The Internet: Ensuring secrets don't remain secrets

Motor Life Boat off Montauk Point
Photo by Thomas Colla
Posted at flickr by Tidewater Muse

More than ever, everything is public and in the clear...

Podcamp coming to Virginia Beach: Set for 11/17, first day of the Innovation Expo

Interested in social media? Web 2.0? Web-based communication? Using the Internet to develop stakeholder relationships? If so, you don't want to miss this, for sure. If you're planning on attending, you can register here:

Please only register if you're actually going to be there... Thanks.

See you there!

And the question is...

I've been thinking a bit about the service's embrace of social media. Well, the Thadmiral's embrace of new media... and the host of people who are waiting for next summer.

A couple of my compatriots, er, shipmates in the vernacular, I guess, have decided that the heat is cranking up. There are too many dinosaurs and it is too darn easy to post something that is thought to be career ending. Too bad, frankly. I know that SIGNO 1 values honest dialogue, but too many other senior officers and civilians are running scared. And scared for the darnedest things. I even had a senior officer deny me organizational data for a dissertation -- yes, the bloody doctorate I've worked on for five years -- an academic exercise done under the close supervision of the university's institutional review board. Not blogging, for sure. And he has denied me access to all organizational data. I didn't want names, just numbers; numbers of vacancies over time, numbers of attrition and retention, numbers of formal and informal civil rights complaints. Nope, nada, nil. And, why? Fear. The same reason people are down on social media. Fear. Said the naysaying senior officer: "Once you have the data, you are free to interpret it as you wish without the filters of a command structure." Er, isn't that the purpose of academic research? But, hey, I'm just one person, and sorry if this puts a "crimp on [my] educational goals but the security of sensitive data, the trust of our people, and the reputation of [the agency] outweigh any individual benefits."

Bloggers and academics, beware. "They" don't want the truth to rear its ugly, ugly head. I fear where we might be in 12 months.

Scott Adams once again peers into the Fifth Service's modernization, reorganization, and realignment efforts

Indeed...

I will be off-net for the next month. Back OOA 8/1/2009. No tweets, posts, or email. Nothing. Dropping off completely. Have a gr8 month.

Dropping out, 2009 style: I will be off-net for the next month. Back OOA 8/1/2009. No tweets, posts, or email. Nothing. Dropping off completely. Have a gr8 month.

Just where have I gone?

Free Follow Me on Twitter Logos
Originally uploaded by creativeinspiration

I've gone to Twitter, actually. I'm currently enamored of micro-blogging, working to keep individual posts to 140 characters or less. Those micro-posts don't show up here, but posts here do get sent out over the Twitter stream.

You can follow along on Twitter here.

For the several dozen of you subscribed to this blog's RSS feed, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of the Twitter stream.

I love the way this picture freezes the blades

Overhead
Originally uploaded by dgunthor

Almost looks like a toy... Great pic.

Flames of lead from the air (this isn't your father's service)

Picture from the Sacramento Bee.

Read their story, Cruise this - marksmen ready for SF Bay terrorism.

A recruiter who wouldn't speak about recruiting

Buried deep in Rachel Raskin-Zrihen's Uncle Sam wants you -- maybe in the Contra Costa Times was this gold nugget:

A local . . . recruiter who declined to reveal his name, said his service branch is also seeing more people wanting in, and fewer leaving once their tours are up.

Er, whatever happened to speaking about what you know? He's a recruiter, right, so everything he said was within his scope. No need to be coy.

Compare Petty Officer I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-my-name to this:

Kelly Walker of Tracy, 24, serves . . . at the Vallejo Station. She said she's been with the [service] about 1 1/2 years.

"I was living in Florida, bartending, and that got old fast," Walker said to explain why she joined the [smallest branch of the military]. "I had done Sea Cadets as a kid and really liked that, and I wanted to find a career."

Walker said she considered the Navy, but settled on the [sister service] and has not regretted her decision. She said she especially enjoys the search and rescue and law enforcement aspects of the job.

"I'm glad I joined when I did. I have a roommate who lost her job and that's an eye-opener," she added. "Compared to people trying to hack it in the real world, this is great."

That's the way to do it.

Danger Room Interviews "The Thadmiral"

Okay, well that's not how Nathan Hodge refers to Signo 1; however, Mr. Hodge does have a great post at Danger Room about the Commandant's thoughts as he looks south of the border: [Service] Chief Eyes Narco-Navy Threat

Last week, the White House released a new counternarcotics strategy for the U.S.-Mexico border that calls for better intelligence and new surveillance technology to stem the flow of drugs, weapons and cash between the two countries. But according to the head of the [United States' smallest military branch], Mexico’s vulnerable southern border is an equally serious concern.

In a conversation with Danger Room, . . . Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said that between 75 percent and 80 percent of all the cocaine moving toward the United States – on go-fast boats, fishing vessels, and narco-submarines — first goes to Mexico, where it can be broken into much smaller packages that are harder to detect.

“The southern border that should be of concern to us as well is Mexico’s southern border, between Mexico, Honduras and that area with Belize,” he said. “Once those products get into Mexico, a couple things happen that really, really increase the problem set for Mexico and the United States. Everything gets distributed into smaller loads, and it’s much harder to identify and intercept. And number two, the drug trafficking organizations are increasingly paying off their transportation people and folks in Mexico with drugs instead of money. So they are creating a user population in Mexico that creates another corrosive effect.”

Good stuff. And if you don't check out Danger Room every once in a while, you should. Always something in the way of food for thought.

Taking Charge: & now we know why it took so long for the Service to release the report

Eighth District Change of Command
Originally uploaded by uscgpress

Very interesting news about the sinking of the F/V PATRIOT and the response from America's smallest military branch. From CG News: [Service] releases results of investigation into fishing vessel Patriot response efforts.

The commander of the . . . Atlantic Area here released Thursday the final action memo detailing the results of an administrative investigation into the [Service]’s response efforts during a January search and rescue case off the coast of Gloucester, Mass.

Matteo Russo and John Orlando died when their 54-foot commercial fishing vessel, the Patriot, sank about 14 nautical miles southeast of Gloucester, Jan. 3.

“Our review of this case showed that we were slow to launch search and rescue assets because of poor collection and analysis of information, and decision making regarding the Patriot’s status,” said Vice Adm. Robert J. Papp, Jr. “The remedial actions I’m requiring are designed to ensure that our people have the right tools, experience and training to be able to act quickly and decisively when emergent and unpredictable cases happen.”

Wow. Slow to launch. Poor collection & analysis. Poor decision making.

CC/RCC watches, no matter the level within the organization, can be a crucible. Often, controllers will breath a sigh of relief: "But for the grace of God, there go I..."

A copy of the Final Action Memo, which includes all of Papp’s opinions and required actions, can be downloaded/viewed at: http://www.uscgnewengland.com/go/doctype/778/33818/

Great read.

In January, the . . . 1st District in Boston initiated a Search and Rescue Case Study to review the Patriot case. But by April Papp was becoming anxious to know what issues had been found.

I'll bet. I know a reporter at a little newspaper that was hot on the trail and throwing gasoline on the fire making certain everyone knew there was more to be learned than what had already been released.

“A [Coastie/Guardian] never wants to lose anyone while on watch, and I wanted to know what issues had been found so we could begin to implement any needed changes to operations in my area of responsibility,” said Papp. “I asked for a working copy of the case study and when I noted the extent of the 1st District command center’s involvement in the case I made the decision to convene an administrative investigation. Assigning an independent, third-party investigator to maximize the amount of information available and ensure there was an additional, independent level of review, gave us a broader look at all aspects of our response to the Patriot case,” added Papp.

I applaud Admiral Papp, Atlantic Area, and the Service for taking such an open view and perspective. And, while I know the family and community was upset with the pace, hopefully they are, now that they have been personally briefed, more understanding of why the delay.

“We are committed to providing the best service possible to the maritime community, and reviewing unusual cases like the Patriot helps us to improve our search and rescue operations,” said Papp.

. . .

“I have personally spoken with Mrs. Russo to pass on my condolences for her family’s loss, and to express my regret for the length of time this investigation has taken,” said Papp. “I also sent a team earlier today to personally share the final report with them and answer any additional questions. The Russo and Orlando families have my commitment that this review of our response will help us perform more effectively and decisively, even during uncertainty, and may one day help to save someone’s life.”

May we, indeed, be a learning organization and take these findings, opinions, and required actions to heart, fully internalizing them.

The guardians of Liberty

The guardians of liberty?
Originally uploaded by AnotherOz

Great pic.