SDN mil badges

[tabascosauce]

i was wondering why the mods/attendings/frequent helpful posters of this forum not use the sdn service branch badges that identify army/navy/air force.

is it bad? is it an OPSEC thing? should i take mine off? thoughts?

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[backrow]

I only very recently submitted my request, so I have a feeling it has more to do with apathy than anything else.

 

[DrMetal]

i was wondering why the mods/attendings/frequent helpful posters of this forum not use the sdn service branch badges that identify army/navy/air force.

is it bad? is it an OPSEC thing? should i take mine off? thoughts?

something about having to submit a .mil email address to get it . . . .Some would rather not do that (submit their .mil to a public forum service). I guess you could view it as an OPSEC thing, but you are allowed to use your dod email at non-military sites, as long as its for professional purposes (and of course, assuming the site is secure).

 

[Slevin]

Yeah but you don't have to use your .Mil address as your primary address on this forum, all you have to do is use it to verify your .mil status rather than as a POC.

 

[notdeadyet]

To each their own but for some of us providing our .mil address for the sake of having the forum equivalent of a vanity plate isn't worth the potential loss of anonymity.

Providing my Army .mil email and flying an Army icon underneath my username makes me feel less comfortable speaking openly. I realize that the anonymity is an illusion and I don't $hit where I eat regardless, but I don't like to hang my branch of service on my icon, in my screen name, or in my signature.

 

[tabascosauce]

i dun wanna be vain :{

 

[notdeadyet]

i dun wanna be vain :{

Don't sweat it. If you want it, go for it. It's not an OPSEC violation. Im not meaning to be Debbie downer, just explaining why you might not see it universally embraced...

 

[tabascosauce]

all righty then.

 

[SDN]

As founder and ongoing volunteer with SDN, I assure you that your .mil email is not being used for anything other than verification. It is not saved on our servers or linked to your account (unless you've chosen to make it your member email too) -- so even if the military tried to subpoena your information there's no record of it on our servers after the verification is complete.

FWIW, in the past 12 years, we've only been successfully subpoena'ed once for member information and that was for a clear-cut copyright violation. So as long as you're not sharing government secrets or posting illegally copied materials, you should be OK.

I'm Army myself - but don't fly the badge because of my other volunteer duties that I have at SDN. However, if I wasn't doing my volunteer work with SDN, I'd definitely have the badge -- it's not necessary, but it does make it easy for other members to identify who has been verified as being in the military. Plus getting all the Google ads removed from the site makes the site load faster, which is sweet.

 

[colbgw02]

I honestly didn't know an Army SDN "badge" existed until this thread. I wouldn't persue it though, because I cling to the erroneous notion that the interwebz is anonymous. Or, at least, I don't want to aid online stalkers in tracking me down.

 

[tabascosauce]

its a pretty sweet badge like the EFMB.

 

[Josh2389]

I would show my badge if I was eligible lol...Got out of the military a few months ago, so no longer have a .mil address.

 

[J-Rad]

I would show my badge if I was eligible lol...Got out of the military a few months ago, so no longer have a .mil address.

I believe veterans are eligible as well. Put in a request.

 

[pgg]

What happened to the Navy-specific rule on not using the symbol on social media? Seem to recall an instruction a few months ago that got a lot of discussion here. Anything new with that?

The symbol was changed.