61st year, No. 30
Serving the NATO, Naples and Gaeta Military Community in Italy
Friday, July 29, 2016
Do’s and Don’ts for Voicing Your Political Opinion on Social Media
By Jason Kelly U.S. Navy Digital Media Engagement Director
With both major political parties wrapping up their national conventions, both traditional and social media are swarming with the latest news about their prospective candidates and updates on missteps from the opposition. Back in 2008, political and media analysts dubbed that year’s presidential election the YouTube election since the candidates used the platform to post videos longer than traditional political ads. Fast forward to 2016 where
now a third of 18- to 29-yearolds say social media is their most helpful source for learning about this year’s presidential election, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. More social media opportunities exist now for Americans to share everything from their favorite cat photos to their personal opinions, including about this year’s presidential election. So what do Sailors and Department of the Navy civilians need to know before they post, tweet and snap their political opinions? The information below doesn’t
cover everything but, if in doubt, consult your command’s ethics representative. Service members Let’s start with Sailors. NAVADMIN 055-16 and DoD Directive 1344.10 spell it out. Active-duty Sailors may generally express their personal views about public issues or political candidates using social media – just like they can write a letter to a newspaper’s editor. If the social media site or content identifies the Sailor as on active duty (or if they’re rea-
sonably identifiable as an active-duty Sailor), then the content needs to clearly and prominently state that the views expressed are those of the individual only and not those of the Department of Defense (DoD). However, active-duty service members may not engage in any partisan political activity such as posting or making direct links to a political party, partisan political candidate, campaign, group or cause. That’s the equivalent of distributing literature on behalf of those entities or individuals, which is prohibited. Active-duty Sailors can like or follow accounts of a political party or partisan candidate, campaign, group or cause. However, they cannot suggest that others like, friend or follow them or forward an invitation or solicitation. Remember, active-duty service members are subject to additional restrictions based on the Joint Ethics Regulation, the Uniform Code of Military Justice and rules about the use of government resources and government communications systems, including email and internet. POLITICAL GUIDELINES Page 6
Boy or girl, when news of a pregnancy arrives, most parents are only hoping for a healthy child. When Tristan was born, his parents could not have imagined the long road that lay ahead for their second son to get to good health. “He was born and we never really knew anything was wrong,” Electronics Technician 1st Class Stephanie Harris, who was a recruiter in San Diego at the time
and is now a recruiter in Fairfax, Virginia, said. “We realized he had a protrusion coming from his stomach one time when he was one year old and we took him in. They started doing a whole bunch of testing and found that he had been born with this really rare and severe malformation of his renal and urinary system and needed several surgeries. That was when we started the enrollment process for the [Exceptional Family Member Program (EMFP)].” The EFMP is a quality of life program that is mandated for all Sailors who have
WORD SEARCH / COLOR ME 14
ASH CARTER MEETING Page 7
BASE NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 NAVY HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 FFSC CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SOUND OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 MOVIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 JOBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS . . . . . . . . . page 14
By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News
USO TOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
family members with a chronic medical or educational condition which requires special care and services. The program was established in 1987 to ensure that when a Sailor is in the process of a permanent change of station (PCS) to a new duty station, any special needs required for a family member can be met at that new location. The Navy currently has more than 17,000 family members enrolled in the program, which is broken up into six categories depending on the needs of each family member. Page 11 EFMP CAPTAIN’S CORNER. . . . . . . . . 2
NEW SKIPPER AT USNH NAPLES . . . . . . page 5
Counter-ISIL Meetings Came At Critical Time, Carter Says Important initiatives to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that evolved from last week’s counter-ISIL coalition meetings came at a critical time in light of recent events, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters on July 25, 2016. While the motive in the July 22 shopping-mall shooting in Munich that left nine dead is not yet known, according to press reports, ISIL claimed responsibility for a weekend attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, the secretary said. Published reports said ISIL fighters claimed they bombed a protest march that killed more than 80 people and injured hundreds. Carter emphasized both attacks serve as reminders of the threats overseas and in the American homeland. Carter and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman expressed their condolences to the victims and families of both attacks in today’s news conference at the Pentagon. Carter and Dunford said the U.S. resolve to stand with Germany is unshakeable. The secretary also said the U.S.-led coalition will “continue to do what we can to support the Afghan security forces as they take on the ISIL threat in that country,” adding, “We will take on ISIL cancer wherever it spreads.”
PCS News: Caring for Exceptional Family Members By MC2 Jason Kofonow Defense Media Activity
Defense Secretary Ash Carter