YouTube, Myspace & the troops

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Just a note on the YouTube, MySpace ban. Aside from losing access to the award-winning, world-renowned videos I do, the troops would be missing out on the video Mom put up of the baby's first steps that Daddy missed because he was busy keeping the world safe for democracy. FFS DOD, bandwidth is a commodity buy some more if you need it, all the telecom companies have tons of dark fiber laid carrying nothing. If you are gonna keep troops away from their families for 15 months at a shot you owe them the best contact possible with their families. If you are not willing to do that you have no right to ask those sacrifices.

I'm not a Doonesbury fan, but I think most of us can find his stories about soldiers getting chewed out by their wives for being late back from a patrol pretty comical and pretty on point.

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Comments

[tom]

just last week, I was on the phone with my wife when a round burned into a metal locker 5' away from me on the other side of a sandbag wall. When I told my wife I HAD TO GO, she started down that road, you know the one. Why don't you want to talk to me, where are you going...The last thing I wanted to tell her was the truth but eventually I had no choice. The good thing is I doubt she'll do that to me again.

[Ymarsakar]

Jim, if you want to link to your profile, it has to be sort of non-user specific.

This might work better.

Mad City

What's up with this "ban" thingie? I thought the regs were just for important stuff.

[LongTabSigO]

Jimbo:
It's all well and good to "go off" when you're right. But you're off the mark a bit.

"Buy more bandwidth". Sure. No kidding. That's always "the answer". And we are. But I'll tell you, if I'm the CENTCOM J6 and buying more bandwidth, I'm pushing it primarily to operational C2 circuits, not for Johnny to tell Janie that he loves her. It's all about net-enabled C2 these days.

However, being a good Signal Officer, rather than just tell you "can't happen", I present to you information on how this requirement is/can be met....As I've said before on this (and other) blogs...there IS already a solution...

The Army has invested heavily in AKO (Army Knowledge Online) and has enabled significant morale support aspects to it, including Instant Messaging, Forums, unmonitored chat rooms, and video email .

I'm not a shill for AKO, but I'll tell you it's light years ahead of where it was. They're doing great stuff there.

Go to www.us.army.mil, get an account (even you as a retiree has access) and inform yourself.

You'll also see a link for "DKO" (Defense Knowledge Online) which is a new initiative which will enable the other Services to leverage AKO without a sponsored account.

Spouses can get an account as well, facilitating morale support chat on the .mil domain . If you're that worried about "being monitored" then i guess you're screwed. (Of course, you're naive if you think you're not being monitored in a commercial circuit either).

THAT SAID:
The Doonsbury cartoon is pretty funny. Even Gary Trudeau, like a broken clock, is right twice a day.

[Uncle Jimbo]

I gotta yield to you on that one LTSO.

Although we ought to be able to Double down on whatever C69I needs we have and use the spare bandwidth for Pvt Snuffy. I always heard the bottleneck is the last mile of wire/less. Can't we run a huge pipe into the FOB and then secure wireless the recreational internet?

I completely understand the priority of operational systems, but the amount of bandwidth needed for rec is not that great and I think it could possum a ride on the buy for operational Sat or landline connectivity. I would hope.

Cordialy,

Uncle J

[Some Soldier's Mom]

even as a Mom I get this... I once wrote (as advice to soldiers being deployed):

Call, write or email often -- but at least every once in a while. Yes, dammmit, we know you’re busy and Yes, dammmmit, we know you’re tired. But we are sitting back here worrying night and day. No, you telling us a thousand times, “Don’t worry” will not make us not worry. Believe it or not, not only do we worry about you, but we are actually interested in how you are and what you’re doing, what you need... We’re not asking for a body count, but we would like to know what you’re experiencing. A simple, “Hi all! We’re doing fine. We’re safe and thinking of you. Going to get some sleep now. Love you all… [insert name here} will do.

also been on that phone with the whistles and booms and in the middle of IMs when the dreaded "igtg ma" (I gotta go Ma) a quick "mwahs"... depressing, but the secure moms/spouses completely understand...

[James Swanston]

I think this is a pretty terribly decision - sure, satellite bandwidth can be expensive, but morale is a key component of military power, and taking away the means to communicate with loved ones can't be good for morale!

[jordan]

A good slap in the face for those of us who forget they might have better things to do than answer your emails.

[Matt]

Uncle Jimbo

As a Marine here, YouTube and MySpace are not morale necessities. I do a lot of research online for my job, and I'll tell you I could use some normal speeds for my job. YouTube and MySpace are just not priorities. There are legitimate, military-centric needs for higher bandwidth.

[twolaneflash]

Son on first Iraq tour was 20 years old. He would come in from missions, wait in line to get to a satellite phone, and call his 19 year old girlfriend. She was so much more interested in whether the timing of his call inconvenienced her than what he was enduring. Selfish is not found in the ocean.

[redc1c4]

i like the OPSEC violation:

she knew he was on patrol, and that he was due back @ 0600.

it's also safe to assume that she would have known the SP time.

where i come from, that's enough to prepare an attack, which could explain why
they were in a firefight instead of back at the FOB.

redc1c4,
i'm just sayin...... %-)

[HomefrontSix]

I'll agree with LTSO on this one too. The AKO system is quite capable of meeting the needs of soldiers and their families. Yes, YouTube et al are more familiar but that doesn't mean they are superior. There are ways around the ban - ways that do not inconvenience anyone, truly.

As for the communication issue between spouses or parents/children, SSM is right - the secure parents and spouses get it. I am grateful each and every time MacGyver sends me a message and lets me know he's ok. Sometimes all it is is him logging ON to IM to let me know he's back. That's enough. He has more than enough on his plate without me loading on my worry.

[@thepointyend]

Just to chime in with LTSO, AKO also provides the benefit of being behind a firewall, meaning that there is less likelihood of what is shared with love ones being seen by our enemies - like photos of our kids, street addresses, etc.

David Donovan mentions in Once a Warrior King , a story about a 5-man advisory team in Viet Nam, that they burned all of their mail so the enemy couldn't get info on their personal lives that might be used against them if they were captured.

So not only is AKO available, it is probably more pragmatic to use it vice something available to the average surfer.

[douglas]

I'm an outsider on this, but...
Sometimes I wonder if the 'instant' communications we've grown accostomed to always make their lives better (both those at home and those deployed). Perhaps there was something better about KNOWING you wouldn't hear from them for a few days or a week till the next letter came, and a phone call was a special treat. Sure, the background constant worry is always there, but doesn't the chance that today's scheduled IM is a half hour late just INTENSIFY the worry? None the less, We should provide every opportunity to them to communicate home, and I'm glad to heat about the AKO program.

[LongTabSigO]

Douglas: As a Signal guy, I can tell you that this "i gotta know now stuff" is both the reason for my existance and the bane of it.

(Nothing more dangerous - or annoying - than a Field Grade officer a "ComputerShopper" or "SkyMall" magazine, a credit card, and a fetish for cool toys - 'gee, why can't we do that?'.)

Ideally, "expectations management" would say that it'd be nice to be in close touch, but I can't promise anything. Instead, it's a "writ of mandamus" to get all sorts of high bandwidth morale support comms installed without degrading operational capabilities. Makes one figure out new ways to bend the laws of physics. The tech guys figure out some amazing stuff, let me tell you.

Jimbo: What were pushing to ODAs these days would blow your mind!

[Uncle Jimbo]

LTSO,

I don't doubt that for a second. Heck it blew my mind in the '90s.

Cordially,

Uncle J

[Some Soldier's Mom]

Douglas

I'm an outsider on this, but... Sometimes I wonder if the 'instant' communications we've grown accustomed to always make their lives better (both those at home and those deployed). Perhaps there was something better about KNOWING you wouldn't hear from them for a few days or a week till the next letter came, and a phone call was a special treat.

It can be boon or bane, but I wouldn't trade those opportunities to "talk" to my Guys whether via phone, IM, email or snail mail. Those who know it's a long war (or deployment) simply learn to roll with it during deployments and being able to adopt the wise woman's mantra: no.news.is.good.news.'cause.bad.news.travels.fast.

I agree with the AKO crowd -- there's plenty of ways to communicate and huge bandwith pacmen like YouTube, MySpace, et al. are inconsequential to all the others available... adapt and move forward.

[ry]

Uncle J, this tells me why you were a great NCO. You're all about your Men. But let this idjit civilian try an idea on you.

Having one hopped up on adrenaline soldier(they don't allow hooch) posts on his myspace page something like 'here to kill all....'. How condusive is that to the overall message? Is that playing into the hands of the enemy in the fight for hearts and minds? That's propoganda just begging to be used---because a guy was a little over exuberant in an extremely public and accessable mode---that'll make the job just that much harder and longer.

I don't like it much, but I can understand it. Down side of the 'strategic corporal', even if there is talk about bandwisth issues. Yeah, it sucks, but that is an angle that needs to be addressed. If it wasn't happening the Ban From Above wouldn't be happening either. (goes back to hide under the Castle)
Castle Denizen ry

[Nathan]

While I understand the concerns of the troops downrange, it's been my experience that MySpace and YouTube are time-wasters *in garrison* (key words here) that clog up memory and take soldiers times away from work. Granted, some of the time is keeping up with family, but when the shift is spending more time looking up MXC videos instead of working, or the supply clerk is known more for being on Myspace instead of ordering needed parts, I can completely understand why these sites are banned.

Again, let me repeat myself, these are my experiences in garrison. And, if the troops downrange get valuable use from MySpace and YouTube, looks like the garrison guys screwed it up for you.

[Uncle Jimbo]

RY,

While that is a valid concern and has already occurred, recall the Hadji Girl craziness, I don't think there have been any incidents where OPSEC has been compromised and if a soldier had an inclination to make crazy statements the internet just makes it faster.

Cordially,

Uncle J

[Cpl M]

Uncle Jimbo,

I wrote about this subject over on ASP a few days back. There are some major points that everyone seems to be over looking.

The ban is only on government networks. It does not apply to those networks in Internet Cafes. Service members can still get to YouTube, MySpace, etc in the Cafe.

I also talked about the bandwidth issue and how I've noticed a significant slowing in my work pace since I've arrived in country.

In the end, I FIRMLY support this ban on sites that slow down my job.

[BadBrad]

They are time wasters. This "not so new" policy does not affect MWR or "internet cafes" where soldiers can go on their own time. Just work computers. I couldn't get to myspace last time because it was used too much... the bandwith just wasn't there. We had to shut down the whole net once a day so there was enough for our FOB CDR to do a VTC. I can't imagine what everyone using YOUTUBE would do. Everywhere I have been in the Army has not allowed streaming audio or video from "work" computers anyway. MWR... another story.

[Uncle Jimbo]

You guys win, nothing like a little voice from the clogged bandwidth world to straighten my ass out.

I retract my previous BS statement, Shut 'em down.

Cordiallym,

Uncle J

except my stuff, vital national security at stake there

[ry]

Fair enough Uncle J. And thanks for not sending the SW-1s.
ry

[Erik Rader]

Just as a note, MySpace has been blocked from NMCI computers for quite some time. I can still access YouTube from my work, but they've started getting much stricter about which sites they block.

I totally agree with the DoD on this decision. If there are internet cafes' available, then I think the troops should use them for their MySpace/YouTube access. If they must use the official DoD computer/bandwidth, they'll have to limit themselves to sending a plain old e-mail.

[Michele]

As Erik comments about MNCI, I can also say the same about Kuwait. MySpace has been blocked for most of my 11 months here.