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Allen pushes Facebook, other sites for leaders

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen has eclectic tastes in music, plays Scrabble online, doesn’t really watch mainstream television — although he is a fan of “House” and “The Big Bang Theory” — and, above all, is proud of his fellow service members, according to his Facebook profile.

The highest-ranking member in the Coast Guard has been experimenting with various new media tools such as the photo-sharing site Flickr, video hub YouTube and popular social networking site Facebook for the last several months as he prepared for a “revolution” in Coast Guard information management.

Allen released a servicewide message Monday that strongly encourages senior leaders to use new media technology such as “blogs, wikis, social networks and podcasts” to improve communication with Coast Guardsmen and potential recruits.

A second message outlining new social media policies was released Thursday, and more messages are expected in the coming weeks. Coasties also will see updates to the Commandant’s Corner on the Coast Guard Web site, an internal Facebook-like site, as well as internal chat rooms. Many of these new initiatives may move to dot-com sites so that everyone can access Coast Guard information, he said.

The Coast Guard Data Network, much like the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, restricts users from accessing Facebook and has bandwidth limitations on YouTube videos, said Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Russell, the commandant’s spokesman. Those restrictions are being addressed, he added.

‘Not a fad’

Though the use of social-networking sites could improve communication with those outside the Coast Guard, it is intended to be much more than a new recruiting tool.

“Young kids coming into the Coast Guard today demand parity with what they have been using all their lives ... and if they ... enter an organization that is not evolving and updating the technology ... there is no incentive for them to join,” Allen said.

In his AlCoast message and a subsequent video posted on YouTube, Allen emphasized that this new method of communication is “not a fad” and should be taken seriously.

Few high-ranking military leaders would consider starting a Facebook page, let alone opening it to the public. Allen’s interest intrigued Zachary Tumin, the executive director for the Leadership for a Networked World Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He “friended” the admiral, joining his Facebook network.

“What impressed me about Admiral Allen’s Facebook page ... is how he chronicled his trip to Alaska at the time,” Tumin said. “I thought it was a remarkable exercise in leadership, both in using the new technology in the ways he wanted his service to use it and in taking the risk in doing that.”

Allen’s 500 Facebook friends include everyone from family members to service members fresh out of basic training. (Once the Coast Guard social networking site is set up, Allen said he plans to use the Facebook page to stay connected with family and friends.)

“Admiral, thanks for accepting the request. I’m an SA reservist two months out of basic training stationed in Sector Northern New England, and I just wanted to tell you I really look up to you,” 19-year-old Sean Thompson wrote.

Thompson said he appreciated being able to communicate with the commandant even though he may not get to meet him.

Perhaps the most telling sign of how new media will fit into future Coast Guard missions was demonstrated during the service’s response to Hurricane Ike.

Senior Coast Guard officials across the country used an online chat room called Office Web Coordinator to keep informed as decisions were made regarding rescue and recovery operations in Texas. Those same operations were broadcast on YouTube, collecting more than 100,000 views — at one time the collection was the 50th-most-viewed site on YouTube.

“We were using things like chat rooms ... to simultaneously make all senior leaders aware of the situation. ... We should be restless and curious about new ways to do that,” Allen said Monday during a conference call with online journalists.