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I'd like to take a moment to thank ADM Fallon for 41 years service.  I've mentioned him occasionally here at BlackFive, and always in respectful terms.  I had the opportunity to spend several years working on PACOM issues, including during a part of his tenure.  I was very impressed with him there, and I want to join the President and others in thanking him and his family for all they have done.

As to the current matter, I have nothing to say about it; but let us not forget, amid the questions of the moment, to pay the honor due his noble and proud career.

General David H. Petraeus (via email that I read to the audience).

...I wanted to offer my thanks to you for what you've done and also to thank, via you, the bloggers who have worked to provide accurate descriptions of the situation on the ground here in Iraq and elsewhere. Milbloggers have become increasingly important, of course, given the enormous growth in individuals who get their news online in the virtual world instead of through newspapers and television. So please extend my appreciation to them for performing this task -- and, of course, for doing it in ways that does not violate legitimate operational security guidelines. Best from Baghdad -- General Dave Petraeus

In point of fact, there are several people who have been working on a modest proposal for trying to make some substantive changes to the information front.

The white paper being drafted is still quite rough, but some quick thoughts to share this day are the following:

1. Military PAO acitivites are based on an (early) industrial-age model, with some slight modifications that come from experience in WWII.

2. Many in leadership and rear-echelon positions are not comfortable with Web 0.5, much less Web 2.0 -- a condition that applies to industry as well as government.

3. The combination of these two factors, along with several others, means that current information acitivites are neither effective, efficient, or acceptable.

4. Blogs and Milblogs have shown some of what can be accomplished using more modern technology and models, as well as an innovative mindset.

5. Blogs and Milblogs, for all they have accomplished, are not the answer; but, rather an early prototype of one part of larger information effort and new model of information operations.

6. This new model will change information operations on a fundamental level, in much the same way that combat arms has been reshaped over the last two hundred years.

Simply trying to bring PAO and related activities up to date with blogs is not the answer. Simply trying to improve the information technology available to PAO and in-unit activities is not the answer. Technology, and even things like blogging, are but one part of a larger shift in the way information is being processed, accessed, and used. As such, it is not a technology issue but, rather, a fundamental change in the social and psychological framework (dynamics) of society.

So, the military bans YouTube.  I have a serious question:

How are General Petraeus' public affairs guys going to upload videos to their very own MNF-I YouTube channel now?

Next, be sure to read Major Elizabeth Robbins award winning paper about military blogs "Muddy Boots" - which General Petraeus praised.  It is pure genius and I'm glad Noah linked to it.  I believe that Major Robbins is or is on the way to somewhere dangerous.

The Bottom-Line to the this bad piece of regulation:  The soldiers who will attempt to fly under the radar and post negative
items about the military, mission, and commanders will continue to do
so under the new regs.  The soldiers who've been playing ball the last
few years, the vast, VAST, majority will be reduced.  In my mind, this
reg will accomplish the exact opposite of its intent.  The good guys
are restricted and the bad continue on...

Operational Security is of paramount importance.  But we are losing the Information War on all fronts.  Fanatic-like adherence to OPSEC will do us little good if we lose the few honest voices that tell the truth about The Long War.

Instead, the US Army should adopt Major Robbins recommendations, allow for unit bloggers, and restrict bloggers with the same rules as the military gives embed reporters (with UCMJ exceptions).  Maybe, then, we can start winning some battles on the information front.

Stryker unit ready for Diyala operations - A Soldier from 2nd Squadron,
1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry
Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., signals to his platoon leader during
a mission in Qasirin, 10 miles southwest of Baqubah, Iraq, May 21. The
unit searched the area for signs of insurgent activity and a suspected
weapons cache.  Photographer: Sgt. Armando Monroig, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Tikrit.

Today is a special and unique holiday. It is a day of giving thanks, not for all blessings, but for one. It is a day not of fireworks and revelry, but of quiet celebration. It is a day not focused on an event, but on the people who have made the events of our lives, and the freedom in which we -- and others elsewhere -- live them, possible

It is not a day for politics, causes, or debates and any who would make it so do nothing but show ignorance and contempt for those Men, male and female, who are the focus of this day. Such creatures who would hijack and defile this day with such crass self-interest and -absorption are but soulless shells bereft of dignity, integrity, courage, and honor. They are unworthy of any strong emotion, even contempt; are worth contemplation this day merely for comparison to and with those we honor; and, deserve only pity, for they too could have been Men.

For today, we honor those who have stood in defense of our freedom; and, most of all, we honor those that fell so doing. Most have indeed been male; but, more than many realize have been female. From Molly Pitcher to the women who masqueraded as males to fight in that war between the states; from those that disguised themselves to sail on ships of wood and sail to those that fight this day we have always been blessed with women of courage, integrity, and bravery. Gender matters not; nor does it matter if one stepped forward or was summoned, for all answered the call. They joined that thin coloured line, and stood fast.

What cowards would abandon, and tyrants destroy, they saved. Their shoulders have truly held our skies suspended, and their blood has paid the price of freedom for us and for others.

The ideals, the slogans, and ultimately even home and hearth were not why they stood. When the bugles call, the bullets fly, and the bombs burst such things become of minor import. What matters then is love and duty. Not a duty to some higher power or state; rather, the duty one has to one's brother in arms. What shell they inhabit means naught at such a time, and what they were before means less than nothing at all. The only thing that matters then is that they are with you and you with them, and the love and duty that exists between at that moment is all. They will not be failed. So Tommy steps forward unto the breech, Molly takes over the cannon and fires, and unsung heroes step forward into the fire.

Some walk among us now. Others lie with Brothers amidst peaceful grass. Still more rest where they fell, unmarked on land or sea.

Today is not a day for torrents of praise or empty posturing. It is a day for but two words and two actions.

Those two words are "Thank You"; and, the two actions are to say them to those who have stood and stand among us, and to remember those who stand in memories forever green. They saved things not for the sum of pay, but for each of us and all who come after. They saved them for the higher things, and for that Band of Brothers to which they for eternity belong.

Take the time today. Quietly say the words to those who serve, be they old or be they young. Take time throughout the day and remember their sacrifice, and most especially remember those who have paid the ultimate price for freedom and are not here in flesh to hear your words.

LW