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.

Marine Corps Joint Strike Fighter F-35B Makes First Flight

The Marine Corps version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) – aka the Lightning II – the F-35B , is the version of the JSF intended for vertical takeoff and landings.  According to Aviation Week,

Lockheed Martin has flown the first short-take-off-and- vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B, in conventional-take-off (CTOL) mode, clearing the way for funding to be released for production of the first six U.S. Marine Corps aircraft.

The 44-minute flight of aircraft BF-1, the first production-representive F-35, from Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant also marked the start of a five-year, 5,000-plus test program involving three variants of the Joint Strike Fighter: the CTOL F-35A, STOVL F-35B and aircraft carrier-capable F-35C.

yojoe (in STOVL mode) out

Osprey to go to Iraq

The Marines will begin sending the MV-22 Osprey into combat beginning in September 2007.

yojoe