Here is this week’s News 6 mashup of stories for the week of August 22nd, 2022, straight from AWN News 6 Correspondent, Jolene McNutt:

DoD Releases First Official Social Media Policy

The Department of Defense released its first Official Social Media use policy. The new policy “spells out, from the highest levels of the defense community, how DOD military and civilian personnel should use official social media accounts to best advance the mission of the U.S. military and further instill trust in the credibility of the DOD.” 

“It’s long overdue,” said Andy Oare, director of digital media for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “There have been efforts in the past to do this, but in an organization of this size and magnitude, you need to fully coordinate and ensure all viewpoints are heard and represented. We wanted to make sure the services were  collaborators from the very beginning.”  

Welders in Demand: Veterans Encouraged to Fill the Gap

Welders are in demand and Tulsa Welding School believes veterans are the key to tackling the shortage, reported Military.com. 

“A lot of companies need welders, and they’re coming to Tulsa Welding School to hire them,” said Les Davis, Tulsa Welding School’s director of military services. “CSX Railroad needs welders. Ingalls Shipbuilding is on campus every other week. SpaceX, General Dynamics, Bainbridge Excel, from top to bottom, everyone needs welders.”

Service members transitioning out of the military can now take an 18-week welding course where they will learn “the different types of welds, different materials and different tools.” Service members who want to attend the program during the DoD SkillBridge timeframe can be approved for permissive TDY and receive military pay and benefits while attending the school. 

First Woman to Walk in Space Shares Incredible Experiences

MOAA, Military Officers Association of America interviewed Capt. Kathryn Sullivan, USNR (Ret) who was the “first American woman to walk in space and also the first woman to dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.” 

“While at NASA, Sullivan flew on three space shuttle missions, spending more than 500 hours in space. She was also part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope,” reported MOAA. I’m going to encourage you to hop over to MOAA.org to read the interview, but I’ll leave you with a quote from Sullivan:

“We’re all kind of wired to that broad vista; it’s why we all stop at lookout points on the mountain. We want to see the wider view.”

This Week in History

On August 22, 1864 first Geneva Convention was held. According to History.com, “The Geneva Convention was a series of international diplomatic meetings that produced a number of agreements, in particular the Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts, a group of international laws for the humane treatment of wounded or captured military personnel, medical personnel and non-military civilians during war or armed conflicts.” 

A key leader in this landmark agreement was Genevan businessman, Henry Dunant, who also had a hand in forming the first Red Cross. The first treaty was signed by 12 nations and was significantly modified after WWII. Currently, 196 countries have agreed to abide by the Geneva Convention.