So says the headline in Stars and Stripes today, Saturday, Oct 1. www.stripes.com
According to the article, a new warning has been issued by the Army. Prohibited activities include posting photos (one part of the article says 'Do NOT post any photographs on any Web sites'), posting official information, and releasing information detailing job responsibilities.
I was not aware of this new warning until I read the S&S today. Apparently my post about dumpster diving was a violation.
I'm confident that no soldier wants to give away information that can be used to harm soldiers; I know I don't. It seems that the Army is growing more concerned about blogs and the information given away, or the opinions expressed.
I guess I'm done posting photos here. I wonder how the policy applies to Guardsmen; if I am not on duty, what restrictions apply? When I'm not in a pay status, i.e., a civilian, can I post pictures?
I suspect that as time goes on, milbloggers will get pretty scarce.
3 comments:
While I understand that the military needs to be careful about security, I also believe that you and the many other milbloggers have no interest in endangering yourselves. I am amongst a large and growing population of citizens who turn daily to bloggers like yourself for our news. The msm had such a negative affect on my moral regarding Iraq, that I simply had stopped following it for a year. Since I discovered milblogs, my support for what the military is accomplishing has grown stronger. I look forward to reading all of the positive steps that have taken place. No, I do not ignore the sad aspects of this mission. But, seeing the positive side has helped me put the sadness in perspective. I truly believe that PR is an important part of the success and if the military puts so many rules down that the milblogs just give up, we will be stuck with only the negative. That would be a travesty. Thank you for all you are doing to help the Iraqi's move towards their freedom.
The military is shooting itself in the foot when it comes to blogs. I'm not sure if you heard, but the CO of the 101st, Gen. Patraeus, gave a speech at Princeton in which he expressed his disdain at the way the media in this country have covered the war. The one completely unfiltered and unbiased source of information the military has is blogs. There are even some signs that it has realized this; re: CENTCOM's PAO's recent attempts to get milbloggers to highlight the "good news" page over at CENTCOM's website. Yet the Pentagon still keeps trying to restrict bloggers.
I understand the need for OPSEC, but it seems to me we've gone too far.
One last thought: the military would do well to consider that what will go down in history as one of the seminal images of the Iraq conflict (Mike Yon's shot of a young American soldier cradling a dying Iraqi girl in a blanket after a VBIED attack) was taken by a blogger completely unaffiliated with any major media organization.
Alan, as a soldier myself, I can tell you where the buck stops. As long as a soldier is deployed, he or she is most likely using a military computer and connection to access their blog. As long as that is the case, the Army can tell you that you can't say the word "the" in your blog. I think that would hurt a lot more than pictures.
However, I run a blog from my home, with my computer, my internet connection, and my hosting fees. The military can't say one lick about it unless I'm giving up sensitive information, photos, etc.
To answer your question, when your active duty status has come to a conclusion, blog away. Post all those photos you've been saving up (those that don't compromise OPSEC). There is nothing they can do about it. I've already had this argument on my post and came out on top. Not because I'm posting stuff the Army doesn't want me to, but because a Major wanted to make a name for himself. I guess his name is Ass.
Hope this helps. Milbloggers are here to stay.
CJ
www.soldiersperspective.us
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