Joel’s blog back up

[Gastrapathy]

Big Navy shut down Joel Schoefer’s blog mccareer.org

They’ve always had requirements that blog posts and other writing be approved but updated the instruction a year ago. The question is why enforce now? My suspicion is that he posted on POM20 and the coming cuts. BUMED at its finest.

The rest of you active duty peeps better protect your anonymity.

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[militaryPHYS]

Hopefully it’s only down temporarily while he makes it work under the instruction. When I saw his last post I reviewed the instruction. Shouldn’t take too long to revamp

 

[militaryPHYS]

By the way. Even with anonymity they found me last year about this time. Hence why I’m still shut down.

I could have been better about it I suppose, but a little bit of context helps sometimes.

 

[pgg]

Big Navy shut down Joel Schoefer’s blog mccareer.org

They’ve always had requirements that blog posts and other writing be approved but updated the instruction a year ago. The question is why enforce now? My suspicion is that he posted on POM20 and the coming cuts. BUMED at its finest.

The rest of you active duty peeps better protect your anonymity.

I agree in principle that anonymity is desirable for everyone on the internet. However, I'm pretty comfortable with the fact that a lot of people know exactly who I am. There's another forum I participate in where my .sig includes my real name and location, because that's the norm for that community.

Use of social media, even to discuss Navy-related topics, isn't prohibited or even frowned upon by the Navy. There's a Navy-wide social media policy that's pretty short and to the point. It's explicitly allowed and even encouraged. Straight from the Navy's Social Media Guidance:

• Be yourself and share authentically about unclassified Navy and Navy-related topics to your service.
• Know that everything online is potentially available to everyone in the world, including your leaders, co-workers, as well as those who would wish you harm like criminals or adversaries.
• Know that once information is posted online it can remain there forever and be used in ways you never intended.
• Maintain a clear separation at all times on social media between your Navy affiliation and your political views to avoid creating the appearance that the Navy is endorsing a specific policy, candidate or party.

It goes on with the usual warnings about OPSEC. If you're truthful, and respectful to others down AND up your chain of command, I think you can rest easy.


But a blog is less social media, and more a platform for publication. I'd always sort of wondered how, as excellent as it was, the existence of the career blog meshed with the rules concerning publications and PAO review. Technically, we can't even print a poster for a case presentation at a medical conference without PAO review and approval.

I hope he works out how to comply with the instruction and is back up soon. His work on the MC Career Blog has really been a credit to him and the Navy.

 

[Gastrapathy]

I agree. It’s really unfortunate that he’s shut down. From reading the instruction, it’s going to be so much effort to keep it going that I suspect it will die. It’s too bad the BUMED PAO didn’t just make it official and let him do it. I’m not sure that social media guidance applies to BUMED folks as it was from FFC rather than the Pentagon.

The instruction is written very broadly. It precludes contractors from publishing in their private life without approval. Seems hard to believe that would hold up.

I think some of what it written here could be within the “first person narrative” category if they really wanted to burn you and I vaguely recall that using your actual name was required in one iteration (no clue if that’s still true).

 

[militaryPHYS]

It’s too bad the BUMED PAO didn’t just make it official and let him do it.

I agree. I mean the Medical Corps CAC-enabled site has his board prep stuff on there. They might as well just use his expertise to run a trusted public site for the MC. If they were smart they could have "used him" to subtly sell DHA rollout in a positive light. Perhaps they tried and he smartly declined... Now all we have is ADM Bono's Tweets.

His stuff on career progression, OSR prep, etc. is incredibly valuable. I hope he gets back up and running soon.

 

[Cooperd0g]

It isn’t shut down as in you can’t access the site. Essentially he can’t post officially released info, but he can still post opinion and his past work is still there.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Did you read the instruction? I don't really think he can post anything without a several week approval process.

 

[Cooperd0g]

Yeah I guess I missed the part right in the first sentence that said private works too. Total BS. I mean, what if I wanted to write a children’s book completely unrelated to medicine or the Navy?

 

[militaryPHYS]

My local JAG/PAO said that anything unrelated to official correspondence can be posted without review. If there is anything discussed that even references something that was discussed via official correspondence then review required. Also you can't use the MC seal or have a website name that makes it appear official DOD of any nature.

I think the key is a working relationship with local JAG/PAO. I am going to let them make the decisions so I have my butt covered if people come knocking.

Instruction very vague and tries to capture EVERYTHING but honestly cannot. If that were the case then we should all be having each post on SDN reviewed before posting.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Yeah I guess I missed the part right in the first sentence that said private works too. Total BS. I mean, what if I wanted to write a children’s book completely unrelated to medicine or the Navy?

I really wonder if that instruction would hold up as a lawful order given how broadly it is framed.

As for "unrelated to official correspondence", it would be almost impossible to write anything remotely tangentially involving the life in the military that is completely unrelated to all official correspondence (nor can anyone actually know everything that is official correspondence). Also, that may be the local interpretation and I'd run with that but its hard to read it that way. Not easy to comply.

I think one could argue that you should have most SDN posts reviewed under the first person narrative category to follow the letter of the instruction.

 

[SirGecko]

Apparently he made a few minor changes to the blog and it seems like it will continue. Seems like the biggest change going forward will be not directly referencing official correspondence without prior PAO approval. (Good thing too, his blog is a great source of career advice)

 

[Gastrapathy]

That’s good news

 

[militaryPHYS]

Thank goodness. Looks good, too!

 

[rotatores]

Big Navy shut down Joel Schoefer’s blog mccareer.org

They’ve always had requirements that blog posts and other writing be approved but updated the instruction a year ago. The question is why enforce now? My suspicion is that he posted on POM20 and the coming cuts. BUMED at its finest.

The rest of you active duty peeps better protect your anonymity.

Which is why I haven’t posted in many years....but now that I’m down to double digit days before my separation I may share a few thoughts of my own....well....perhaps after my DD-214 is in my hands.

 

[militaryPHYS]

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