Blog Posts tagged with "Social Media"
The Most Important Week for EUCOM
Here we are in the middle of what I believe is the most important week of the year for U.S. European Command. On one end, a long weekend recently completed in honor of Memorial Day. On the other end of this important stretch of days - D-Day.
Second from left, Lt. Gen. Gardner during ceremony in Cambridge, England
If you follow EUCOM on Twitter or Facebook or our EUCOM website, then you've probably seen the recent Memorial Day coverage that had over half of our public affairs office spread out over the weekend to cover some of the 22 ceremonies that took place throughout Europe. We created a page for all of the collected efforts so you could get live updates as they happened.
As the live pictures, videos and messages came in from different locations, it gave me an even greater appreciation for the sacrifice made by more than 104,000 U.S. service men and women buried at 20 American cemeteries throughout Europe with an additional 20 thousand missing servicemembers listed on the memorial walls. No longer were they just locations I knew of. No longer just a holiday.
They were where our EUCOM Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. John Gardner had traveled to at the American Cemetery in Cambridge, England to pay his respects and give remarks during their ceremony.
Brig Gen Scraba gives remarks in Florence
Or Brig. Gen. Mark Scraba, Deputy Director for EUCOM J5 Plans and Policies-International Military Partnering, whom I traveled with to the American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Italy to pay respects to the over four thousand of our military dead.
The general said something during his remarks that really stuck with me. He said, "The heroes buried here in Florence were ordinary men and women who rose to meet seemingly impossible odds and did extraordinary things. These brave men and women left the safety of their sovereign soil to defeat tyrants, ensure justice and fulfill the promise of safety and security for our US citizens and all the citizens of Europe. Their lives were dedicated not to conflict or death, but to compassion, to freedom and to life."
The American Battle Monuments Commission does an extraordinary job maintaining these cemeteries located in Europe. With so many things in life where the pictures are way more impressive than the real deal, the opposite is true with these memorials. As my local commuter bus dropped me off seven kilometers outside of Florence and at the front of the site on an early Memorial Day morning, pictures fail to serve the beautiful and immaculately kept grounds. As the morning led to the mid-day ceremony, the grounds filled with U.S. and Italian active duty and veterans, local townspeople and visiting Americans standing side by side as they did across all the ceremonies in six different European countries.
The images and words still resonate with me back at the office. But this week isn't over.
Tomorrow begins four days of D-Day events that are taking place in the Normandy region of France. US, UK, French and German military members will take part in a number of ceremonies with the local French people in small towns and on the beaches of the region that commemorate over 100,000 Allied troops that took part that day and those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. I was the public affairs officer last year for the 66th anniversary of D-Day events and it remains the most memorable time of my duty in Europe.
US Army Airborne pin their wings on their French counterparts during D-Day ceremony last year.
Some of that coverage (blogs, photos and videos) is currently on the D-Day section of our website and additional coverage on my site. Kelli Bland, our outreach officer, will be covering D-Day events for this 67th anniversary, so check back to our D-Day page and social media accounts for updates. Our social media team plays an important part of that coverage.
Memorial Day events and annual D-Day commemorations that occur during a year that doesn't end in a zero or five hardly gain any media attention, but that doesn't make it any less important to EUCOM. It doesn't mean the events are supported any less than any other year because these historical dates and their significance are ever present to help act as a foundation for who we are as a command and our strong partnerships with our partner nations in Europe. Social media coverage from our office helps to show that commitment.
Aristotle said, "If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development." EUCOM continues to remember and honor the beginning of our military service members' sacrifice in Europe that has developed into the current strong partnerships we share in the region. In my opinion, that makes this an important week for our approximately 90,000 US military members serving in Europe to always remember. Join us!
Lt. Cmdr. Taylor Clark, U.S. Navy
Social Media Chief, U.S. European Command
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From Traditional to Social Media in the Blink of an Eye
Greetings from Stuttgart, Germany! I'm Lt. Cmdr. Taylor Clark
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EUCOM Commander & Secretary of the Army met today and started the Army-Navy football rivalry early!
Adm. James Stavridis, EUCOM Commander, and the Secretary of the Army, Mr. John McHugh, met today at EUCOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. They took time at the end of their meeting to send this quick message and get the Army-Navy football rivalry started early.
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Navy Adm. James Stavridis, EUCOM Commander, Answers Your Top 5 Questions
The Supreme Allied Commander Europe and U.S. European Command, commander, Navy Adm. James Stavridis answers the top 5 questions sent to him on his Facebook page.
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Everyone's a blogger?
I'm looking for guidance from all you social media gurus, or not, out there. Do you practice the theory, in your business, command, etc., that everyone should blog?
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Social Media in Afghanistan and European Command
How do we do social media at U.S. European Command? My VLog is here to help answer that question, as well as tell you what the troops in Afghanistan are doing at the NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan. This is my first VLog so I hope you enjoy it and please share your thoughts ... And don't forget: It's a social thing, so let's socialize! [wpvideo 4iz3GiGe]
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A Rude Awakening in Kabul, Afghanistan
This is Day 6 for the EUCOM social media team training in Kabul, Afghanistan and it's one that I'll remember for a long time to come.
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Exploring the "Cyber Sea"
They cyber world really caught my attention about a year ago when my daughter’s Facebook account was pirated and her identity used for a swindle. Ugh!
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Expanding our Communications with iPhones
It's been a year since our major overhaul of the EUCOM public web site, breaking the mold of a military web site and incorporating robust Web 2.0 capabilites. In keeping with our mindset of disruptive innovation, later this week we will receive the latest addition to our EUCOM Public Affairs tool box--eight iPhones. These mobile devices will complement the stand-alone commercial DSL computers we currently use to engage our traditional and social media communities via unfettered internet access.
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Social Medializing from Afghanistan--What Do You Want to Talk About?
I'm not blogging from Stuttgart, Germany today. Instead, I've made a little jaunt to Afghanistan to help out NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan with their social media strategy.
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Should the U.S. Military Communicate in the Social Media Realm?
As important as social media has become in the world, it is playing an ever-increasing role in the U.S. military. I’d like to highlight a great example from the International Security Assistance Force.
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Social Media...Still a Fad?
pay attention to the impact social media has had recently in Haiti.
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The New Year with European Command and Our Partner Nations
Happy Twenty Ten from U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany!
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Away From Home this Holiday Season
Happy Holidays to everyone. It’s been a busy couple weeks for us at European Command Public Affairs.
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Another argument for increased engagement
The rationales are generally the same whether we’re talking about SOF or conventional forces.
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Transparency at European Command
Well, the United States military continues to amaze me on the social media scene
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Three Key Steps to Social Media
As Government 2.0 booms and social media grabs at us public affairs professionals in the military, we are having a blast branching out in ways we never have before. We are Tweeting, Flickring, Youtubing, Facebooking and blogging!
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Does social media allow you to care now?
So, based on my fellow blogger, Maj. Jim Gregory’s, last post on the relevancy of European Command, I’d like to take that one step further and put you on the spot, in a nice way of course!
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Doing More with Less - Is Social Media the Answer?
Well, the NATO Secretary General is blowing me out of the water for sure on the blogging side of the house. It's been seven days since my first blog. Does the excuse that I just got here and I've got a staff of two count? And oh by the way, that staff of two was down to one this week? Yah, I didn’t think so…
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How to Social "Medialize" at EUCOM?
So, here starts my first-ever blog as the Social Media Chief for European Command Public Affairs. I’ve been on the job a mere 18 days now, I know… a long time! In that brief period, I’ve already learned quite a bit about Social Media, something I knew dreadfully nothing about before I arrived here.
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15 Things for Leaders
I’ve now spent over three years “on the bridge” of two very large organizations --- U.S. Southern Command in Miami and, of course, more recently U.S. European Command. As I reflect on my experience, both at this level and really since becoming a ship captain, I have come away with 15 things that have stood kept me in pretty good stead. Some of them I’ve picked up from my bosses along the way, some I’ve discovered through reading biography biographies of people I admire and history of events that have impacted my life and thought, and others are purely my own, often learned from my own failures and shortcomings.
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www.EUCOM.mil: A Continuous Work in Progress
The feedback we've received from many of you has been phenomenal, and we've incorporated many of them, including daily EUCOM news headlines, better graphics, and, most recently, an improved blog page. We have a few more "upgrades" left in the queue, as we ramp up to support the Public Affairs effort for the 65th anniversary of D-Day in early June.
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What does Social Networking have to do with Quality of Life?
Next week, U.S. European Command will host its annual Quality of Life Conference in Garmisch, Germany.
Comments: 1
That's intense.