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On 7/16/2009 3:53:41 PM General William E. Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command wrote
The following blog by General Ward was written in response to an online query asking for his opinion on the use of social media at U.S. Africa Command and as a communication tool for U.S. troops. The original query can be found in the AFRICOM Dialogue section at http://www.africom.mil/africomDialogue.asp?entry=20.
Appreciate your interest in our perspectives.
Indeed we do understand the importance of using social media. We have taken steps to research and better understand it, so that we may embrace the technology that is most appropriate for U.S. Africa Command.
I am a strong advocate for open dialogue and being as transparent as possible. Our mission of conducting 'sustained security engagement' depends on achieving shared trust and understanding with all our partners.
Social media tools are both popular and effective at engaging in two-way dialogue with a wide audience. We use them to help keep the general public informed of our activities and engage in dialogue with us. The Africa Command Dialogue Blog has been tremendously successful. We also have found great success in using popular commercial web-based services like Facebook and YouTube. They provide ways for people around the world to let us know what is on the minds of those interested in our work and promote public interaction about issues relevant to Africa Command. So long as the dialogue is constructive and informative, I firmly believe the time and resources we devote to our blog and other capabilities are very well spent.
For internal communications with service members, civilians, contractors, and family members, I remain a strong believer in the chain-of-command and its supporting information channels, such as inspectors general, chaplains, and others. I have an open-door policy that allows our service members to raise their concerns or complaints that they feel need to be addressed. Our service members here at U.S. Africa Command know fully well--and are never denied the ability--that they are free to knock on the doors to their chain-of-command to discuss personal and work-related issues.
The employment of social media to supplement or support such communications is a worthy topic that is evolving as quickly as the technology. The risk of using these online tools on a government network is an important consideration, as the increased number and sophistication of cyber attacks is showing. Therefore, we are proceeding cautiously. And, yes, I do have a staff writing various things for me, however I assure you everything with my name has been personally touched by me.
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