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When Dad (or Mom) Goes To War

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

One of the great promises of technology is staying in touch. Sometimes it goes awry. Last year, an Army friend passed along the true story of the United States soldier who accidentally “pocket dialed” his parents while in a firefight in Afghanistan. That 3-minute message on his parents’ home answering machine wasn’t exactly how the soldier intended to stay in touch!

One of the great promises of military social media is using technology to stay in touch in secure ways that don’t compromise OpSec, or Operational Security. Deployed troops take communications beyond phone calls and emails, by uploading videos, video-Skyping, and video-conferencing with their friends and loved ones.

But even the best technology for staying in touch doesn’t bridge the gap absences cause. While every military family has its own story about what happens when Dad (or Mom) deploys, John and Adriana Roldan’s story captures a trend. While John was deployed they communicated as frequently as possible, they hid the hard stuff: he didn’t talk about combat dangers, and she didn’t talk about the combat going on at home — a son’s terrifying tantrums.

Sgt. Chad Ward, an infantry team leader with 1st Bn., 14th Inf. Regt., 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, holds his wife, Kazia and son, Asher, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, before deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom Jan. 30. Ward is one of nearly 100 Soldiers who are the first to deploy since the brigade’s main body left for Iraq in November. Photo by: Sgt. Matthew C. Moeller; 8th Theater Sustainment Command PAO www.army.mil

Anecdotal stories of the stresses families experience are nothing new to staffers at the non-profit National Military Family Association. Nearly all of the employees and volunteers are military spouses, retired military and military children; they know the stress first-hand. The Association started summer camps for military children several years ago (”Operation Purple“) and began hearing higher volumes of stories about the stresses of eight years of war and multiple deployments.

Increasingly, more attention is paid to what warriors experience, but the Association discovered that no one had ever undertaken a rigorous, scientific study of the effects of parental deployment on children. So they raised the money and commissioned the highly respected RAND Corporation to undertake a ground-breaking study with the goal of discovering evidence-based results of what children experience.

The first wave of results are in and the National Military Family Association has them. Among other key findings, the Study reports that military children experience higher levels of anxiety, that family reintegration is tough (reintegration is the term for post-deployment, when the soldier-parent returns), and that the well-being of the caregiver at home is intimately linked to the well-being of the child. To some of us, the results may produce a “well duh!” moment, but this is solid, evidence-based research, not just a friend’s story or a gut feeling.

I’m grateful to the National Military Family Association for commissioning this study, and for examining its results to see what needs to be done to help — in particular — the children. One of the things that really strikes me is that we have to address the issues of reintegration before soldiers deploy. If you know that a son or daughter is going to think Dad’s a stranger when he comes home, let’s do everything we can to lessen the psychological and emotional distance.

I’m smart enough to know that the U.S. military is smart enough to know this is an issue, and based on all the honorable soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines I’ve been privileged to meet, I’m trusting them to be working on this. But here is my two cents: We’re making extraordinary progress with communications. Let’s set up the kinds of frequent communication – including innovative social media tools and platforms – that keep parents and children connected when they’re apart.

Tags: Frontlines Social Media, military, National Military Family Association
Posted in Military, Social Media | No Comments »

Fort Hood’s Essential Media Outreach

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

The value of a communications tool is in its usefulness: Does it reach your community with your message when you need it to work?

During this past week, the value of social media tools to the military has been on round-the-clock display.

Fort Hood Twitter message.

As the shocking, nearly unimaginable events played out at Ft. Hood, text messages and Twitter feeds were some of the earliest sources of information coming from the locked-down base. Soldiers and spouses sent vital messages, telling friends and family: “I’m safe.” Nearby hospitals broadcast calls for blood donations, and were nearly overwhelmed by the civilian population’s compassionate responses. Twitter feeds, web sites and blogs tracked blood, plasma and other needs.

The U.S. Army mobilized its social media channels to share updates with a grieving nation wanting to help. Public Affairs web sites became the face of the Ft. Hood community, releasing the names of the fallen as well as the determined resiliency of the survivors. Family, friends and compassionate strangers have been able to follow events as they unfold, because the Army is communicating where Americans are congregating: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, blog sites, web sites.

And it’s working.

Here are several social media resources for updates on Fort Hood and ways to connect with military families:

Fort Hood Public Affairs Web Site
Flickr Ft. Hood Photo Tribute
U.S. Army Facebook
Ft. Hood Facebook Tribute
Twitter: @USArmy
Twitter: @FortHood
Twitter: @MilitaryTweets
The U.S. Army blog
Department of Defense’s Special Report: Fort Hood
National Military Family Association
Milblogging.com – a compendium of military blogs

Members of Fort Hood-based 15th Sustainment Brigade observe a moment of silence in front of the brigade headquarters, Nov. 8, for those that were killed and wounded in the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 5. Photo Credit: U.S. Army

Members of Fort Hood-based 15th Sustainment Brigade observe a moment of silence in front of the brigade headquarters for those who were killed and wounded in the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Photo Credit: U.S. Army

The shootings at Ft. Hood have hit us where we live. MMI has served military family members and communities for more than 20 years. Personally, my husband served in the Navy, and I’ve worked closely with service members and their families for the past two years, implementing some of the social media tools that now carrying urgent and life-affirming messages. We’ve been on bases with active duty men and women, we’ve implemented tools to help service members connect, we’ve strategized ways to ensure our service members and their families get what they need when they need it.

We at MMI give our heart-felt support to the military community, acknowledge our shared grief, and reaffirm our desire to help. As we learn ways to provide meaningful assistance, we’ll pass that along to you.

To the community at Fort Hood, you remain in our thoughts and prayers. We admire you, we’re grateful for you, and we stand with you. You are our heroes.

Tags: Fort Hood, military, Social Media, U.S. Army, Veterans Day
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Be Useful. (Live From TWTRCON)

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

I’m live-blogging and tweeting an intensive all-day Twitter event in Washington, DC, today. Room is full of influential, high-impact learners and doers from federal agencies, media outlets, and corporations.

Two of the most succinct pieces of advice about being online were shared this morning by Laura Fitton of www.oneforty.com and Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal.

Laura said her two-word summation of successful and effective Twittering was: Be useful.
Alan said the WSJ’s social media policy could be summed up in three words: “Don’t be stupid.”

One of the virtues of Twitter’s forced brevity (140 characters including spaces and punctuation) is the opportunity to distill a message with clarity. “Be useful” and “don’t be stupid” aren’t just good social media practices, they’re good life practices. Go Twitter!

On the left: Morning keynote speaker Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and passionate Gov2.0 and military social media guru. On the right: Alan Murray of Wall Street Journal.

On the left: Morning keynote speaker Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist. On the right: Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal.

Craig Newmark was a keynote speaker this morning, and is one of my heroes. A fellow San Franciscan geek with a desire to do good, Craig not only founded craigslist, he is one of their customer service reps. Beyond that, Craig cares about effective public service and the military, two passions I share. Craig is deeply involved in “Gov 2.0,” the growing movement to connect the government with its people and empower both with tools to share knowledge, share power, and do good.

On his way from the conference to an advocacy session on Capitol Hill, Craig stopped long enough to talk with me about Gov 2.0 and his support of military service members and veterans. Watch this blog for the post with Craig’s podcasts.

If you’d like to follow us on Twitter today, we’re live-tweeting at @MilitaryTweets. That is, if the conference hall internet stays up!

Tags: Craig Newmark, military, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Military, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Here Comes Help!

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Clay Shirkey's book "Here Comes Everybody"

Clay Shirky's book "Here Comes Everybody"

I’m passionate about helping Government and Military clients fulfill their missions. So at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington DC this past September, I was excited to have the opportunity to hear Clay Shirky speak about the way social media is changing societal behaviors. I was so enamored with his talk that I went out and bought his book: Here Comes Everybody.

Here Comes Everybody is a smart, engaging look at the power of the Internet to mobilize groups of people around a common cause. Shirky begins the book with the story of a woman named Ivanna who lost her cell phone in the back of a cab in New York City. She enlists the help of her friend, Evan, a programmer in the financial industry, to help her retrieve the phone. Evan launches a full-scale online campaign, harnessing the power of passionate “passersby” on the Internet, the media, and even the New York Police Department — who all become actors in the narrative to get the phone back.

Eventually, Ivanna’s phone was returned and Evan’s quest for justice was satisfied. The point Shirky makes in telling this story is that the Internet has broken down the barriers to forming groups that have the power to take substantive action. People like Evan — who have time, passion, and social capitol — can organize a goal-focused quest at very little cost.

Our team at MMI is committed to using our time, passion, and social capitol to meet our clients’ substantive social media goals.

The U.S. Army's Maj. Gen. Mark Graham and his wife Carol talk candidly about suicide prevention.

For example, when the U.S. Army contacted us about connecting them with one of our clients to help with a crucial military suicide prevention program, we went into action immediately.

End results? On the social media side, we provided new tools and influential platforms for getting the suicide prevention messages to military families. Beyond that, the people leading the Army’s suicide prevention program have new relationships helping to facilitate care, counseling and intervention to save lives.

(Author’s note: In deference to the FTC’s moves re: bloggers disclosing money or freebies for reviews, I want to let you know I paid for the book myself, I wasn’t asked to write about it by Shirky or his people, and I’m receiving nothing from him for writing about it.)

Tags: Army, Gov 2.0, military, Social Media
Posted in Military, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Toggling Social Media with the Pentagon

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Meet Leo DeLuca, aka Toggle: He’s a young veteran of the Iraq war deeply wired into social networking tools.

Toggle won his nickname as the guy who fixed and programmed other soldiers’ MP3 players. He’s home stateside after being wounded in an ambush. Toggle stays in touch with his friends over in “the sandbox” via social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and Facebook.

You may know Toggle and not even realize it; Toggle lives in the comic strip Doonesbury.

G.B. Trudeau’s long-running comic strip has story lines involving several military service members and SNS. When B.D. and Ray deployed, they and their wives stayed in touch via email and video chat. Recently, a Sunday strip showed Toggle following his friends via their Twitter feeds. Toggle’s reactions go from enthusiastic (“Hooah!” and “Gitter done!”) to concerned (“Whoa…”) to upset (“No you didn’t!”). Finally, a friend asks: “Should you be reading Tweets from Afghanistan just before bed?”

Toggle reads his Twitter feed in Doonesbury

Toggle isn’t just a character in a comic strip, though, he’s an authentic representative of thousands of service members and their families, separated by duty and distance, trying to stay in touch. SNS tools are second nature to soldiers like Toggle. They’ve never “dialed” a number in their lives — they’ve tapped, typed, toggled and voice-commanded everything, and they communicate via social media.

The “Toggles” and their families — these people are the reason the DoD must include SNS in the daily life and work of everyone from the Army private all the way up to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and his wife Deborah, who both Tweet. The military — one of the smartest, most innovative institutions in America — must implement policies that embrace safe, reliable, informative SNS.

Price Floyd, the Pentagon’s social media guru, (actually: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs also known as the PDASD for PA) advocates a balanced policy regarding military social media (balance between security and access), but an article in Federal Computer Week hints that the balance might tip towards restrictions.

I hope the balance doesn’t tip towards restrictions. In my experience, the area for concern isn’t in the technologies, it’s in us. Our behaviors tend to be more risky than our technology. But rigorous training and education can shape our behavior to prevent security risks. It’s the combination of good technology and wise actions that will enable SNS to fulfill its potential in the military. And who better than the U.S. Military to set a standard for “rigorous training and education” with social media?

The real Toggles — and their families — deserve the very best from their service branches. I know DoD can create and implement a SNS policy that is open and safe. The question for Price Floyd and his team is, will you?

Posted in Military, Social Media | No Comments »