Yesterday I witnessed something that I never thought I would. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) who is the highest ranking sailor in the United States Navy issued an order via Facebook. This wasn’t an issue to send a ship somewhere or to deploy S.E.A.Ls into some troubled nation but the significance is still the same.
Due to the fires in Colorado, the CNO ordered all Sailors and family members to report via the NFAAS site. The CNO realized that the best way to reach a group of people, dispersed over a large area, was through social media. To me, this is groundbreaking. I wrote a blog post years ago (2008) on how Twitter could be used to save your life — and it’s great to see this type of thinking in practice.
The Master Chief Petty Office of the Navy has been on Facebook for quite some time and does a great job of connecting with Sailors, both past and present. As many of you know, I was in the Navy long before social networks took off, and I have to say I am very proud of my fellow Sailors for really embracing how social networks can be used.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the military will be issuing orders via social networks for all their activities, but it is interesting to see how the military is using modern tools to reach its people. What other types of orders could you see the military issuing via social media?
Go NAVY, Beat ARMY!
