Looks Like We'll Have Lots to Talk About at the MilBlog Conference

So, I wasn't 100% sure until now, but I'll be attending the 2007 MilBlog Conference this Saturday in Arlington, VA (it's only about 15 miles away).

I wasn't sure if I'd be going since I'm not focused on military community stuff, but it is a blogging conference after all. (Though it means, unfortunately, that I won't be able to catch this year's running of the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race. You can't have everything -- where would you put it?)

And it looks like there'll be a lot to talk about -- Wired's Danger Room blog reports on new restrictions on military blogs (generally known as "milblogs"):

"The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say."

[Original link via Slashdot]

The article goes on to say that the new restrictions [PDF file] cover blogs, e-mail, comments and message board postings, and also affect civilian employees, contractors, and even military families.

The reason for the new restrictions is to maintain OPSEC -- Operational Security. The military is concerned that soldiers who blog might reveal information that an enemy could exploit. It's "Loose Lips Sink Ships", updated for the 21st century soldier.

As many have commented, the military is there to "protect democracy, not practice it", and that soldiers give up certain rights when they join up. And censorship of correspondence has been widely practiced ever since soldiers have been able to write letters home.

However, others argue that milblogging is valuable not only to soldiers and their families, but so that we people at home can get a real sense of the costs of war.

On a practical matter, blanket prohibitions never seem to work very well (especially when it comes to the Internet), so I suspect we'll see a continued evolution of this policy.

In the meantime, I've updated the iconic "Someone Talked!" World War II poster for the modern era:

Original poster art in the public domain and provided by the Northwestern University Library World War II Poster Collection.

Military and military family Journalers -- I know you're out there -- leave a comment and let us know what you think of the new policy (but please don't break OPSEC).

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: milblogging, opsec, loose lips sink ships, someone blogged, 2007 milblog conference

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This entry has 3 comments: (Add your own)

#3 Comment from glenban
8/13/07 11:13 AM | Permalink

I am retired military and I would not let my grandson go into the military it "SUCKS" all this court martialing and lying by military investigators ,has killed the morale of our troops .
#2 Comment from monponsett
5/3/07 4:18 PM | Permalink

The "Somebody Blogged" poster should feature a busted cheating husband or a recently-fired employee with a taste for cocaine.
#1 Comment from kasee267
5/3/07 2:39 AM | Permalink

I'm not military family or military, but I am a troop supporter who blogs.
Yes, this will definitely make the Milblog conference more interesting!! (hope to see ya while I'm there:)

Kathi
http://journals.aol.com/kasee267/SupportingtheTroops/

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Looks Like We'll Have Lots to Talk About at the MilBlog Conference