Social Media Sites Available to the Liberty Wing

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Eboni Knox
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  All around the Air Force Airmen are beginning to 'tweet' and 'poke' each other on social media sites now available to them at work. As of 10 May, so have Liberty Warriors.

After a test phase in the Pacific Air Forces proved to be of no hindrance to the mission, availability continued throughout the command. The two-week-long opening is spreading across the Air Force and networks will be opened to all sites May 15.

Along with Air Combat Command, Air Force Reserve Command, Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Force Special Operations Command, United States Air Forces in Europe is part of the last phase receiving access to social media sites.

Department of Defense Directive-Type Memorandum 09-026 - Responsible and Effective Use of Internet-based Capabilities, issued Feb. 25, authorizes access to socials networks.

"The 48th Communication Squadron fully backs the DoD policy to allow access to social media sites, said Master Sgt. Thomas Exline, 48th Communications Squadron branch chief of cyber operations "Liberty Warriors will now have a different way to network and communicate. "

Unlike personal computers, the usage of these media sites is monitored. Posting any classified or inappropriate information is prohibited. Supervisors will be responsible for ensuring limited personal use of these media sites.

"The communications squadron here has base-lined our bandwidth usage over the past several weeks so we can compare it to the usage rates after these media sites are opened up," said Lt. Col. Sean Murphy, 48th CS commander. "We are counting on supervisors to ensure this added capability is not abused."

This change is to implement better communication and networking throughout the Air Force.

"Access to social media sites provides an increasingly important means of communication and collaboration," said Colonel Murphy. "These tools will allow the 48th Fighter Wing to communicate more effectively to all Air Force personnel, their families and external audiences. We must strike a balance between maintaining a safe and controlled network to defend against malicious activity, safeguarding the mission, allowing the Liberty Wing to have appropriate access to these emerging technologies, and always remembering to practice good operational security."