Marine Corps Banns Access To Twitter, Facebook, And MySpace

The Marine Corps recently published MARADMIN 0458/09, entitled IMMEDIATE BAN OF INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (SNS) ON MARINE CORPS ENTERPRISE NETWORK (MCEN) NIPRNET, which prohibits access,

TO INTERNET SNS FROM THE MCEN NIPRNET, INCLUDING OVER VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN) CONNECTIONS.

The SNS mentioned in the order include,

FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, AND TWITTER.

At first blush this may not appear to be a radical move by the Marine Corps.  After all, it is rational for an organization to ban the use of websites that are used exclusively for gossip about old high-school friends, taking useless quizzes, and online dating.

However, Admiral Mike Mullen, USN, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has his own Twitter account, entitled thejointstaff.

According to 10 USC 152(c), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “outranks all other offers of the armed forces.”  Thus, Admiral Mullen is the highest ranking member of the armed forces.  As the most senior military officer it would seem important for Marines to remain aware of what the Chairman has to say.

Supreme Court Rules Navy May Use Sonar During Training Despite Possible Harm To Whales

As previously reported here, the National Resources Defense Counsel has sued the Navy to prohibit the use of sonar during training exercises off Southern California because such training may be harmful to whales.  This case made its way through the 9th Circuit, and was recently ruled on by the Supreme Court.  Chief Judge Roberts authored the opinion,

Roberts wrote that “the Navy’s need to conduct realistic training with active sonar to respond to the threat posed by enemy submarines plainly outweighs” the environmental concerns raised by advocacy groups. “We do not discount the importance of [the challengers’] ecological, scientific, and recreational interest in marine mammals,” the opinion remarked.

Civilian Contractor: First To Be Tried By Court-Martial

Alaa “Alex” Mohammad Ali is a civilian contractor charged with stabbing another civilian contractor. Alex will be the first civilian tried under the 2006 amendment to the UCMJ.

Alex is a citizen of both Iraq and Canada. He was hired as a interpreter by the U.S. Military. Alex will be provided with a military defense lawyer.

This will be a test case for the new procedure for trying civilians.

yojoe out

German Military: Two Airmen Made Sausage From Human Blood

Two members of the German Luftwaffe are to be tried by court-martial for making sausage, or wurst. The issue was not the quality of the sausage, but one of the ingredients, i.e., human blood. The servicemen were discovered after they solicited a fellow serviceman to donate blood, and the fellow serviceman asked as senior officer if this was permissible.

First observation: The German version of the UCMJ must extraordinarily detailed if it prohibits the making of sausage from human blood.

Second observation: The most troublesome part of the story is the origin of the recipe. Evidently, the recipe belonged to the grandmother, or Großmutter, of one of the servicemen. The recipe read:

“Make sure the blood is fresh and the bacon cubes diced finely with a nice proportion of fat to lean. Do not use too many breadcrumbs but if the blood starts to curdle stir in a teaspoon of wine vinegar.”

Air Force: No Blogs For You

The Air Force has determined that airmen will find no useful information on blogs. Thus, from this point forward the Air Force will block all websites with “blog” in the name. A spokesman for the Air Force explained that sites such as the New York Times will be authorized, because it is a reputable media outlet. Reputable? Does anyone remember Jayson Blair?

To suggest that any site with “blog” in its name has no useful information for servicemembers is preposterous. Take for example CAAFlog, a blog administered by a Marine Corps colonel dedicated to news and opinion on military justice and the latest developments in case law from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. No useful information there.

Also there is a bit of irony in the Air Force’s move vis-à-vis CAAFLog. The Marine Corps colonel who administers CAAFlog is employed by the Air Force as a civilian working for the Air Force Appellate Government Division representing servicemembers during their criminal appeals. Just to keep things straight, the Air Force has hired Col Sullivan, precisely for his education, experience, and opinions, yet members of the Air Force are prohibited from accessing a blog he administers, which relates to the subject matter for which he was hired. Is there a disconnect?

Let us hope that this does not spread to the other services.

yojoe (in protect-blogs mode) out

Southern California Man Lies About Being Awarded The Medal Of Honor: Will Be First Prosecution Under Stolen Valor Act

Xavier Alvarez of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in California will be the first person prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act of 2005.

The Act makes it a crime for a person to falsely represent “himself or herself, verbally, or in writing, to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces of the United States . . . .” A violation of the Act is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. The prosecution is being brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Alvarez does not deny he claimed to have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, he claims he did it “just to entertain the public.”

Two Army Colonels Try To Fake Paternity Test And Get Caught

These two Army colonels tried to fake a paternity test by switching identities. They must have forgotten that they submitted D.N.A. samples to the Army.

 

Two former Army War College students are facing criminal charges after Cumberland County authorities accused them of swapping identities in a plot to try to fool a paternity test, authorities said.

Scott M. Carlson, 51, and Bruce S. Adkins, 44, colonels and members of the college’s class of 2007, were charged Thursday with tampering with public records, tampering with evidence, forgery, theft and obstruction of justice.

Adkins’ attorney, Gregory Abeln, said Thursday that his client, who is stationed in Georgia, will testify against Carlson if the need arises.

Way to end a career.

yojoe out