NEWBIES: Check-In Here - Topic Powered by eve community

Welcome to Military.com. read, heed, relax and enjoy. As you read through this you will see a few things repeat themselves. That is because they are very important to remember!

Remember we're currently in a War, so PERSEC and OPSEC must be observed.(PERSEC is personal security-OPSEC is operational security.) Do not give names, units, troop movements or locations of self or others in the sandbox. Keep your personal info to a minimum.

Currently, the operational MODs on this site are sgtmom@gmail.com, navywifeinparadise@military.com, and mrsjvb@military.com,
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Hellllooooooooo Newbies! Welcome to the boards. We value your input so please introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself. Within these pages you will find different types of people, from different walks of life, from different parts of the world, with different views on different topics. But we all have one thing in common, the military life. You help as us as much as we help you. Feel free to ask whatever questions you have. If it has been discussed in length, we will direct you to where you can read other posts on the topic. Please be sure to read the Terms of Service.

As for the taglines underneath some screen names, once you have reached 50 posts go to the New Tagline Thread and you may request a tagline. Note that the Moderators reserve the right to edit taglines at any time.

Again, we welcome you to our family and hope to see you on the boards. Post away!

NEWBIES....LISTEN UP!!!!

This is a public message board. That means anyone, at anytime, from anywhere can access information on these boards. As a safety precaution we ask you not to post information regarding specifics about your loved one that is serving at home or abroad. This includes full name, rank, unit, division, location, homeport or station, troop/ship movements, etc.

When posting pictures please edit the picture so as not to show name, rank, ribbons or any thing in the background/foreground that would define where they are.

The Moderators monitor the boards frequently but can not be on here 24/7. When other members see something that should not have been posted, they will let you know. It is NOT to be rude but rather to protect you, your family and our loved ones that are serving.

Enjoy your time here and happy posting!

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Welcome Aboard. This post was created with the purpose of giving you some advice and guidance before you jump into the world of discussions here at Military.com. This is a pretty long post, but be patient and read it through - it will help you avoid embarrassment and give you some very helpful background information.

There are a wide variety of personalities and backgrounds here at this forum. We have experienced military veterans, active duty people, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, fiancés, other family members, military enthusiasts, and those considering joining. Rather than argue, agree to disagree.

STARTING OUT

- READ the Terms of Service (TOS). Let me say that again: READ THE TOS. When you are reading a thread, you will find a number of blue, underlined phrases at the bottom. The Terms of Service is at bottom right. Go there - it will list for you all the violations that can and will get you kicked off this forum. Read it, heed it. Especially Paragraphs 6 and 14.

- Read the boards. Don’t just jump right in and start a new thread with your little rant - visit other threads, view the opinions expressed, and get a feel for the flow of discussion that goes on around here. Then, maybe, post a couple of times with your opinion or insight. Get the feel of the place.

- Introduce Yourself - Tell us a little about yourself. You don’t have to put anything out that you don’t want, just give us some background.

- Your Profile - it’s not mandatory that you put personal information in your profile, but anonymous posters tend to be less trusted than those who are honest in their profile. Some tips on your profile:

. - List your ACTUAL status. If you are a military spouse, SAY SO - do NOT list your spouse’s military rank as your own. If you are not married, please do not pretend to be so. We welcome girlfriends, boyfriends and finacees equally as we do spouses and parents. If the military doesn't consdier you married, then please do not try to pretend otherwise.

Learn how to post. At the top of the thread screen are five rectangular buttons:

GO: Selects your profile settings or find different forums

NEW: Starts discussions, polls or private threads. Recommended you stay away from the "Poll" button until you "get your feet wet"

FIND: Allows you to find topics within any forum. If you plug in "depleted uranium" you'll find where to go for that subject

NOTIFY: Used to deliver 'New" topics and/or replies to your email. Good for some of the less trafficked forums.

TOOLS: (Help or Panic Button)Shows how to do the things we just outlined.

-At the bottom of the current post is a rectangle saying "REPLY" with two buttons. Either will allow you to reply on that thread. Try not to panic, check out the "Tools" help how-to's and get the feel of the place.

HOW TO BEHAVE - Do’s and Don’ts

- Be respectful. We have a lot of senior, experienced people here. All are treated with respect until they give up that right. This forum is provided to you for free, and is a public forum, but that does not give you the right to be disrespectful.

- This forum supports the Military. That doesn’t mean that non-military aren’t welcome, but it DOES mean that certain beliefs and traditions are held in higher regard. Among these are:

. - Respect for the Commander In Chief. “Bush-bashing” of a disrespectful nature is not tolerated, and will quickly earn you the disdain and outright mockery of the membership. This especially includes derogatory nicknames like “shrub” and “Bushie”.

. - Inter-Service rivalry. All of us like to tease the others about our respective services, but keep it light. If the US only needed one service, it would HAVE only one service - each plays an important role. [This doesn’t apply for the Army-Navy Game - blast away, you get special dispensation]

. - Those who have “been there, done that” (known as BTDT’s) have a higher level of regard than others here (within their area of expertise). If you jump in offering your opinions on a particular subject, your level of experience comes into play. Feel free to ask questions, MAYBE offer commentary, but be aware that the opinions of BTDT’s carry a lot more weight than those who haven’t.

. - Sensitive information. Don’t come here trying to find the location of a lost friend, a service member overseas, or wanting to discuss classified topics. Certain information, while not strictly confidential, is still not appropriate for discussion on a forum that is open to a world-wide audience. If in doubt, don’t talk about it or email a Moderator.

- Trolling - a troll is someone who drops in on a topic, posts something to piss off the other members, and then steps back to admire the frenzy. If this is your intent, then save yourself the time. We don’t respect trolls around here, and we have a lot of fun chewing on them and spitting them out. You will be identified, targeted, and banned before you cause too much damage, and you will not be welcomed back.

- Keep a thick skin and a sense of humor. You are in amongst a number of folks from different upbringings and walks of like.

- Learn about the other members. Read awhile-inspect profiles-look for buddies...you have friends here.

- Agree to disagree - don’t keep hammering away with a point that another member refuses to acknowledge. Just agree to have a different viewpoint; otherwise the resentment builds.

- Respect the Moderators. The Moderators are those individuals who monitor the forums, assist the members, and ensure that the TOS is adhered to. On this site, the Mods are the all-knowing, all-powerful gods of your little universe. If they give you a warning, HEED IT - the next warning will be your suspension or worse.

MISCELLANEOUS

Avatars: Those nifty little pictures/cartoons/logos underneath the screen name. Here's the "how to"...

*** You can post your own. There are two ways.
You can host the picture that you want somewhere on the net.
Photobucket is one such place, your own
web space with your ISP is another. Or you can
have the picture on your computer and upload it
to this site. Be sure to size your picture to 48 x 48 pixels. This can be done
with any graphics program.

*** Do not "hot link" from another site.
It not only can be illegal but they can and
do change their pictures .. and you could end
up with an avatar that you do not want!

*** Ok. You know the URL of your picture if you have it hosted.
(it will read something like: http://www.myplace.com/mypicture.jpg)

*** At the top of this page click on the word "Go",
then slide down to "my space" and over to "profile".

*** Choose the "edit profile" link and click.
You will be taken to the member page. Log in.

*** Under the "keep your account current" section
click on "your avatars".

*** On the page that comes up you
can either select from some available
avatars or choose "custom avatar" to use
your own.

*** There are two options here.To link from where you
have the picture you can click the "URL for your
avatar radio button and paste in the URL. (http://...etc)
OR you can click on the radio button that says "upload
custom avatar and upload from your computer.

*** Click on "update avatar" and you are done.

Signatures: Signatures are not currently available.

Quoting: If you want to quote someone just click on the quote marks in the lower right-hand section of his post. This will get you a reply window with the words QUOTE and /QUOTE in brackets on either side of the text. If you only want to reference a small piece of the quote, just delete the other stuff. You can also just copy the portion you want to quote, hit “Reply”, and then paste it in. Be sure to use quotataion marks so that people know these are not your words.

Bumping: Sometimes you may see a post that says, simply, “Bump”. Bumping is done to keep a topic near the top of the list, either because the “bumper” feels it is important or because they are waiting for a response. Be judicious in your bumping.

Checking profiles: Look at a member’s profile before you get into it with them. Simply click on their screen name and you can find out more about the poster. This is very useful, and will keep you from making any number of mistakes. It also lets you find out more about the membership.

Polls: Really, don’t start any polls until you’ve been around a while. They are rarely informative.

Flaming: This is the art of brutalizing someone with words. Harsh words. If it happens to you, remain calm. If you feel you’re in the right, fire back and try not to violate the TOS. If you maintain the moral high ground, then it won’t be YOU who gets kicked off the site.

KARMA: One karma point per post. 1 to 50 is "basic training; 50 to 2999 is "member"; 3000 to 6999 is "experienced member"; 7000+ is "highly experienced member".

Emoticons: Those little happy/frowny faces. They are very handy things, especially if you’re trying to take the “sting” out of something you wrote, or to ensure that everyone knows your kidding. But don’t just go sticking them all over the place. I’ve seen posts that looked like Christmas trees, and all it did was make me wonder about the writer’s emotional stability.

Writing Advice: We don’t know you, and the only way we ever GET to know you is by how you write:

- If English is not your first language, let us know that up front. We appreciate the fact that you are visiting our forum to share ideas.

- Don’t use all caps - it makes it look like you’re a shouting lunatic. Unless, of course, you ARE a shouting lunatic, then feel free.

- Break up your post with paragraphs. There’s nothing worse than a long post that’s one unbroken paragraph. The Enter key is your friend.

- Same goes for using a period. Long rambling sentences with no breaks make you look like someone with a severe mental problem. Take the time to do it right.

- Try to spell, please. Some people like to type their post in Word, spell-check it, then paste it in. For long posts this works great. For short posts, stop a minute, review what you’ve written, and look for errors.

If you are a servicemember, don’t forget to visit the particular forum for your service. There’s a lot of good advice on those sites, and a lot of service-specific topics.

There you go, Newbie - the compiled wisdom of dozens of members here at military.com. Read and heed. And welcome aboard.

OPSEC/PERSEC Concerns
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Because of the current situation surrounding our military in Harms' Way, it is highly advised that everyone posting on this site please refrain from giving the following:

Serviceman’s/Woman’s Name; Rank; Unit ID/Name and address, and area(s) of assignment.
This is especially in where the servicemember is in a hostile environment and in constant danger.
Please take this advisory and heed it.
Thank You.
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OPSEC means Operational Security
PERSEC means Personnel Security

Do not put our troops at risk.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mrsjvb,

XVIII Airborne Corps 7th Trans Bn 126th TC

Posts: 7021 | Registered: Thu 28 July 2005

11855209

Basic Training

Posted