Alabama National Guard Joins Facebook

MONTGOMERY, AL (06/30/2010)(readMedia)-- The Alabama National Guard has now joined the more than 400 million active users on the world's most popular social media site.

The Alabama Guard is following the example of many other states with this move. The use of social media within the Department of Defense has long been debated, but has now become an accepted and growing practice and one that our recruiting and retention division will be able to utilize.

"This is a big deal for us because it gives our recruiters the opportunity to leverage the spiderweb effect of social media and connect with others including future Alabama Army National Guard Soldiers and their families," said Lt. Col. William H. Taylor, recruiting and retention commander.

According to Facebook, users spend more than 500 billion minutes per month on the site. It has become so popular that the name itself has become a term. One can now "facebook" while he or she is anywhere on their mobile phone. You may be "facebooking" right now, as you read this.

"We want to see and hear success stories from our Warriors and Soldiers - from their involvement in the Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP), Initial Entry Training (IET) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT). Also, we're looking forward for our deployed and recently redeployed Soldiers to have a content-rich medium to share their stories and pictures," said Taylor.

If you are interested in keeping up with the Alabama National Guard and its Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, come visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Alabama-National-Guard-OFFICIAL/130564696973386?ref=mf , and tell your friends.