August 14th, 2009
Army embraces Wiki for field manuals
The Marines might have banned Facebook but the Army is adopting wikis.
The New York Times reports that the Army is wikifying seven field manuals in an attempt to better exploit the knowledge of field commanders and soldiers.
“For a couple hundred years, the Army has been writing doctrine in a particular way, and for a couple months, we have been doing it online in this wiki,” said Col. Charles J. Burnett, the director of the Army’s Battle Command Knowledge System. “The only ones who could write doctrine were the select few. Now, imagine the challenge in accepting that anybody can go on the wiki and make a change — that is a big challenge, culturally.”
The wiki field manuals are a three-month pilot program. Unlike Wikipedia, they’re not editable by anyone - you have to have the ID card that allows access to the Army Internet system. And if the program is judged a success, some 200 manuals may undergo the treatment. Says Col. Burnett:
Our motto is, “If you ever thought what would I do if the Army let me write doctrine, now is your chance.”
The project has high-level support. Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the commander of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said: “By embracing technology, the Army can save money, break down barriers, streamline processes and build a bright future.”
As an example:
On July 7, a staff sergeant added his personal experience in Iraq to a guide for a stryker brigade combat team. Soldiers must understand, the original field manual says, “their vital role as collectors of combat information during the platoon intelligence activities.”
The sergeant illustrated the idea with an incident in 2004 where a soldier met “an Iraqi family who was fluent in the Spanish language.” An officer investigated and found “no ill will towards the United States or our allies, the goal of the family was to travel through Spanish-speaking nations into Mexico and then enter the United States.”
But, the wiki contributor noted, there was a potential for terrorists trying to enter the country, concluding that this encounter demonstrated “the importance of passing along such intelligence to the proper channels.”
But is all this just military technologists imagining a brave new world? The Times reports the rank and file response is “tepid.” But, hey, if this is a priority, the Army has ways to get cooperation. Says Clinton Ancker, a retired colonel supervising the program:
“One of the great advantages we have is that we are a disciplined force,” said . “We are hierarchical. When the boss says ‘do this,’ it tends to get done. Even those who don’t like to write will add something.”
