Naval Milblogger Goes Down After One Week

It Was Fun While it Lasted

The submarine JO blog Don't Call Me Sir has been taken down after only a week. No idea why. I plugged it a few days ago after hearing about it at The Stupid Shall Be Punished. The Navy has the following rules on blogs [SECNAVINST 5720.47B, pg 8]:

There is also no prohibition on blogs operated by individual members as private citizens. The DON recognizes the value of this communication channel in posting current information and supporting the morale of personnel, their family and friends. As long as personnel adhere to specific restrictions on content, the DON encourages the use of blogs and recognizes this free flow of information contributes to legitimate transparency of the DON to the American public whom we serve.

Not sure what the reason was for Spinnaker deep-sixing his blog, but it's very possible that his XO wanted his musings to be a private affair. This Naval instruction does not necessarily prevent the command from doing what they see necessary. If you think military members have some inherent "right" to blog, well you've probably never been in the military.

While deployed in Iraq and A-stan, you have to inform your chain-of-command if you choose to blog, but it's not required elsewhere (run down of the rules are here). I recommend using a handle, not referring to your ship or unit specifically, and not talking about it with your buddies/co-workers. Best not to make waves. I've never had a problem with this issue like some other bloggers have, and please contact me if you're military and have any questions about this [ltnixonrants (at) gmail].