Thursday, March 25, 2010

30 Days Through Afghanistan

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgts. Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan, broadcast and photojournalists with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command Public Affairs, traveled across Afghanistan for their project "30 Days Through Afghanistan."

This journey covered ISAF's five regional commands in Afghanistan, and they vlogged and blogged daily for 35 straight days.

Read about their trip at http://30days.isaf.nato.int/
___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Militants in Afghanistan Build Bigger and Bigger Roadside Bombs

The March 20th Wall Street Journal article by Yochi J. Dreazen describes the same IED problem that I discussed in my previous blog post. See post "DODLive Bloggers Roundtable Hears from Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates on IEDs"

In fact, Army Lt. General Michael Oates, new director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), is quoted in the Journal article.

What especially upset me after reading the article (besides the problem of the IEDs) is the lack of response I got from Gen. Oates' staff. Here's what happened:

He said in the DODLive Bloggers Roundtable that his four-year-old organization charged with finding solutions to IEDs wanted to hear from people outside the usual military channels who might have new ideas about dealing with this horrendous problem.

Yet, when I went to his org's website -- the URL of which I had to ask for on the call as it wasn't automatically provided -- the home page is so filled with links to press releases and news stories that it's very hard to have any idea at all that this org actually wants help. (Check out www.jieddo.dod.mil to see if you agree with me.)

Because this problem of IEDs is so horrendous, I offered to advise JIEDDO on how to have a home page that makes it very clear that the org is looking for civilian help on this problem. (A website review is one of the services that my Internet marketing company does.)

My DODLive contact said she would forward this offer to Gen. Oates' PAO (Public Affairs Officer) -- and in over a week I have heard nothing.

Thus reading this story in the March 20th Journal really upset me because I am convinced that there are civilian engineers and other civilians who could help with this problem IF THEY KNEW THEIR HELP IS NEEDED.

But how are they going to know that their help is needed? Certainly not by going to www.jieddo.dod.mil

What do you think? Am I right to be really, really upset at this lack of follow-through on the part of the staff of JIEDDO?
___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Friday, March 12, 2010

DODLive Bloggers Roundtable Hears From Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates on IEDs

U.S. Army Lt. General Michael L. Oates, new director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), answered questions for the DODLive Bloggers Roundtable today. I participated in the roundtable and was impressed by the efforts of the JIEDDO, an organization that is only four years old.

While the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is declining in Iraq, the threat is increasing in Afghanistan, where the less sophisticated bomb making than in Iraq focuses on using two types of fertilizer.

Lt. General Oates explained that fighting IEDs in Afghanistan is a very local challenge – knowing all the players -- and that the Taliban direct their fighters on the placement of the IEDs to prevent U.S. troops from interacting with the local population.

The general also spoke about how open JIEDDO is to outside suggestions and to outside bids for its projects. Thus when it was my turn to ask a question, I asked for a single link that would make it easy for people to connect with JIEDDO in order to offer their help or ideas.

While I was assured that on the JIEDDO site -- at www.jieddo.dod.mil -- it is easy to find things, I checked this site out and it is, in my opinion, very difficult to navigate.

Because I had been told there was a bid link on the site's home page, I did serach for and finally locate the bid portal. But, again, once you get to the bid portal the site continues to be difficult to navigate.

As a former Mrs. Lieutenant I understand about the U.S. Army's tendency to over-write rather than simplify. But, as Lt. General Oates said, IEDs are a "matter of life and death."

Thus my suggestion to JIEDDO is: Make the entire website -- and especially the bid portal -- much more user friendly.

In civilian speak: Get rid of all the excess information on the home page and, using the breadcrunbs concept for websites, lead people step-by-step through a clear navigation path to what they should do and what they can do to help save the lives of our men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Monday, March 8, 2010

THE HURT LOCKER Wins Best Picture Oscar

The film THE HURT LOCKER won best picture, best director, best original screenplay, best sound editing, best sound mixing, and best film editing.

For those of you who regularly read this blog, you know that I have been praising this film since I viewed a screener at the end of August 2009. You can imagine my thrill when THE HURT LOCKER won best picture even though very few people outside Hollywood have seen the film.

Yet for me the win by Kathryn Bigelow for best director (against James Cameron for AVATAR) was equally important. As a long-time feminist I was thrilled that a woman (only the fourth Oscar directing nominee ever) won for a film that no one could say "She made a women's film." Kathryn Bigelow demonstrated that women are just as good as men at making movies where things blow up.

And on top of this she directed a film that thanks to a great script by Mark Boal -- who was up-close-and-personal embedded with a bomb defusing squad in Baghdad in 2004 -- was an incredible portrayal of the service of our troops.

Here's a video of her best director acceptance speech.


Of course the actors were amazing and everyone's contribution made this the compelling film it is.

Let's hope that the film will now get wider circulation and more people will view this story that provides such a compelling look at our armed forces.

See a brief video of the film and read my review from August.


And here's a video of the acceptance speeches for the best picture win.

___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

PBS NewsHour Features Segment on New Judicial Approach for Veterans

The post "A New Judicial Approach for Veterans in Trouble With the Law" by Tom Bearden begins:
Nic Gray was a model soldier. He made sergeant in an unusually short period of time, and served honorably in Iraq.

When his enlistment was up, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., to start a business and get on with the rest of his life. Last October he was on the phone with an old Army buddy, reminiscing about their time in Baghdad. The next thing he remembers is waking up wearing an orange jumpsuit, locked up in jail.
In an earlier blog post here I featured a video of Nic being interviewed about this incident. Watch the video now.

Then read the rest of the blog post on the new judicial approach.

UPDATE: Now you can watch a reply of the segment as well as read the transcript.
___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Sesame Street Helps Children Cope With Deployments



Now visit the Sesame Street website to learn more about how Sesame Street is helping children cope with deployments.
___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.