Where Have the MilBlogs Gone?
Our buddy, David Marron of The Thunder Run ruminates about the demise of Milblogs at his place. With the drawdowns from Iraq and Afghanistan, it appears that those who write from the frontlines have withdrawn, too.
So what happened to the wide spread use of social media by the troops? The best I can tell is that they either went dark or completely private, meaning the blog owner has to approve you to view their posts, because Big Army has put the hammer down on anything that doesn’t reflect highly on the mission or the commanders.
I never considered this blog a “milblog” because we’ve never had anyone writing from the frontlines, except in my own personal war against the hippies. It was other people who began calling us a milblog, I mean, I’m glad they did. I’ve never had so many like-mind, former military friends.
But Marron blames “Big Army” for screwing down the troops’ participation in the social media outlets to keep a lid on bad information getting out. It must be a recent phenomenon, becuase under the Bush years, it was encouraged. Yeah, I know, I sound like I’m blaming Obama for everything, but, ya know, if the shoe fits….
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Bloggers
I wonder if stories like the one linked below are having an affect on the number of MilBlogs
Truth, lies and Afghanistan
How military leaders have let us down
By LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS
http://armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030
Perhaps it’s a movement led by FMY aimed at eradicating all the ‘kooks in order to foment world domination by a rogue gang of ladybois from Brooklyn.
It’s not the leadership.. it’s just as you said, the wars are winding down and there isn’t much to write about. No conspiracy here.
Where have all the milblogs gone,
Long time passing
Where have all the milblogs gone,
Long time ago
Where have all the milblogs gone?
Army shut them down every one
When will Obama be gone?
When will Obama be gone?
Sorry, had to. It will never happen again… maybe
Instinct…I could chime in, but I wouldn’t feel better…still much to be accomplished, I think.
Hmmm. Guess we will have to see how much interest there might be in milblogs written by supply clerks, DI’s and such.
Can only imagine how much fun it might be to learn the latest hit on the drill field, for instance, or conjecture about the long delays in receiving the overdue shipment of combat boots to the warehouse.
Combat chatter vs “peacetime” musings. Just not seeing a great conspiracy here.
It’s not the leadership.. it’s just as you said, the wars are winding down and there isn’t much to write about. No conspiracy here.
Disagree. I post on a submarine blog, and the AD submariners are deathly afraid of being outed because of some of the shit going on in the fleet (one issue–lockdown on news of women in submarines.)
For instance–rumor has it (but Big Navy won’t confirm or deny) one of the females is ALREADY pregnant. Whoopsie.
I have never fully figured out how I feel about troops blogging about things within thier commands out to the public. Yet again tihs is a free country (for now) and when we assumed the soldier we did not remove the citizen.
So….yeah. I see the role of MilBlogs being less of direct reporting. Soldier/Sailor/Airmen/Marine maintaining a personal blog vs Soldier/Sailor/Airmen/Marine sending the poop to a trusted veteran blogger who does the outting or reporting.
Some where like this has seasoned vets who can add a layer of sense to it. I mean…how many times did we as leaders get irked when our commander found out something before us? espiecaly when we could have prevented it or solved it easier. I do think that as veterans who have been down a road have an obligation to mentor still. There is a lot to be learned from vets and even seasoned active duty guys/gals would be well suited to listen. Just as we should listen to them.
For me I see veterans and active as the only ones who get that considering we have had to live it.
Eh. I came home and had kids. I don’t know everyone else’s excuse.
Steadfast–I look at it this way–policy is fair game as long as its done respectfully (Hint: doesn’t violate UCMJ Art. 89.) Dishing dirt on your Chief or First Sergeant without resolving the issue within the chain-of-command first is pretty shitty, but bitching sailors/soldiers/airmen/Marines are happy ones.
FWIW, milbloggers give the civilian population a peek inside the uniform, a chance to understand the day-to-day highs and lows we all experience, and for our fellow servicemembers, a chance to let them know that when they’re in teh suck, they’re not alone.
For what it’s worth, I would call you a MilBlogger too, but I define it such that Troop Supporters, writing about Military topics are also milbloggers, and have been accused of being one myself, though that’s a stretch. ((There really isn’t a proper catergory I can claim, and any category WOTN is put in will have the natives upset.))
Still, I have also noted the decrease in frontline bloggers. I attribute that to a number of things, including a lack of time, and a lack of tolerance by “higher” to what they “may or may not” post. There’s also FB which replaces the primer for frontline bloggers. They can now share their thoughts with Family and Friends, without blogspot.
Then they look at what happens to MSG Grisham, and say it ain’t worth it.
The bottom line is that it is up to Veterans to defend current Troops from the partisan slogans & policies.