The handbook, which comes nearly a year after the Pentagon authorized the military’s use of social media, encourages commanders to communicate with soldiers about safeguarding operational security online.
“Our adversaries are trolling social networks, blogs and forums, trying to find sensitive information that they can use about our military goals and objectives,” Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston says in the handbook. “Therefore, it is imperative that all soldiers and family members understand the importance of practicing good operations security measures.”
One common-sense suggestion is that troops and their families avoid posting information about the precise times and locations of troop deployments. For example, the handbook recommends “My Soldier will be home this summer,” as opposed to a “dangerous” status update like, “My Soldier is coming back at XYZ time on XYZ day.”
“Just like you wouldn’t put a sign in your front yard that says, ‘going on vacation’ because that says ‘rob me,’ you wouldn’t want to put out there that your soldier’s deployed because it says you’re home alone,” said Maj. Juanita Chang, director of the Online and Social Media Division of the Army’s Office of the Chief of Public Affairs. Chang’s division created the handbook as a practical “how-to” guide.
In December, the Army warned troops to be careful using the geo-tagging features of Facebook or popular photo-sharing sites, because they may give away troop locations to enemies. Soldiers were warned to disable GPS functions on cameras and smart phones, and to disable geo-tagging when uploading photos online. If enabled, they can add a 10-digit grid coordinate to photos, video or text messages.
“Let's say Joe takes a picture of his tent and says, mom and dad, here’s where I sleep at night,” Chang said. “He thinks it’s as innocent as can be, but now the enemy has 10-digit grid coordinates of his exact location, which could be dangerous.”
Soldiers are also cautioned to watch that what they say doesn’t violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice. While social media encourages soldiers to speak freely, soldiers may not speak negatively about commanders or release sensitive information.
“On a personal page, if you’re just Joe, you can be opinionated, and you could probably say your boss is stupid; it’s just dumb,” Chang said. “But for us to say something like that is actually illegal, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So we can be held accountable for our actions on social media, as if we published them anywhere else.”
Soldiers are also discouraged from using social media to promote themselves for financial gain, write blog posts for money or make political statements
The 37-page handbook was created to answer questions frequently asked of the Online and Social Media Division. It’s targeted at soldiers, family members or the average public affairs officer spearheading his unit’s social media efforts.
“We get phone calls and e-mails, so many, of people just saying we need your help, we want to do a page, we don’t know how to do it,” Chang said. “We just wanted a one-stop shop to help people.”
Agencies such as Family Readiness Groups are encouraged to create an online presence with a strategy for managing it. The handbook tells how to register such sites with the Defense Department and the Army’s social media directory.
The handbook also provides leaders with tips about how to best use social media, warning them to conduct relationships with their subordinates as they would offline.
“By using social media, leaders are essentially providing a permanent record of what they say, so if you wouldn’t say it in front of a formation, don’t say it online,” the handbook reads.
Chang said it’s up to commanders to decide whether to “friend” a subordinate on Facebook. She said she wasn’t familiar with any fraternization charges that stemmed from simply “friending” a subordinate.
“There’s probably going to be the same pitfall there as there is in life, but it’s just as likely to happen in a motor pool as it would on a Facebook page,” she said.
Chang recommends commanders create a “fan page” as their official Facebook presence that users can follow, or “like” rather than “friend.” The information flows from the page out, to everyone equally.
The Army has also put social media to use in emergencies, supplanting the old-fashioned phone tree as a means of direct communication.
In the wake of a recent tornado at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., it connected donors to victims through USO on Facebook. Fort Bragg, N.C., routinely uses Facebook to put out boil-water orders in the wake of water system problems.
The social media division has studied its use in the wake of the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. Chang recalled that CNN used Army Facebook page feeds to report news.
“When something like that happens on base and the media can’t get on base to cover it, then the only things coming out of the base are from people who are there, posting it to their Facebook or Twitter account,” Chang said. “I think in crisis communications, it’s going to be used more. Fortunately, we don’t have that many crises.”
Sources : armytimes
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