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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Army Launches Wiki Field Manuals

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(Newser) – The US Army has borrowed an idea—and some software—from Wikipedia to introduce field manuals any soldier can edit, the New York Times reports. Seven manuals have been opened for editing by anybody from private to general in a trial program the military says is an effort to close the gap between the Army theorists coming up with doctrine and the experienced soldiers ordered to live by it.

A team is assigned to review edits to each manual, and no anonymous edits are allowed. "If you ever thought what would I do if the Army let me write doctrine, now is your chance,’" said the colonel in charge of the program. Responses from top brass have ranged from "the best thing since sliced bread" to "the craziest idea I have ever heard,” the colonel said.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey holds a copy of a new Army operations manual during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey holds a copy of a new Army operations manual during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.   (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
The Army hopes the input of experienced soldiers will improve the field manuals formerly edited only by a select few.
The Army hopes the input of experienced soldiers will improve the field manuals formerly edited only by a select few.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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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. - Col. Charles Burnett, director of the Battle Command Knowledge System

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5 comments
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JonmarkP
Aug 14, 09 6:14 AM CDT
Grown men with lightning bolts on their hats and stars on their clothes. Most five-year olds outgrow it, but these guys never have. It would be funny, if they didn't consume more than half of all our tax money and if they didn't kill innocent people every single day "protecting" us from threats that simply do not exist. Reply
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thirdherd
Aug 14, 09 8:29 AM CDT
DO NOT EXIST What part of Europe are you from? The part we saved or the part we kicked it's ass
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RepressedBySociety
Aug 14, 09 2:14 PM CDT
It's nice to know that people can still have extreme opinions about things in which they know NOTHING ABOUT.
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kokuaguy
Aug 14, 09 12:08 PM CDT
I'm from what at one time deserved to be called the land of the free and the home of the brave. Now we volunteer to have our constitutional rights taken from us, and kill wantonly and anonymously from the skies with robots and cruise missles. Our national priorities must change, and the scaling back or our imperial aspirations is the best place to begin. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/ 13-11 Reply
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Altoecko
Aug 15, 09 6:39 PM CDT
I think this is an awesome idea. Reply
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