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.

Marines Allowed To Smoke In Afghanistan

Be it Afghanistan or Saipan, Marines want their smokes.  Now Marines, and other servicemembers, will be allowed to smoke,

The Pentagon reassured troops Wednesday that it won’t ban tobacco products in war zones. Defense officials hadn’t actually planned to eliminate smoking — at least for now. But fear of a ban arose among some troops after the Defense Department received a study recommending the military move toward becoming tobacco-free — perhaps in about 20 years.

Press secretary Geoff Morrell pointedly told a Pentagon news conference that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is not planning to prohibit the use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco or other tobacco products by troops in combat.

“He knows that the situation they are confronting is stressful enough as it is,” Morrell said, noting the wars inIraq and Afghanistan. “I don’t think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress.”

yojoe out

Update On New Air Force One: To Be Made In America

It was previously reported that the new Air Force One may not be built in the United States. Now, according to Aviation Week, Airbus is not planning to compete for the contract.

That leaves only Boeing as the only competitor for the president’s new aircraft.

yojoe (in Made in America mode) out

More on the president’s aircraft:

New Air Force One May Be Made In Europe Not America

Upgrades To President’s Helicopter To Cost Additional One Billion Dollars

Joint Strike Fighter: Air Force Wants Boeing To Stop Talking Smack

Ok, that is not a direct quote.  Major General Charles R. Davis, USAF, the Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Program Office, is far to articulate, educated, and gentlemanly to utter such a comment.  But, reality is not that far off.

According to Flightglobal, LtGen Davis is not pleased with, what he characterizes as “lies and half-truths,” being spread by Boeing about the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

“That’s just pissing us off,” Davis says. “If Boeing has to say something negative about JSF to sell their aircraft, that tells me there is something wrong with their aircraft.”

Davis specifically faults Boeing executives for predicting further cost overruns and delays for the F-35 programme. By comparison, Davis says, he has heard BAE Systems make no such predictions in their efforts to sell the Eurofighter Typhoon.

However, it was pointed out to Davis that Boeing had delivered hundreds of F/A-18E/Fs on time and on budget, while the JSF programme has reported a 50% cost increase and an at least 18-month delay during the first seven years of development.

Davis acknowledges the F-35’s record, but refuses to back down in his criticism of Boeing.

Video: Test Of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

This video is of the Marine Corps’s version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B.

yojoe out

Air Force Wants New Drone

From the best technology-military blog Danger Room, comes the story of the Air Force’s desire to replace the Reaper with a new “hunter-killer” drone. MQ-9 Reaper first deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2007. It looks like the Air Force wants some of the $500 million budgeted for drone aircraft.

yojoe (in drone mode) out

Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis Disparages U.S. Military

Hoodlum – noun – a young street ruffian, esp. one belonging to a gang.

Thug – noun – a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer.

Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis was quoted as saying “I could get hoodlums and thugs and win tomorrow. I won’t do it that way.”

Evidently Coach Weis is referring to the hoodlums and thugs that defeated his football team last year, which included a loss to the United States Naval Academy and the United States Air Force Academy. This is unacceptable for Coach Weis to label Midshipmen and Cadets as thugs and hoodlums to justify his abysmal coaching and Notre Dame’s lack of success on the football field.

Coach Weis was correct when he recognized he was a disaster. The jury from his failed malpractice case was correct when they returned the verdict: you are fat.

Coach Weis should concentrate on losing a record 10th bowl game, and stop besmirching the fine men and women of the Navy and Air Force.

yojoe out

Air Force To Buy 300 Sony PlayStation 3

As reported on Kotaku, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory intends to purchase 300 PlayStation 3 40GB gaming systems. The reason for the purchase is not clear, though the Air Force maintains it is for “conducting a technology assessment of certain cell processors.”

Apparently Air Force personnel are prohibited from viewing blogs, but playing a PlayStation is acceptable.

yojoe out

Unmanned Aircraft: $500 Million In FY2008 Global War On Terror Supplemental Budget

Aviation Week is reporting that there is more than $500 million requested, in the FY2008 Global War on Terror supplemental budget request, for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Readers of Dreadnaught are aware of the increasing role of unmanned aircraft.

DoD Plan For Unmanned Vehicles Over The Next 25 Years

MQ-9 Reaper to Deploy to Iraq

Army Awards New Contract for Remote Weapon System to Kongsberg

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

Air Force Terrified Of Ghosts: Calls in Ghost Hunters

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base houses the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is at the cutting edge of warfighting technologies in air, space, and cyberspace. The base also houses some poltergeists, wraiths, and unexplained phenomena. In response to these apparitions the Air Force has called in The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to investigate.
We can only hope that the airmen don’t wet their flight suits before this mystery is solved.

yojoe Semper Fi