Can one of the O-5 SAF posters explain this?

cb7893

10-Year Member
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Dec 6, 2011
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Does this stuff not filter up beyond O-2?

Are we outsiders to assume that this is the first idiotic/disgraceful thing thing p***k has ever posted. And of course all this was totally unknown beyond his 3 million TikTok and 200k Instagram followers? I wonder how many are AD service members are among them.

If his generation doesn’t want boomer admonitions then they should police their own.
 
I’m not on TikTok, and military personnel aren’t supposed to be on TikTok. I’m also not on Instagram and I most military officers I know aren’t on it.
So... how is someone not on TikTok or Instagram supposed to know one of their JOs is being an idiot on these social platforms? Are they supposed to run around checking up on them? If it comes to light they react accordingly. It seems the LTs chain of command is taking appropriate action.
 
3,000,000 followers?

Ask a Kardashian how long that takes to build.

Not blaming the Maj. Gen. Just saying there are a lot of O's between 1 and 8.

And no one knew? Sorry. Not on board with that.
 
3,000,000 followers?

Ask a Kardashian how long that takes to build.

Not blaming the Maj. Gen. Just saying there are a lot of O's between 1 and 8.

And no one knew? Sorry. Not on board with that.
Again, you’re making assumptions. I don’t follow the Katdashians and only know their names because they are shoved down my throat. I really don’t know any “social media stars”, I don’t follow any of them, and I wouldn’t have a clue how many followers they have. I imagine most senior officers are about the same, at least most I know. Heck, my DD Cadet has left most social media. And as I pointed out military personnel aren’t ene supposed to be on TikTok, so I’m not sure how they would know. Even if they are on social media that this clown frequents you’re assuming they spend endless time on these platforms and would come across him. I’m on Twitter but I have maybe posted or shared one or two things in several years and only go on it about once a week. If this guy was on twittter I never heard of him. Should I have? Am I a bad person because, with all that’s going on in the world, I didn’t follow some LT?
Maybe this will now become an additional duty. Brigade social media tracking officer.
 
One of the things that caught my attention is this guy is an O-1 and 23 years old. Not sure how long he has been at his unit, but probably not long (weeks, months ?). It’s not the Company Commander’s responsibility to review someone’s social media posts. I could see if they had known this Lt’s status on social media, it might be a good topic as a reminder of policy and ‘don’t be an idiot’ during one on one meetings. But maybe that had happened. Maybe it had not. Maybe he had even had a review with the local PAO to review policy and expectations on social media. Maybe that was all done. That doesn’t prevent the responsibility the Lt has to not be an idiot. I mean how many DUI briefs do soldiers sit through and they still do it (all ranks still do it). Even as a young officer, he is an officer and held to a higher standard and he will suffer the consequences, as he should. I would actually more question with this young man’s history, what he had posted over 4 years in ROTC. I wonder if his unit had identified his stupidity on social media, the line he is walking doing these things in uniform, and correcting him back then.
 
I'm the last to claim to know anything about Social Media, but I'm going to venture a guess that most of his Followers or whatever they are called on TIKTOK joined after this became viral (I at least know that term). I'm guessing this kid's career is going to be short !

(Funny -- I signed up for Twitter a few years ago, just so I could see someone (guess who) tweets live instead of reading them in the press. I've never posted on it, rarely look at it..but have two followers (my sister and some stranger).
 
I'm the last to claim to know anything about Social Media, but I'm going to venture a guess that most of his Followers or whatever they are called on TIKTOK joined after this became viral (I at least know that term). I'm guessing this kid's career is going to be short !

(Funny -- I signed up for Twitter a few years ago, just so I could see someone (guess who) tweets live instead of reading them in the press. I've never posted on it, rarely look at it..but have two followers (my sister and some stranger).
I’m with you.

For business purposes, I created a Twitter account several years ago to follow business leaders, military news, Navy sports, my alma mater, and some funny people. I occasionally retweet but rarely create new content, because I believe the blathersphere can comfortably be filled by others and is not in need of me (unlike SAF where I have convinced myself I can offer worthwhile words, though sea stories creep in). I routinely go into my Twitter account to find people I don’t know attaching themselves limpet-like in the hope of a return follow, so they can get their followership up. I cheerfully block them and peel them off. I enjoy that.
 
This O-1 doesn’t have the sense to lead. I don’t recall a prohibition of TikTok on personal devices. That doesn’t mean servicemen and women should ever post. To what end? And the immense waste of time building a following. Most significantly, racial/religious “jokes” just don’t have a place anywhere. There is really no such thing as Holocaust humor that is in good taste. In the current climate, how does someone not understand this.

Hard to imagine holding Senior Officers accountable for this moronic behavior unless they plainly knew and were in CofC.
 
In the current climate, how does someone not understand this.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here and say that at least part of the reason this kid is being hammered is a result of the current climate. Was what he said in poor taste? Yes. Was it dumb to post it in a video? Incredibly. But punishment being meted out due to public opinion can never be considered fair. You can be assured that 20, or even 10 years ago, something like this would not have been treated as it is today.

Almost anyone who has ever served a day of their life in the military knows that far worse things often get said behind closed doors. Does it make it right? No. But to give a little perspective here, we’re talking about a young 20 year old kid. There isn’t a single person on here (myself included) who hasn’t said or done something stupid when they were younger. And, as some of the commenters on this article have said, it really shows where the Army’s priorities lie when they’re trying to dismiss a 2nd Lt for a inappropriate joke rather than figure out why soldiers keep turning up dead at Fort Hood.
 
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I’m going to play devil’s advocate here
Why would you want to do that Tex? This one doesn’t seem to deserve someone playing Devil’s Advocate. And, if he’d made a dumb joke privately, I’m pretty sure nobody would care. Plus, what does Fort Hood have to do with this O-1’s bad judgment? (Nothing). Let’s not pretend that the resources being spent on this are interfering with a Fort Hood related issue. To be clear, I’m no fan of the current cancel culture climate. But, TikTok?
 
Before I unload, I want to make a few things clear:

@UHBlackhawk , I have great respect for your service and your contributions to SAF. Both are much more significant than mine.

The Green Notebook appears to be an example of a valuable blog site. They aren’t doing it for charity, but I would rate it highly and recommend it.

However, as I read the article it made me think of the time DS#1 (who is a thriving Army O-3) brought home a 7th grade report card with a “D”...in HEALTH! How is that possible? It takes effort. It’s harder to get a “D” in health than an “A” in trigonometry. His response was, “How do you write an essay about the importance of washing your hands or brushing your teeth.

How many times is it necessary to repeat Greenbook’s admonitions and suggestions?

It wouldn’t require a hall monitor to notice what that clown was doing. 3 million followers? 5-15 TikToks (or whatever they’re called) each day? Since July of last year? Many of them in uniform? Using his military credentials to build his brand? And no one knew about it? This was a disgrace before posting his cute little holocaust joke. He makes Rob O’Neill look good.
 
Before I unload, I want to make a few things clear:

@UHBlackhawk , I have great respect for your service and your contributions to SAF. Both are much more significant than mine.

The Green Notebook appears to be an example of a valuable blog site. They aren’t doing it for charity, but I would rate it highly and recommend it.

However, as I read the article it made me think of the time DS#1 (who is a thriving Army O-3) brought home a 7th grade report card with a “D”...in HEALTH! How is that possible? It takes effort. It’s harder to get a “D” in health than an “A” in trigonometry. His response was, “How do you write an essay about the importance of washing your hands or brushing your teeth.

How many times is it necessary to repeat Greenbook’s admonitions and suggestions?

It wouldn’t require a hall monitor to notice what that clown was doing. 3 million followers? 5-15 TikToks (or whatever they’re called) each day? Since July of last year? Many of them in uniform? Using his military credentials to build his brand? And no one knew about it? This was a disgrace before posting his cute little holocaust joke. He makes Rob O’Neill look good.
1. The article I quoted is more a warning to JOs. Did you even read it? Your response makes it sound as if you didn’t. I’m not sure about the controversy of it as it seems to be an issue. Hopefully, some Cadets, Midshipmen and JOs will learn some lessons about tact and social media. With an election coming up some need to learn now to STFU.
2. I’m not surprised that higher officers didn’t notice. Most don’t have social media accounts or if they do it might be a quiet Twitter account. My DW has a quiet Facebook and Twitter account, but that’s it. Seriously, you think if a higher officer noticed they wouldn’t have said something? They would have put this clown in his place. I know some SAs track “anonymous” social media. Some special operations probably tracks it and limits their use. But regular line units? Probably wasn’t even on their radar... until now.
Our potential and actual enemies track social media. It’s already been used to track our forces and others. Some teen in Australia figured out where a secret US base was located in Africa by tracking a fitness app used by special operators.
 
And, if he’d made a dumb joke privately, I’m pretty sure nobody would care.
You’d actually be very surprised what the military cares about “privately” and tries to regulate. Case in point, look at the instructor pilots at Laughlin AFB that got in trouble a few years back for joking about drug use in private text messages. IIRC, OSI agents had a warrant to search said pilots’ phones for evidence of illegal drug use, and even after it was proven that only one of them actually used drugs, the other pilots were all given reprimands and removed from flying status just for joking about the matter. When asked about it, former CSAF General Welsh said that airmen were expected to uphold the “core values” at all times, to include private text messages. So basically, the dangerous precedent set was that you aren’t entitled to privacy in the military (unless of course you’re top brass, then no one bats an eye).

... and the military wonders why officers are leaving the service in droves. Who would want to be part of such a toxic command climate?
 
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