April 14th, 2007 by xformed
Note: Welcome to the blog! If you’re here on 5/5/2007, check out the live feed to the MilBlogging Conference in Arlington, VA via this link! Thanks…
Navy – Together We Served Portal.
Maybe not brand new, but I’ve been there a few months after a shipmates invited me there. The is also a
USMC versionI have already been connected with several people I was on ships with and look forward to finding more. The organization of the site lends itself to easily posting your assignments, but dates and ranks for those commands, and then has search tools that allow you to slice and dice the query to see who else is there.Update 4/18/2007:
There’s hope for you Air Force and Army vets…Update 4/21/2007: The Admin at TWS says the set up for the sites for the USAF and Army will take time to get the databases together. Yep, that sounds right, but says the sites should be up this year. He said they would be getting the addresses to the sites up soon, at least with a banner to welcome you and let you know those other two services will be around.Keep checking for an airforce.togetherweserved.com and army.togetherweserved.com to arrive on the net!
While you’re visiting, check out my post on the rescue of the USS BONEFISH on 4/24/1988.
Tracked back @: Yankee Sailor
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2007 at 10:32 am
and is filed under Marines, Military, Navy, Scout Sniping.
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April 18th, 2007 at 12:26 am
[…] posted a few days ago about the Navy Together We Served portal and mentioned there was a Marine version that had led the […]
April 20th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Heard about this site – thought I’d check it out.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Would be nice to visit the other sites with only one login, since I’m in the Navy and served with Marines and Air Force in Iraq…
June 20th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
how do you get a log in for togetherweserved.com?
July 16th, 2007 at 7:12 am
How the Air Force?
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I’d love it if eventually all members of the Armed Forces could be added as shipmates, as I’ve been to A school with Marines as well as my Fiance being a Marine.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
This site is an OPSEC nightmare. To anyone stupid enough to actually fill out the information why dont you take a second and think about what could be done with that info. The site doesnt verify military service and anyone can easily set up an account. They can browse through and look for specific AFSC’s and the extent of someones knowledge on a certain subject..say they wanted info on the E-3 sentry…they now have all the details needed to find you or maybe even a family member. Kidnapping has been employed for centuries as a means to get information…dont think just because you are in the states that you are safe.
You can gain over 80% knowledge on the enemy through open source intel (OSINT) alone…dont add to their arsenal.
February 7th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
DD;
Noted. On the other hand, if you are to take this approach to type of group, then you have a lot of hunting to do and commenting to do all around the net.
Military related groups are up all over the place. The TWS sites do have a wider variety of details to fill in than other sites I know of, but all duty stations and much of any service member’s training can be gotten through FOIA requests. As I recall, it was common knowledge that the Soviets tracked things like promotion lists and the like from Navy (and other serve) Times “back in the day.”
It is incumbent upon each of us to consider your comments when adding our data to such sites.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I’m trying to find out more info about the site and its administrators from unbiased sources. And e-mail has been going around at work stating that the servers for the site are based in Nova Scotia, and that the site itself is owned by a German company. However, the site itself maintains that while the name togetherweserved.com is registered with Register.com, which is based in Nova Scotia, the five servers for the site are actually based in California, and the administrators themselves are veterans or retired members of the US Armed Forces. Obviously someone’s information is wrong, and I want the truth. If you have any info, e-mail me at [email protected], subject line “Together We Served”. Thanks.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Sorry, correct e-mail address is [email protected]. Thanks again.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:33 am
Xformed,
You said there are many sites like this one throughout the internet. Why does that make it ok to fill in the information on this site, or the other sites that you mentioned as well? As DD said, you are not too bright if you fill in the info for this website, or any of them for that matter. DoD websites and websites with .mil can only be accesed from DoD computers and .mil computers. These are the only sites that should have anything about your military service on them, other than common knowledge things, such as; served 4 years, or was enlisted in the air force. The Soviet’s may have tracked promotions and what not “back in the day” as you said, but was it as easy as typing it into a Google search bar? As for the FOIA, if you read about it, it states that providing agencies giving the information may delete information that they deem harful to the individual, or the agency itself. The DoD would definitly delete information it felt could be used by terrorist or other organizations against an individual or the DoD itself. Obviously you were in the military once before, so did you just not pay attention during the OPSEC briefings? LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS
Davi,
It is not a rumor, the Air Force has now blocked the website from being accessed on any of its computers, as the DoD is doing worldwide. It is based out of Germany and registered through Nova Scotia. Why do Germans and Canadians care about networking US military personnel together??
March 9th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Davi
It is a rumor that stems from a paranoid USAF SOW Maj who created s slideshow with inaccurate information. TWS is based in Los Angeles Ca. Its CEO is the owner of Militel. And I am the Senior Military Consultant/Administrator. I live in Texas. All administrators of our sites are either retired from the military or veterans. I served nearly 17 years in 3 branches.
Loyde Mcillwain
Senior Consultant/Administrator
TWS.com Inc.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Its finally here, We turned on the switch for Army Together We served ,
Loyde Mcillwain
TWS Senior Consultant/Administrator
Army TWS Technical Advisor
August 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
The AF blocked all social sites, not just TWS. TWS needs to quit being a bunch of babies and understand that social sites create an avenue for attackers to craft emails and attack our network (GIG. Not only is TWS a OPSEC nightmare, but stupid users, not smart enough to chew their own food, will continue to put sensative info on sites like this.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 am
A little Paranoid there DW. I would bet you havent even checked out the sites
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 am
In the history of TWS there has not been a single website violation, Reason being, The sites are monitored 24/7 by administrators who all served, Most are retired, I myself served nearly 17 years in 3 different branches, You need to get off the Outdated powerpoint presentation that has been recalled and get up on current events.
From Stars and Stripes
Air Force backs down on Web site condemnation
The Air Force has publicly retracted erroneous information that it had widely circulated about a commercial military social networking site called TogetherWeServed.com.
Air Force officials had sent out information describing the Web site as an operational security “nightmare†since Jan. 30, citing concerns about the Web site’s server being based in Canada and the parent company being based in Germany.
“After subsequent research, some of the information in the briefing, created by an Air Force officer, was found to be inaccurate,†said Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, chief of products and information for the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, in the announcement May 12.
“The author of the brief sent out a subsequent e-mail to retract the inaccurate information,†Morgan said. “Additionally, the Air Force has since requested the briefing cease to be propagated and will continue to take action to remove the briefing if instances of its use are discovered.â€
Morgan noted that the company is a California-based corporation owned and operated by the TWS Advisory Group, made up mainly of military retirees and veterans.
Morgan said the press release does not constitute an Air Force endorsement of the Web site, and added that airmen are expected to comply with operational security guidelines when using this or any social networking Web site.
Wes Prater, co-founder of the Web site, said it may be too late.
“Although this is a positive sign from the Air Force, it is extremely overdue†— and may have been instigated only by the story appearing in the Military Times papers, as opposed to an internal initiative, he said.
“Air Force Commands have already sent briefs containing erroneous information warning their personnel to avoid AirForce.TogetherWeServed.com at all costs since the first week of February,†he said.
“The Air Force has blocked, without reservation, all access to [the site] from all bases, and to the best of our knowledge no command has sent any briefs to their personnel retracting the original brief, nor have any discriminatory blocks against [the site] been lifted.â€
While most of the 50,000 Air Force members who joined the site before the erroneous information began circulating have remained members, most have not returned, he said.
“The result is clear — the site’s reputation throughout the Air Force has been destroyed,†Prater said. “We’re going to try our best to keep the site going. It’s part of our military community, and the other sites are doing well. We appreciate what the Air Force is doing now, but unfortunately, they let this go on for too long.â€
TogetherWeServed.com launched its Marine and Navy community Web sites in 2003 and 2006. The Army version is scheduled to launch in July.
The Air Force version was launched in December 2007, and within three weeks membership had grown to 46,000, at a rate of about 2,500 a day. After the Air Force e-mail was circulated, Prater said, growth decreased to about 100 new members a day.
The briefing had raised concerns about operational security. “Anyone can log on with any alias and have full access,†stated the briefing, forwarded widely throughout the Air Force. “Bottom line — OPSEC nightmare!!!â€
Prater said no one can see a member’s privacy-protected information unless the member agrees to make it available through his or her “buddies†list.
He said the sites are commercial entities and include disclaimers that they are not approved, authorized or endorsed by the Defense Department.