The truth under it all

FORT DIX, N.J. - One of many questions I asked women was what type of sock, underwear, bra, etc., they found most comfortable while deployed. It was a question that most found hard to answer.

My alter ego, the mousy Jewish reporter, prefers Body by Victoria. However, I'm almost positive that Victoria has never been to a war zone. And at nearly $40 each I wasn't the one to take her there.

One thing all the women agreed on is that any clothes that I took with me had to be sturdy. On most Forward Operating Bases contractors are in charge of doing our laundry, and they weren't going to get out the Woolite and hand wash my delicates.

So, I had a mission: to find a bra that was comfortable, sturdy and cost effective.

First I tried a sports bra from Walmart. It was cotton, its cups were formed and sturdy, the bottom band was made of elastic and easy to pull on over my head. However, the cotton bra would become water logged under my body armor and leave a raw red ring around my rib cage. And I couldn't wear it for more than 8 hours. I know this wouldn't usually be an issue for most women, but female soldiers are not most women. We live and work in extreme conditions often wearing our boots, uniforms and gear for 15 or more hours. They also didn't wear well, after several washes and wears the elastic and fabric stretched out.

I decided to try a sports bra from Target next. It was similar in it was a pullover bra. Let's face it; the bra hooks stab and hurt when you're wearing nearly 100 lbs of body armor and equipment at times.

The two Champion brand bras, one with built in cups, are made of more than 80 percent polyester or nylon and around 10 percent spandex material so it would stay relatively dry against my skin. And I could wear this bra for more than 24 hours before it started to irritate my skin. I found a winner.

Ironically it was similar to the sports bra, Kaos - 90 percent tactile nylon and 10 percent spandex - the Army is now issuing women when they deploy. The problem is the Army only issues us 2 bras.

The underwear was a little harder. See, I'm not a fan. I can't tell you why. It was never discussed in my family, but I never remember wearing underwear as a child. Over the years, usually brought on by communal living, I've tried on and off to start but usually by the middle of the day I'm hiding in a bathroom somewhere trying to free myself from these medieval and uncomfortable torture devices.

In basic, my newly ACU-clad uber-self tried boxer shorts and didn't like those either. The more feminine were either dental floss or would be by the end of the day. Yes, even the infamous granny panties didn't like me. I came to the conclusion that underwear was just not built for my body.

The cotton ones didn't work for the obvious reasons. Who wants to sit around in soggy underpants? First I tried a pair that I found at Walgreens of all places. They were 100 percent nylon, thin and fairly comfortable. It was like wearing a nylon stocking and stayed in place. However, the material wasn't good for my skin, and I ended up with a heat rash - not so comfortable or attractive.

I had almost given up when I found some Under Armour underwear in the PX. I tried the boy shorts and the panty styles. Both are made out of wicking material: 92 percent nylon and 8 percent elastic. I could barely feel them; that says a lot for someone who has almost never worn underwear. The boy shorts are a little more comfortable, and the great thing was I could finally cut out the built-in underwear in my PT shorts and wear them.

I've never pretended to understand the Army. In my experience, the Army usually goes with the most illogical choice. And issuing soldiers wool socks for the desert - not particularly logical. But hey, I tried several of the wicking-material style socks.

The Thorlos anti-fatigue brand was 82 percent Thor-Lon© Acrylic, 9 percent nylon, 5 percent spandex, and 4 percent X-Static. At first the socks are comfortable, but as the day goes on and the temperature rises, my feet start to sweat. The thick tan socks are not exactly comfortable when mixed with suede boots and heat. At $10.95 a pair they should massage my feet and give me a pedicure.

I found a pair of generic ACU-sea foam green boot socks at Military Clothing Sales, 82.5 percent cotton, 10 percent nylon and 5 percent spandex and 2.5 percent nylon, which I really liked, and you couldn’t beat the price of 3 for $5.

However, my father found the best socks. The socks look like men's black dress socks and are mostly cotton with a small percentage of Nylon and Spandex. They are thinner than the ACU-green socks and allow my feet some breathing room. And you can’t beat the price - free courtesy of the Daddy.

So, if you are deploying you now have an idea of what to buy or ask for in the mail. Let me know what brands have worked for you.

Blood and Guts

FORT DIX - N.J. It was hard to turn away from the grotesque photo. We'd heard the story several times before - an instructor here at Fort Dix bit down on the blasting cap of a claymore mine. Urban legend? A tale one weaves around the campfire to scare young soldiers?

Here was proof projected before us in all its gory glory.

He looked like a primordial squid. His face had been blown open - no nose, no teeth, no chin, no cheeks - just the redness that was his facial muscle exposed. The ends had torn, rippled almost, resembling tentacles. His blue eyes a stark contrast to the broken blood vessels in his eyes peeked from behind the peeled back flesh.

He survived, the instructor at the Fort Dix School of Combat Medicine told us, long enough to commit suicide.

The instructors on the Lanes training gave a little more detail as we practiced laying our claymores. They told us the man was despondent, afraid that no one would ever love the disfigured him.

I fixated on the photo - I wondered why he decided to bite down on the cap that day? Did he think it was a classroom prop? Was he trying to scare his students, make them laugh?

He survived; however, the instructor reminds us again and again that most do not.

Most combat deaths are inevitable; during ground combat up to 90 percent of casualties die before reaching a medical treatment facility.

However, there is some hope. During his classes one of our instructors, Jimmie Woodard, quotes Col. Ron Bellamy, an Army surgeon - "During battle if we could put on a tourniquet and perform needle chest decompressions we can save in between 70 and 90 percent of preventable deaths."

While that simple technique can save 70 to 90 percent of preventable deaths not all deaths are preventable. During the lesson we are told that if we come to a wounded soldier who is not breathing and unresponsive or will not survive their wounds to move on to the next casualty.

They tried to ease our discomfort by assuring us that we have to treat the people who can be saved.

While many wounds; massive trauma, massive head injuries, surgically uncorrectable torso trauma cannot be treated others can like tension pneumothorax and amputation of a limb, or hemorrhaging from an arm or leg.

Many of our instructors, veterans themselves, tell us that 2,500 soldiers died in Viet Nam from wounds to the arm or leg. These Soldiers had no other wounds; they simply bled out.

By learning to apply a tourniquet or perform needle chest decompressions we can reduce battlefield deaths by 70 to 90 percent, said Jimmie Woodard, the lead instructor.

Another important skill we are taught is to insert an 18-gauge IV catheter/needle unit and administer 250 ml of crystalloids.

Let me just put it out there. I hate needles. But I made a commitment to this country and more importantly the people who are serving next to me to learn everything I can that might help save their lives; becoming a Combat Livesaver is part of that commitment. So, I bore down, stuck out my arm, and held my breath.

Master Sgt. Schiff, a former Cavalry Soldier, now Public Affairs, and I team up. Although manly and gruff - he is one of the few people I'd trust in a battle between a sharp object and my skin.

I decide to go first, be stuck first anyway. While he is laying out his gear and checking the IV bag and line - I waffle back and forth - will I watch or won't I?

He feels for a vein before tying the constricting band two inches above the crook in my arm and tells me to pump my fist. A large vein pops up on the outside of the crook.

In a circular motion that gets larger and larger he cleans the inside of my arm with iodine. Then with one long sweeping motion he cleans the insertion site with an alcohol pad. Schiff takes the needle between his thumb and index finger, angles it at 20 degrees before pushing it in - only then do I decide to watch.

I hold my breath, but there is no flash, no blood. He digs in deeper, moves a little left; I gasp and grab the underside of the table with my free hand. My face contorts as I try not to move the arm he is working on. I mouth curse words and suck in breath - finally he finds gold. He pushes the catheter forward and removes the needle. Bright red blood, my blood, runs down my arm on to the table pad. Quickly he inserts the IV connection into the catheter.

He drops the bag below my arm - my blood flows into the IV line. It's a good connection.

The instructor, Marlum Lipsey, decides to improv a lesson while I'm still hocked up. Lipsey tells Schiff to hang the bag upside down to create an air bubble in the line then close the roller clap to stop the air from getting into my veins. Schiff then drops the bag below my arm again then opens the roller clap to allow the blood to push the air back into the IV bag. This technique pushes air out of the line. The line becomes warm as my blood flows into it, down my arm, around my thumb and begins to climb towards the bag. Then he lifts the bag to allow my blood to flow back into my veins with the IV fluid. He then squeezes to bolus the remainder of the fluid in to my arm.

For more information visit - www.cs.amedd.army.mil/clsp/

Remember the sacrifices of September 11

It only took 102 minutes to change our future. 

When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, it changed the path of each and every American, especially felt by many of us here today as we prepare to go to Iraq. 

New York's emergency services were among the first on the scene. 

17 minutes: 9:03 a.m. 

In the 17-minute period between 8:46 and 9:03 a.m. on September 11, New York City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had mobilized the largest rescue operation in the city's history. More than a thousand first responders had been deployed, an evacuation had begun, and the critical decision that the fire could not be fought had been made. 

Then the second plane hit. 

United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower. 

The last best hope for the community of people working in or visiting the World Trade Center rested not with national policymakers but with private firms and local public servants, especially the first responders: fire, police, emergency medical service, and building safety professionals. 

The emergency response effort escalated with the crash of United 175 into the South Tower. With that escalation, communications as well as command and control became increasingly critical and increasingly difficult. First responders assisted thousands of civilians in evacuating the towers. 

35 minutes: 9:37 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 hits the west wall of the Pentagon. 

In addition to county fire, police, and sheriff's departments, the response was assisted by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Fire Department, Fort Myer Fire Department , the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the FBI, FEMA, a National Medical Response Team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and numerous military personnel within the Military District of Washington. 

22 minutes: 9:59 a.m. the South Tower collapses. 

The principal first responders were from the Fire Department of New York, the New York Police Department, the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD), and the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

1 minute: 10 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93 crashes southeast of Pittsburg. 

29 minutes: 10:29 a.m. the North Tower collapses. 

102 minutes. 

It only took 102 minutes to take 2,973 lives. 

2,973 lives. 

On September 11, the nation suffered the largest loss in its history as the result of an outside hostile attack. 

The Fire Department of New York suffered 343 fatalities: the largest loss of life of any emergency response agency in history. 

The Port Authority Police Department suffered 37 fatalities: the largest loss of life of any police force in history. 

The New York Police Department suffered 23 fatalities: the second largest loss of life of any police force in history. 

81 passengers, nine flight attendants and two pilots died Flight 11

56 passengers; two pilots and seven flight attendants Flight 175

37 passengers, two pilots and five flight attendants Flight 93

58 passengers, four flight attendants and two pilots aboard the Flight 77 were killed, as were 

125 people inside the Pentagon - 70 civilians and 55 military service members

102 minutes. 

These were teh first casualties. 

As we go on this path that was set for us eight years ago, let us hope that we meet any challenges with the same courage and conviction these men and women met theirs. 

As we light a candle and place a white carnation on the table let us take a few minutes to honor their sacrifice. 

* information to write this memorial was used from The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission) final report and articles from USA Today. Speech was given by 1st Lt. Olivia Cobiskey at a Sept. 11 memorial at Fort Dix, N.J.

What Makes A Great Blog?

Some great tips from Matt Thompson at "What Makes A Great Blog: Principles for Success: A Poynter/NewsU Webinar."

Thompson's favorite blogs:
Romenesko
Dallas ISD
The Daily Dish
Lifehacker
Kottke
Lemondrop

Thompson said he organized his blogs by priority the "rock stars" and "great reads," using a RSS feed at www.google.com/reader

Thompson also talked about the 7 ways to affectively blog

Focus, Frequency, Links, Community, Voice, Visuals and Workflow

Focus: What is your niche? Aggregate and be aggregated. What purpose do you want your blog to fulfill?

Before you start ask: What is your shared interest? How will people engage with one another? How will you attract more people to your blog?

Frequency: ask: What brings us back? Make sure there is a reason for people to come back to you, Thompson said. Posting frequently is the key to boosting blog popularity, however, great content trumps everything - if you only post once a week make sure it's great content. He suggested a daily round-up and using comment as posts.

Links: Give love to get love. Thompson suggests trackback - post links to other blogs - they may link back to yours and help you increase your community. He said it's important to engage in other blogs. He suggested using http://blogsearch.google.com

Other key suggestions: It's the value of the short post. People like links and lists.

Community: It's like being a beat reporter - get to know your community - engage with them and think of ways to strengthen that bond ... perhaps a live chat or create a post from their comments - it'll increase your frequency and let them know you are listening. Encourage interaction but set clear boundaries - let them know up front that if they do not play nice - they will not be allowed to play at all.

Voice: Decide what the blog is going to be. Is it going to be a behind the scenes way of how you get your stories and then write them? Is it a way keep track of how you digest the news? Is it a journal of the receipts you try? According to Thompson first person does not decrease your credibility.

Visuals: Thompson called it "The 1,000 foot view," looking at a blog from far away. He suggests using photos or other tools to break up large blocks of text to keep people from being overwhelmed visually - the value of digression!

Workflow: Think of it as just another tool in your tool box. Make it work for you, integrate it into your workflow: write a short post "teaser" about the interesting interview you just did or the question that won't stop nagging you. Then close the circle and Tweet or Direct Message (DM) or Facebook (FB) that the story is done and send people to it.

This will increase your frequency.

Other tips: Let people know you blog - use your byline ... add to newspaper byline - reporter blogs regularly at www.yaddayadda.com

Absorb your competition - link to them but be the place to come for all the news on your issue.

It's a great place for College students to cut their teeth. They must own the process of blogging, direct their own focus and content. Get them excited about the ownership, Thompson said.

Remember it's not a column - it's organic - it will grow as you grow.

Finally, Thompson said there is not one way to blog - start slow with a basic blog - let it expand has your community grows.

For more classes at Poynter check out Poynter News U

Visit Thompson at SnarkMarket, vita.mn

If you want to read hash tags from the class on Twitter search #nuwebinar

Facebook Privacy Guide

I created this privacy guide to help Soldiers protect themselves. Hope it helps the rest of you.

FacebookPrivacyGuide.ppt

Military and Generational Miscommunication

As Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li pointed out in Groundswell; the Internet is no longer a sandbox that can be walled off, it is fully integrated into all elements of business and society - including the life of many junior officers.

When Gen. B.B. Bell, commander U.S. Forces Korea, decided to block 13 popular social networking sites on May 15, 2007 a line of demarcation was drawn between senior military leaders and the junior officers largely comprised of Generation X born between 1961 and 1980 and Generation Y or Millennials born between 1981 and 2001 as defined by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their books Generations and Millennials Rising. This is only one example of the generational divide in communication and understanding, which has led to and will continue to lead to the attrition of junior officers unless something is done to bridge this gap.

Baby Boomers worked relentlessly, often sacrificing their marriages, family and personal lives as pointed out in Leonard Wong's study "Generations Apart Xers and Boomers in the Officer Corps." In his report, Wong points out that GenXers and Milennials, have deployed more than their Boomer counterparts and used social networking tools like video conferencing and Facebook to stay connected to their family and friends.

Connection to home equals comfort, comfort equals retention.

When the military started blocking those tools, it was just another example of how out of touch the senior leadership was with the needs of today's young leaders according to Mark Gebicke's essay "Military Attrition Better Data, Coupled with Policy Changes, Could help the Services Reduce Early Separation."

It's this atmosphere of mistrust that disenfranchises military youth and further accentuates the gap between senior military leaders and the Gen X Captains and Millennial Lieutenants.

I want to discuss three points in which GenX junior leaders are different from their Booker bosses.

First, unlike their Boomer bosses these young leaders are more comfortable with technology; secondly, culturally they are indifferent to race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. And finally although they work hard they demand a work-life balance that their supervisors have sacrificed for careers.

Let's look at how GenX and Boomers relate to technology.

Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John M. Keane noted in a February 15, 2000 report, that the number of captains who were leaving the military had sharply risen. This was only two years after the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel released a message expressing little concern with the attrition of junior officers.

What changed?

The Army went from downsizing in the post-Cold War era to fighting a series of wars, wars that are fought as much on the ground as it is in cyberspace.

Currently, a third of all adult 18 and older have a profile on a social network site like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Those numbers are higher when we look at the incoming Millennials and younger GenXers - 75 percent of American adults 18 - 24 and 57 percent of 25 - 34 year olds have a profile on a social networking site, and 65 percent of American teens 12 - 17 use these same sites, according to a January 2009 memo issued by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The fact that these young leaders are more technologically savvy might accentuate the gap in communication with senior leaders but it also makes them one of the military's greatest resources.

They are more aware of world affairs and use these tools not only to connect to friends and family while deployed, but as tools for career development, research, to multi-task and organize their ever increasing work load allowing them more time at home to watch their son play basketball or their daughter soccer.

By not allowing access to these tools the senior leadership sends a clear message that what junior officers need is unimportant, which continues to disenfranchise these officers encouraging them to leave, losing valuable resources for the military.

Serving one's country is honorable but not all defining for this younger generation of volunteer service members. Unlike their Boomer bosses born between 1946 and according to Strauss and Howe, neither GenXers nor Millennials expect to work for one employer.

That acceptance gives them the ability to envision other possibilities for themselves beyond the military.

Many 30 year olds have had an average of seven different jobs according to Peter Ronayne's paper "Getting the 'X' Into Senior Executive: Thoughts on Generation X and the Future of the SES."

Now let's look at how GenXers and Boomers differ in their views of sexual orientation. In that same paper, Ronayne points out one of the positive aspects of this "spiraling career pattern," pursuing a profession across many sectors, is the experience they gain working with a range of individuals that cover the American spectrum.

The GenXers entered a military focused on peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The Millennials, like their grandparents' generation, believe in family, community and teamwork - they have almost institutionalized volunteerism, according to Art Fritzson, Lloyd W. Howell, Jr., and Dov S. Zakheim's paper "Military of Millennials."

They want to serve; however, not when that service includes the degradation of their peers.

An issue recently brought to light by the "firing" of First Lieutenant Daniel Choi, an Iraq war veteran and West Point Graduate, who openly admitted to being gay while serving in the New York Army National Guard, in an open letter to the president and congress and posted on CNN.com.

Many of these young leaders, who grew up with openly gay peers in high school, believe in equity and solidarity, and the U.S. military's policy on homosexuality feels inappropriate and offensive to them.

Finally, let's look at how the generations balanced work and family life. Their patriotism, coupled with an unwavering want to improve the human condition, inspires them to endure many facets of the military they feel is contrary to their belief system. But that optimism and perseverance is not infinite.

Senior leaderships dogged "careerism" and loyalty to the military is in direct opposition to the younger officer's desire for work-life balance. In Millennials Rising, Howe wrote that GenY is deeply committed to family, community, and teamwork. They volunteer at a higher rate and seek work at non-profits. They do not work for money but for a sense of community and family.

Called the "neglected generation" by M.J. Stephey in Time magazine in 2006, 13 GenX was born into a time of soaring divorce rates and working mothers. As "latchkey" children they learned to fend for themselves and developed a strong sense of self that is often misinterpreted at arrogance. However, they crave that familial connect they did not get in childhood and many have found it through their service in the military according to Wong's research.

In closing, young officers have proven that they are willing to leave a job that no longer provides what they need to develop professional or personally, according to Ronayne's research.

These young officers are an asset the military cannot afford to squander. They bring a needed sense of esprit de corps back to the services, they invigorate a stale sensibility and they demand a moral code that is higher than the military has seen in years.

If the leadership does not reconcile itself with this new generation they will continue to lose talented and inspired individuals to attrition which will create an even larger gap in institutional knowledge in the future.

The gap in communication and understanding is not insurmountable. These young officers were brought to the military by their desire to help people and their want to serve. Mentor young officers - actually listen to them. Ensure that they have the technology they need to complete their mission, amend Army policy to better reflect current law, policy, and culture and make real effort to ensure they have the time to attend the significant events in their families' lives.

Knowledge is power, we're ready to talk, are you?

(note: from a speech written by me for the PAOCQ course)

Don't be offended if I un-friend you

Some people connect hoping to find old school friends, a job, network, or to see if they can get more followers than Ashton Kutcher. Regardless, of why they connected at some point everyone wonders: Is it time to disconnect?

For me connecting has been an amazing adventure into the powerful world of social media. We are seeing right now how it's changing the world in Iran. And don't get me wrong, I've connected to some amazing people in the social media world and learned a great deal. However, there comes a time when you have to decide - is this a professional place or a personal place.

I never thought I'd have to draw that line - I'm a neurotic hippy and believe in communal living. I'm fond of saying I don't have an esoteric bone in my body. So, for me it's always been a personal place and I didn't mind sharing that place with my professional contacts. It's a place where I'm supposed to be safe to share my joys and vent my frustrations. We all have bad days, right. The problem Im having is I no longer feel like I can be myself - so I'm going to start disconnecting. I'm leaving this job soon for Iraq and I don't want to feel as if I can't be honest about how I feel during what will obviously be a very stressful time. I want to know that the groups of people sharing my virtual world are there to support me and love me - warts and all.

So, please don't be offended if I un-friend you, it's nothing personal.

Maybe we can be friends again in the future.

For those also contemplating disconnecting here are some tutorials.

LinkedIn:
Disconnecting is as easy as going to the "Connections" screen, click "Remove Connections" at the top right-hand side, and then choosing and confirming who you want to disconnect from.

Twitter:
Go to the Profile page, click on "Followers," click "Remove," and if you don't want them to follow you click "Blocked."

Facebook
Click on "Friends" tab at top of page. Click on "All Friends" tab in the upper, left hand corner of the page. Click on the big "X" to the far right of their name. To block someone go to "Settings" in the upper right hand corner of the page. Click on privacy – at the bottom of the page is a box type the person's name and click the "Block" button.

If you are worried about reprisal don't

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn none of them will inform your connection that you disconnected from them.

On Facebook and Twitter you can go one extra step and block people – this makes them unable to see you at all like you don't exist.

For LinkedIn if the disconnected individual invites you to connect again, they will get an error message saying something to the effect that "This user cannot be invited at this time".

If they contact you directly - you have to decide how to explain yourself. I'm for ignoring the issue personally or announcing it on my blog - depends how I feel that day.

If you decide that you want to reconnect you can re-invite the person you disconnected from, in which case the connection will be fully restored

The ability to disconnect makes me feel like I have some, small seminence of power over my own life.

Embracing Social Media to Military Advantage

Create and Manage your digital professional identity

By 1st Lt. Olivia Cobiskey
EPI Director of Marketing - Media

There is a revolution happening.

The Internet is no longer a sandbox that can be walled off, it is fully integrated into all elements of business and society as pointed out by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li in Groundwell; winning in a world transformed by social technologies.

Faced with this shift in information management and social networking and a generational move towards more technology-centric millennials moving up its ranks the military has begun to embrace, in some cases slowly, the changing patterns of communication and social interaction in a Web 2.0 world.

In August 2008, the Coast Guard started to create a digital professional identity using social media platforms on the Internet. First they created a "celebrity" page for the commandant, then came a Coast Guard page on Facebook, they launched a channel on YouTube to post videos and responses from service members, started posting photos from Coast Guard events on Flickr and finally they offered news and opinions through podcasts. All these platforms were updated frequently, sometimes daily.

The U.S. Navy wasn't far behind and has a presence on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and Ning.

"It's part of the way you communicate now," Navy Capt. Jeff Breslau, a U.S. Pacific Command spokesman told the Associated Press in an interview about the Northern Commands social networking sites on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and MySpace. "There's no reason why we can't talk directly to the public and now we have the tools to do it."

In January, the Air Force made social media a priority - having its Public Affairs department shift from traditional outreach to Facebook, a Blog and Twitter. Social networking tools help the military fulfill the intent of DoD Directive (DoDD) 5230.09: that accurate and timely information be made available to the public and the news media to help the public analyze and understand defense strategy and national security issues. Furthermore, social networking tools also allow Soldiers to correct erroneous information quickly.

The Army is making the shift too by using Twitter, Flickr, iReport - CNN's citizen journalists' site, and YouTube and Vimeo as their primary video sites they are using.

The Army.mil Web team in Crystal City is also developing both Facebook and MySpace pages.

The Marines is the last service to jump on the social networking bandwagon. They have very inactive official sites on Twitter and Facebook. However, Marine Col. Bob Sommers of the Marine For Life program recently embraced the social media philosophy and his staff is developing Marine For Life sites on Twitter, Facebook and blogstop to help the organization reach out to its members.

This reticence to shape a digital identity and embrace these new tools has created some problems. It's simple, if you are not willing to meet the communities need and create places for them to meet, the community will create them for you. Now faced with dozens of "unofficial" sites some services will have to fight for legitimacy on the Web.

To get a better view of your service's digital identity, type it into Google. See how many hits you get. Typing "US Army" into Facebook's search tool gets 500 results. Many of the pages look legitimate, some have the new U.S. Army logo, and the largest has 1,741 members. However, the U.S. Army does not have an "official" Facebook page. This is not unusual. Anyone can create a Facebook group page using the name or some variation of "US Army."

Here are some steps to make sure the service members can distinguish between your services legitimate Web presence and the not so legitimate Web presence.

Decide how to brand your digital identity.

A digital identity is your service's presence on the Web - the sites and accounts you register for and create help determine how people view and interact with your service online. Make sure your brand is sticky - that it is visually identifiable.

Social media is helping to create a separate identify for the U.S. Army Reserve, which is usually lumped in with the National Guard.

Twitter, LinkedIn, Go Daddy, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace - it can be overwhelming.

"Go slow," said Andrea Baker, director of Technology Solutions and Social Web Evangelist from Navstar, Inc. from Falls Church Va. "Start small – it's a myth that this is about youth, it's not generational. We have 20 year olds who don't get it and we have 60 year olds who do."

Army Reserve Communication started off with a Blog, "My Army Reserve," to help get information to Reserve Soldiers who are unemployed, under employed or looking to change careers for the Employer Partnership Initiative, an Army Reserve initiative to help build partnerships between corporate America and the Reserves. Next they created a My Army Reserve pages on Twitter and Flickr.

As a brand, My Army Reserve is simple and clean. The My, provides the viewer with a sense of ownership. Before creating the blog, staff at Army Reserve Communication and the Army Reserve's Employer Partnership Initiative seeded and gathered information from dozens of social media sites and their users.

Join the conversation

Identify the sites that might work for your service, base, unit and hang out on them. Start by sharing your ideas. Don't just respond with a "Ditto!" or a "Hoorah," but actually add something of value to the conversation. Help people solve their problem, listen to what they are saying and ask them what they'd like to see from an official site. Social Media is about the power of one - grassroots vs. top down, Baker said.

Once you've identified the best tools for your group - build your destination

Build it and they will come

According to Seth Godin in Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, marketing use to be about advertising, now it's about communicating with your tribe or any group of people, large or small who are connected to one another, a leader and an idea. In this new media world there is little tolerance for companies that are not authentic in their representation. Initiatives succeed when companies and organization create content the serves its communities interest. Four steps to help determine what to communicate and how:

1. Focus on a community's interests
2. The editorial mission: build value for the community
3. Who and what
4. Inspire your community

By participating in the online conversation the military will be able to build goodwill and trust in the community.

Embrace your inner gardener

Don't just communicate - facilitate. Continue to virally seed the Internet - tell people about you and what you do - continue to build your digital identity. On the Army Reserve Web site - the Employer Partnership Initiative has added hyperlinks to its various social media sites. This helps build its official digital identity.

Other services, like the Army have added short bios like "Official U.S. Army Twitter: news, images, video from Army.mil about our brave Soldiers around the world. (Following does not=endorsement.)," to help separate themselves from the other users like "usarmy_87" or "US_ARMY."

Be your own architect, engineer and designer

With 500 search results for "U.S. Marine" on Facebook, the Marines are going to have to come up with something innovative and new to integrate those various communities and bring them together.

It's not enough for a fresh, strapping brand to be out there showing people the trail from where everyone is to where everyone might be going next. What's really important is when that brand DEFINES the path. Remember community has power - as articulated by Kevin Rose, the creator of Digg, in his blog post Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-63-56-88-c0.

How do we measure success?

The success of the social media initiative has been measured primarily in number of fans/followers and number of hits to the various sites.

Scott Meis, a senior project and social media director at Carolyn Grisko & Associates, Inc., a Chicago strategic communication firm, felt the Navy has done an excellent job using social media tools pointing to its U.S. Navy Healthcare page on Facebook.

"For a number of reasons, brands are struggling to maximize use of Facebook but this works because it focuses specifically on targeted, niche recruitment and provides a channel for easy, immediate feedback," Meis, a former Naval Officer wrote on his blog. "Double kudos to the Navy for their Ning-hosted Navy for Moms networking site. Moms of course a key online demographic and Navy Moms in particular happen to be the most passionate people out there."

In only a matter of months, the Army Reserve Employer Partnership Initiative Facebook page had 144 "fans," the LinkedIn group had 65 members, its blog had 10 and its Twitter page had 90 followers. Like the Coast Guard, EPI updates its sites daily, if not weekly and community interaction continues to grow. EPI used Google Analytics and bit.ly to gather data to help decide how to move forward with its social media effort.

A sense of play

Baker said the Intelink community uses a character from Strongbad, Trogdor to kind of poke someone that isn't working within the parameters set by the community. Remember to keep a sense of humor and play while creating and managing your digital identity.

This revolution will not be minimalized

The number of companies using social media will continue to increase as more of the X and Y generation enter the workforce. Facebook recently took the lead with about 68 million unique visitors. Twitter is the third-biggest social media site in the country and LinkedIn is fifth with about 11 million visitors.

The new Presidential administration has directed an unprecedented level of transparency and openness in government and is "committed to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation and collaboration, executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public."

While the military's social media initiative has seen a great response, there is still anxiety in the service about information control and integrity. There is also some degree of discomfort among lower level staff in regard to communicating directly with senior leadership, which clearly is a factor of the service's structure this initiative attempts to change. These are things that can be addressed and changed in time. These tools are not going to go away and the longer each service waits the longer it is going to take to build goodwill and trust in the community.

The most important questions is: The revolution has started, are you going to add your voice to the conversation or let someone else speak for you?

*While reading this article you were virally exposed to two books, three wikis, five articles, and 36 social media sites.

*While writing this article I participated in five discussions on Twitter, two discussions on Facebook, listened to two books on my iPod, posted the Army Reserve Social Media Policy to the wiki Intelink to get feedback, I posted four articles to Facebook, texted two people on my phone and listened to one book on my iPod.

SITES TO CONSIDER WHEN DEVELOPING A DIGITAL IDENTITY

Blip.tv -- A video blogging and podcasting service for those interested in creating shows on the Web.

Digg -- This is another example of a social bookmarking site, though it operates as more of a popularity contest for Web sites, podcasts and videos based on users' choices.

Facebook -- A social networking site on which users can share messages, photos, personal information, etc. Though the site was originally only open to college students, it is now open to anyone.

Flickr -- A photo-sharing site. Here is a recent New York Times article about Flickr that news organizations might find interesting.

LinkedIn -- A business-contact networking site that "links" you to other professionals.

MySpace -- A social networking site similar to Facebook, but with fewer privacy settings and originally created to help musician share their music.

NowPublic -- A citizen journalism site that runs primarily off of contributing content from its users. The site also has a rating system that gives registered users the option of flagging/rating content. Posting to the site can help drive traffic to your blog and other creative work.

Ourmedia -- A site that video producers and podcasters can use to post their videos and other creative content. The site features a "Personal Media Learning Center," which includes resources for anyone looking to learn more about creating videoblogs, podcasts, digital stories, as well as tips for writing on the Web.

Second Life -- As its Web sites puts it, Second Life is a "3-D online digital world imagined and created by its residents." Users can purchase their own lands and essentially create another identity online.

Social Blogging, Wordpress, Blogspot -- Sites you can visit to set up a blog.

SpinXpress -- A site that videobloggers can use to collaborate with others on projects. Videobloggers can create a group, add the people they're working with to the group and then drag in the files they want to share with everyone. Each group has a built-in wiki and discussion forum.

Twitter -- a microblogging tool that uses 140 characters in bursts of text - at its most basic level, Twitter is a networking tool that helps users keep abreast of what friends or strangers are doing. For public affairs professionals it is a resource for publishing work, finding story ideas and communicating with other PAOs.

Upcoming -- A site that people can use to post upcoming events and look at events that others in their "Upcoming" network have posted.

Wikipedia -- Some organizations create their own Wikipedia page to serve as an online resource for Web surfers.

YouTube -- A site on which users can upload videos or watch videos that other journalists have created.

Colorado Employers Eager to Hire, Support Army Reservists

Sgt. Gregory S. Ruske, Army Reserve Silver Star recipient shakes hands with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. (D) in Denver, Friday, March 20, 2009.

By 1st Lt. Olivia Cobiskey
EPI Director of Marketing - Media

DENVER - Gregory S. Ruske couldn't stop smiling.
Each time the Army Reserve signed an agreement with a new employer his face got a little brighter.

"It just demonstrates how much the public supports the military," said Ruske, a sergeant with the 96th Regional Readiness Command who attended a partnership signing March 20 at Denver's county building. "You can't help but smile each time a business signs the agreement - here we are in a struggling economy and they're willing to put their support in writing and hire Army Reserve Soldiers."

The alliances, launched under the Army Reserve Employer Partnership Initiative will help strengthen the community, support Army Reserve Soldiers and their Families, and maintain a strong economy, said Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve.
It was a sentiment echoed by Colorado's governor.

"It is my pleasure to add Colorado to the list of employers who will proactively seek to hire and retain Army Reserve Soldiers when they return home," said Gov. Bill Ritter, the first governor to sign a partnership agreement. "This partnership with the Army Reserve expands the opportunities for the men and women who have made great sacrifices on our behalf. It is one more step towards attempting to repay the debt we owe our brave troops and veterans."

In the end, 11 Denver employers and the state of Colorado agreed to work collaboratively with the Army Reserve to enhance job opportunities for America's Soldiers and veterans, like Ruske.

It gives him hope, said Ruske, of Aurora, Colo.

Currently a juvenile corrections officer at the Mount View Youth Service Center in Denver Ruske has found the tools offered by the EPI invaluable, he said.

"I want to find something in law enforcement, security," said Ruske, 29, the fourth Army Reserve Soldier to receive the Silver Star for heroic service in Afghanistan. "I think it's more suited to my personality and I like to be more active not confined to a cubical."

It's also more suited to the skills he learned while an infantry Soldier in the Army and his bachelor's degree in sociology from Colorado State University.

Employers at the ceremony in Denver couldn't have agreed more as Ruske collected a stack of businesses cards. But that's not the only help he has received from the initiative - Carl Blum from Tip of the Arrow Foundation, another Employer Partner, has been helping Ruske with his resume and networking.

"There are tools out there to help you in your job search but EPI is like a power tool - most of the grunt work is done for you and you can concentrate on the details," said Ruske, known as Scott to his friends.

Since its inception in April 2008, more than 225 public and private employers have joined the initiative, including Fortune 500 corporations, hospitals, industry associations, state agencies and local police departments.

"I'm pleased to officially begin an enduring strategic partnership with so many of Denver's leading employers and the State of Colorado," Maj. Gen. Mari K. Eder, deputy chief of the Army Reserve, said during the ceremony. "I look forward to collaborating with our newest valued partners to achieve mutual goals to attract, develop and retain a quality workforce."

The EPI establishes a process whereby employers and the Army Reserve secure and share the talents of trained professionals. Partners Employers will benefit from the employment of men and women with Army values, experience and proven leadership skills.

Ruske agreed.

"It's not like the old days where you had to know someone, play golf, to get a job," Ruske said. "EPI has created this symbiotic relationship that benefits both the Army Reserve and the employers."

How the story played out on the Web here.

U.S. Department of Defense Community Relations

Army Well-Being

MilitaryAvenue.com

America's News Today

Free Republic

Digital Video - Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS)

What bloggers thought

The Daily Blogster

Peoples Press Collective

What does this inauguration mean to you?

Hundreds of people gathered at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in D.C. Friday night for the 5th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Shabbat Service to celebrate the friendship of Dr. Martin Luther King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
I nodded my head in agreement as Cantor Larry Paul said by being there we were paying tribute to the life and dreams of King and Heschel. I said "Amen" after Pastor Darryl Walker, of Turner Memorial AME Church of Maryland, reminded us that God has been good to us.
"God's still in the blessing business," he told the crowd.
"Amen," the crowd responded with new enthusiasm.
It is an amazing time, America would swear in its first mixed-race president in four days. King would have been 80 this year.
It is for these reasons that the inauguration gives me hope.
Most mixed raced people will share stories about the first time they were faced with a standardized form - entry into the military, student loan application - and forced to deny significant parts of their heritage and ethnic identity.
In 2000, for the first time the federal government allowed multi-racial people to select more than one race box during the U.S. Census. As a result more than 7 million people identified themselves as mixed raced, including 1.6 million Californians, the state with the largest mixed race population. The realization encouraged state legislation.
According to the California State Bill 1615: The Ethnic Heritage Respect and Recognition Act, roughly 1 in 4 births to native-born mothers are multiracial/ethnic. The bill was proposed by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, in 2005 and passed the Senate April 28, 2008.
I believe, the election of Barack Obama on November 4, 2008 means that these children will no longer be forced to choose or live between worlds - that this underreported community will no longer be invisible and their diverse set of needs will begin to be addressed.
President-elect Obama is not only black and white, his mother was a Christian, he’s father a Muslim, and his stepfather was Indonesian. He lived in Indonesia and speaks Indonesian.
I hope the election of a mixed race, ethnically and religiously diverse American as president means that these children can decide for themselves who they want to be.
At least that is what I hope. I am mixed culturally, religiously and ethnically. The valleys these mixtures have etched into my skin; claimed only by memory and their place in my evolution have become a world onto themselves. And I have lived between these worlds my entire life. Neither living here nor there afraid to choose one, because by choosing I would be saying one is better than the other.
As a child I asked myself, how can a child choose between her parents? How can a child choose between her parents’ faiths? Especially when those people and those faiths are in conflict. I hope these are not questions that will plague future generations.
Sitting in the synagogue, I truly believed the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama also means the leadership in this country has continued to move towards mirroring this country’s population bringing King’s dream to fruition. I believe, it means that mixed raced children, my children, perhaps your children, will not have to live between worlds that they will be able to stand in the integrity of who they are with no apology or compromise.
The inauguration gives me hope that America as a world leader will once again take its place as a shining example to the world that differences are not to be feared, that we all have more in common then we realize and that together we can build a better tomorrow.