Keesler officials open gates to military bloggers

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates
  • Defense Media Activity-San Antonio
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) --  Airmen in the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron here hosted the Air Force's first ever orientation flight for military bloggers May 19. 

The flight, which took place aboard one of the Reserve unit's WC-130J Hercules, was designed to give the bloggers a taste of what it's like to fly on a military aircraft and learn what these "Hurricane Hunters" do when they fly through the large storms. 

For the bloggers, the flight was not only educational, but entertaining. 

"It was a blast," said Cynthia Morgan, a truck driver who blogs about military topics. "I'm a sort of a thrill junkie so this flight was awesome. I'll be putting this in my blog for sure." 

This is one of the reasons squadron members hosted the flight. Blogging is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world and Air Force officials are taking notice. 

"All of these bloggers address military or weather issues in their blogs," said Maj. Chad Gibson, public affairs officer with the 403rd Wing. "Blogging is another medium we can use to get information out. So, providing this flight gives the bloggers a better idea of what we do and allows us to use them to tell the rest of the world." 

And, with social networking and media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Youtube, bloggers do have unlimited reach. A message posted to one of these popular sites reaches literally across the globe. 

"Blogging is a way for the military to reach a lot of people fast," said Petty Officer 3rd Class William Selby, a mass communications specialist and military blogger. "So it can get information out that it otherwise might not be able to using conventional media, such as newspapers and magazines." 

This is one reason Ms. Morgan started blogging. She worked as a civilian contractor in Iraq for several years and noticed a lot of good things were happening there; things the media weren't reporting. 

"So, I started a blog and talked about what our military was doing in Iraq," she said. "I just wanted people to know there was a lot of good going on." 

Department of Defense officials also are looking at ways it can use servicemembers as bloggers. 

"Blogging is the new media," said Petty Officer Selby, who produces a video blog for DOD on important military topics. "And it's easily accessible. People can blog from anywhere and at anytime. So, I see blogging becoming even more popular in the future and the military is looking at how it can be a part of this new media." 

This orientation flight was a good first step. 

"It's great the Air Force is giving this opportunity to bloggers," Ms. Morgan said. "It's definitely helpful to get a firsthand look at what the military does ... it'll sure make my blog more interesting."