavenworth, Kan., and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, through a media in the military program...
(Kansan)
2010 State of the Blogosphere Survey
Since 2004, Technorati has been tracking the Blogosphere through our State of the Blogosphere study. The goal of the study is to create a complete snapshot of the activities and interactions that make up the Blogosphere by asking you, the bloggers, to share some information about your habits. The survey includes questions like how, when and why you blog. Is this a side business, full time job or something you do for fun?
(Technorati)
Wounded veteran shares stories of resilience
Dave Roever, a Vietnam veteran who has been a public speaker for more than 30 years, speaks to a crowd at the United States Division-South Resiliency Campus Sept. 29. Roever's story has several examples of how Comprehensive Soldier Fitness can help Soldiers through difficult periods and onto success later in life...
(Army.mil)
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In July 2010, Lieutenant Mark Evison died days after he was shot during a firefight in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. A number of news outlets reported the story, and the stories and headlines not only talked of his sacrifice, but the stories also discussed Mark's diary, which weeks earlier had described life on the Afghanistan frontlines as "disgraceful" - a reference to the lack of proper supplies and equipment his Platoon desperately needed.
Extracts of his journal were published in The Sun earlier this year. Mark wrote:
"This with manpower is what these missions lack. It is disgraceful to send a platoon into a very dangerous area with two weeks' water and food and one team medics pack.
"Injuries will be sustained which I will not be able to treat and deaths could occur which could have been stopped."
With the permission of Mark's mother, his diary will be put on display at the Tewkesbury Museum in November.
Gloucestershire News has the story:
EXCERPTS from the diary of a British soldier who was killed in Afghanistan are to be displayed in Tewkesbury.
Mark Evison warned less than three weeks before his own death that serviceman could die needlessly because of a shortage of medical equipment.
His fears were written in his journal, which he kept while serving with the Welsh Guards in Afghanistan.
He bled to death, aged 26, in May 2009 after being shot in the shoulder in Helmand province.
Read the entire story here.
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Pentagon 2.0: Defense Redesigns Its Website
In case you haven’t added it to your browser bookmarks, the Department of Defense’s website defense.gov, recently got a redesign. The spiffy new site features a streamlined homepage with customized tabs: One for the general public, and one for the defense community. It also has this handy-dandy organizational chart, so you can figure out just how far down up the chain of command you are...
(WSJ)
Go.vn, Vietnam's Communist Answer to Facebook
When you're running an authoritarian regime that's hellbent on dictating the flow of information to its citizenry, how do you deal with an entity like Facebook, born in freedom-loving America? Why, you just build your own site, and ban the 'Book. Vietnam launched a trial version of Go.vn, the Communist version of the social network, back in May, but it's heavy emphasis on the lives of Ho Chi Minh and other Vietnamese political-military heroes "didn't set the Internet ablaze," according to the Wall Street Journal...
(Switched)
Warnings against soldier scams
The U.S. Army is concerned about a growing internet scam where con men pretend to be American soldiers overseas looking for love. Eyewitness News spoke to a Long Island woman who was targeted and lost all of her savings...
(WABC)
Israel Investigates "Dancing Soldier" Footage
Israeli military says that it is probing a video which allegedly depicts a uniformed soldier dancing near a blindfolded and bound Palestinian female prisoner. The footage first appeared on Youtube and was later aired on several Israeli TV news reports...
(wooeb News)
Anti-soldier groups are growing in popularity on Facebook
It is critically important to distinguish between groups on Facebook or anywhere else which are "anti soldier" and those which are against other aspects of soldering. In many countries in the world, there are groups that are para military or that operate like militaries, but which are wreaking havoc on the lives of hundreds of millions of people. It makes sense that there would be "anti-soldier" groups to address these entities...
(Helium)
A War of Words
When Matt Gallagher (’05), a history major and English minor from Reno, Nev., first signed up for Wake Forest’s ROTC program, he wanted to become a JAG lawyer to follow in the footsteps of his attorney parents. But two weeks into his freshman year, 9/11 happened. The terrorist attack, along with the University’s Pro Humanitate motto, made him change his mind. “I started thinking above and beyond myself. I wanted to give back to my country,” says Gallagher. “So I joined the front lines of the armored cavalry.”...
(Wake Forest Magazine)
Medal of Honor's Taliban multiplayer 'surprised' Army
Unlike Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's over the top, Tom-Clancy-on-steroids storyline, the new Medal of Honor is shooting for realism. Due out next week, the reboot of Electronic Arts' formerly World War II-only shooter series is based on actual events during the early days of the ongoing Afghanistan conflict...
(Gamespot)
PSYOPS Soldiers Embed in CBS Affiliate TV Stations
The news blog, The Upshot, has revealed the US Army has used local CBS television affiliates in Georgia and North Carolina as training posts for some of its psychological-operations personnel...
(Democracy Now)
How North Korea is using Twitter and Facebook to launch a propaganda war
In the ancient days during the war time they used posters and leaflets to spread the news that they are recruiting men for wars and acquiring money and other materialistic help needed for them during the war time. The use of propaganda posters and leaflets are famous since the First World War. Propaganda war is mainly used to influence their people and confuse their opponents with more lies and less truth...
(Helium)
Family and MWR Command seizes Social Media moment
The use of Facebook.com was approved and encouraged by the Department of Defense almost eighteen months ago. The Family and MWR Command has been using this Social Media website ever since, creating a virtual community of Soldiers, their Families, Civilian Employees, Retirees, and authorized patrons of Army MWR programs and services...
(U.S. Army MWR)
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Military Advantage, Inc. announced the winner of Military.com and CinCHouse.com's Spouse of the Year Award 2010 today.
Army veteran and military wife Carren Ziegenfuss was chosen after hundreds of nominations were submitted to the CinCHouse.com website. Submitted by her husband, Major Chuck Ziegenfuss and several friends, Carren was chosen through community voting on the site and by a panel of expert judges.
A veteran Army wife who has experienced three deployments, Carren's husband was wounded in 2005. During his recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Carren started an outreach group for families of Wounded Warriors through Soldier's Angels (www.soldiersangels.org) a non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families. In addition, Carren has been an active volunteer with Boys and Girls Scouts, volunteered as a PTSD counselor and currently works as a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) for Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter, HI.
The news was announced last week and you can read the entire story here.
Congratulations to Carren who is very deserving of this award!
By the way, Carren’s husband Major Chuck Ziegenfuss who is a regular at the Annual Milblog Conferences, has been blogging for years over at From my position… On the way!
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Harley "Rusty" Sanford shipped out with the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division 1/10 Calvary on March 30, 2003. With his departure his wife's career as a blogger began. "Sometimes things aren't really that great," said Gina Sanford, military spouse, mother of three children, caretaker of three dogs, two fish tanks, three guinea pigs, a bird and a poisonous toad named Lumpy. Thus came the fodder for "Blogs, Bombs and Booby Traps: The Military Spouse Survival Guide," was released Friday in paperback and hardback...
(TDTNews)
Introducing HooahCampbell.com: A site about Fort Campbell, the 101st Airborne and more
The Leaf Media Group's latest website, HooahCampbell.com, offers a large, continuously updated package of news and information about Fort Campbell, the people who live and work there and an in-depth look at developments unfolding within the 101st Airborne Division and across the U.S. Army...
(The Leaf Chronicle)
Rise of the Online Autocrats
The tweets started arriving in August, and they did not mince words. One of the first accused the South Korean government of being "a prostitute of the United States." The Twitter account, under the name "uriminzok," or "our nation," seemed to be part of a sprawling North Korean digital operation that included a Facebook account (registered as a man interested in "meeting other men," but solely for "networking purposes") and a series of YouTube videos meant to celebrate the might of the North Korean military...
(WSJ)
The curious case of a Facebook fake
A security researcher has infiltrated the highest levels of America's intelligence agencies using nothing more than Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and a picture of a pretty woman...
(TechRadar)
Bob Woodward on 'Obama's Wars' (VIDEO)
Military.com Editor Ward Carroll sits down in the home of legendary journalist and author Bob Woodward to discuss his latest book, 'Obama's War'...
(Military.com)
U.S. Shocked to Learn Army Guys Love Porn
US military newspaper Stars and Stripes regrets to inform you that an investigation has found that "'a considerable number' of the news organization's Pacific employees have accessed gambling and pornography sites using government computers...
(Gawker)
Facebook at 517 million users suppresses ET/UFO disclosure with cointelpro spying, censorship
With the premiere of a blockbuster movie The Social Network (Tagline: “You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies”), social network website Facebook.com - whose approximately 517,760,460 current members now total 7.6 % of the human race - has become the online emblem of virtual society in first decade of the 21st century...
(Examiner)
Army confirms that soldier's dad tried to reach JBLM before killing
Winfield last month told The Associated Press that he tried to reach the base because his son, Spc. Adam Winfield, sent him disturbing messages over Facebook suggesting that soldiers in his unit had intentionally killed civilians. Three months later, Spc. Winfield was arrested on suspicion of helping commit another civilian killing...
(The News Tribune)
DoD CIO Nominee: Stuck Between Rock, Hard Place
Nobody has voiced opposition to California Chief Information Officer Teresa Takai becoming the next Department of Defense CIO, but six months to the day after her nomination, President Barack Obama this week withdrew her nomination to be assistant secretary of network and information integration. That job doubles as DoD's CIO...
(GovInfoSecurity)
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Facebook Places, the new feature by Facebook that lets you easily share where you are, what you’re doing, and the friends you’re with from your Mobile phone, has been launching all around the world.
This past week, it launched in Canada. The week before, Facebook Places launched in the UK.
However, with some concerns over security, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued an advisory to its military.
It is requested that this document is distributed as widely as possible, on the proviso that it is advising and not instructing personnel to disable the application.
FACEBOOK PLACES I CHECKED INTO APPLICATION
1. Introduction. Facebook have recently launched a new application called “PLACES I CHECKED INTO”, which is automatically active on all Facebook accounts until disabled. This application utilises the IP address, to identify where the user logs onto their Facebook profile from. The application then posts the status on the wall of the user’s profile, as shown below in Figure 1. A more detailed description, including a map of the location, as at Figure 2, is then provided by clicking on the location (highlighted within the red circle).
2. Aim. The aim of this document is to give guidance to Military users who wish to know how to disable the Facebook “PLACES I CHECKED INTO” application.
3. Concerns. The main concern relating to the use of the application, is that it may inadvertently compromise the locality of a military user. Of significant note, users on operations or in Northern Ireland, are potentially putting themselves at risk by drawing attention to their exact whereabouts
Both The Register and Silicon Republic have published stories regarding the warning put out by the Ministry of Defence. From The Register:
Security chiefs have cautioned army, navy and RAF personnel to disable Facebook Places, over fears it could be used by terrorists to identify and track targets.
The new service could act as a "one stop shop targeting pack", particularly in Northern Ireland, they warn. The Ministry of Defence is concerned about how it could be used by dissident Republican groups to gather intelligence on operations, as well as on the family and friends of personnel.
You can read the entire news story here. The advisory (.pdf) issued by the MoD is available here.
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Slightly more than 60 years ago, Thomas M. Hammel, then just 20, left his hometown of Dickinson and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. In doing so, he became just one of thousands of young men who formed the first wave of a buildup in the Air Corps prior to World War II. Most sought opportunity and control over their lives as the possibility of a military draft gained momentum...
(The Dickinson Press)
Red alert at Army base over Afghan corpse photos
Earlier this month a dramatic standoff between Army officials and defense attorneys unfolded at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state when officials invoking national security demanded that defense attorneys surrender CDs containing grisly pictures of U.S. soldiers posing with the corpses of Afghan civilians they allegedly killed...
(Salon)
Iran imprisons its blogfather
The repressive regime sentences Hossein Derakhshan to 19.5 years for the "crime" of speaking his mind...
(Salon)
Denying Our Soldiers The Vote
The Department of Justice is failing to enforce a law that protects the voting rights of soldiers overseas. They're allowed to fight and die for their country, but they can't vote for its leaders? Last Saturday was the deadline under the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) for states to have sent unmarked absentee ballots to soldiers overseas so they can exercise the same right to vote as those they risk their lives to protect, including Afghans and Iraqis...
(IBD)
New Developments in Death of Missing Army Wife, Lori Arrowood
According to the GBI, a Liberty County corrections officer has been arrested and is being charged with the murder of the 42 year old woman. A GBI spokesman says Kenneth Lumpkin has been charged. The GBI offered little other information at the time, saying that interviews and some items found in the woman's residence led to Lumpkin's arrest. News Three discovered tonight on Lori's Facebook page that Kenneth Lumpkin was friends with her and her husband, Nathon...
(WSAV TV)
Airmen show Miami Heat how to load bombs (PHOTO GALLERY)
Anyone glancing around Staff Sgt. Wayne Mill’s Facebook page will see plenty of pictures from his day at the office Thursday. Mill punched in, went to Eglin Air Force Base’s King Hangar and showed Miami Heat President Pat Riley and three Heat players how to load a bomb onto an F-15...
(Northwest Florida Daily News)
Video Hints at Executions by Pakistanis
An Internet video showing men in Pakistani military uniforms executing six young men in civilian clothes has heightened concerns about unlawful killings by Pakistani soldiers supported by the United States, American officials said...
(NY Times)
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Matt Gallagher (aka Kaboom), well known among the military blog community for his story-telling and writing skills, grabbed national headlines when his blog was shut down during his tour to Iraq. Now he’ll be sharing his story in a legal forum at UConn Law School.
On Friday, Oct. 1, Matt Gallagher will be the featured speaker at an event sponsored by the Law School's International Programs, the International Law Society, the Law School chapter of the ACLU, and the Military Law Society. Gallagher, author of a new book titled "Kaboom," will present "The First Amendment and Blogging the Iraq War."
Gallagher is a junior Army officer whose blog, as named "Kaboom," reported on what it was like occupying an Iraqi village. The blog was shut down by the Pentagon, a First Amendment cause that was taken up by the Washington Post. His book was released in March to favorable reviews including one from the Wall Street Journal.
I’ve been blogging since 2004 and I can tell you Matt is one of the nicest people in the milblogging world. If you’re in the Uconn area tomorrow, this should be a worthwhile event.
Read the entire story here.
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Aunt starts Facebook page for Oklahoma soldier
Her nephew, U.S. Army Sgt. Rusty Dunagan of Guthrie, recently lost his legs and left arm in an explosion, she said. Porter, 48, said the military does not want her to go into specifics about what happened, but the blast occurred somewhere "in the vicinity” of Iraq and Afghanistan...
(NewsOK)
Taylor turns to Facebook to promote military streetlight banners
Ridgecrest, Calif. — Council member Jerry Taylor has taken to Facebook to promote an idea he has embraced to honor Ridgecrest residents currently serving in the armed forces. Taylor’s idea, inspired by what several other communities around the state have done, would honor local members of the military who are deployed overseas by stating their name and other information on banners around town...
(Ridgecrest)
UFO Conference at National Press Club: Twilight Zone Response from the MSM
In case you missed it there was an live episode of the Twilight Zone at the National Press Club on Monday. An episode where retired Air Force personal held a press conference about UFO incidents they claimed they’d personally witnessed while serving in the military...
(DBKP)
World War I diary beats all expectations at British auction
A rare diary written by a British soldier in World War I has been sold at auction for 9,600 pounds (15,100 dollars), fetching three times its pre-sale estimate, Hansons Auctioneers said Wednesday. In his handwritten notes, Lieutenant Kenneth Edwin Wootton tells the story of life in the trenches and recalls how he 'politely' asked a group of German soldiers to surrender...
(Monsters and Critics)
'Kill team' soldier in video confession
In what is being described as one of the worst crime cases out of Afghanistan, five US soldiers have been accused of the premeditated murder of three randomly selected civilians. The five soldiers, who were stationed in the country's south, are accused of forming their own "kill team"...
(ABC News)
Eighth Army on Facebook and Twitter
The 8th Army recently launched its own organizational Facebook and Twitter pages to better communicate with servicemembers, families and civilians...
(Military.com)
Hollywood Films 'Battleship' Aboard Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
A Universal Pictures production crew was aboard Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) Sept. 7-24 to film the new action-adventure movie "Battleship," based on the Hasbro board game. Directed by Peter Berg, Battleship will feature the U.S. and Japanese navies stumbling upon the point of an alien invasion. Berg's previous directorial works include "The Kingdom," "The Rundown" and "Hancock."...
(NAVY)
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