Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 82

(Photo by Sgt. Warren Wright, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

A New Zealand army soldier provides cordon security for his unit as the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Royal New Zealand Infantry
Regiment participate during Cooperative Spirit 2008 at the Joint Multi-National Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany, September
2008. Cooperative Spirit is a multinational combat training center rotation intended to test interoperability among the American, British,
Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand armies.

Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno acknowledges
that the Army “will have to adjust to … declining budgets, due to the country’s worsened fiscal situation.”15
In this context, it seems the force may migrate from
traditional face-to-face defense diplomacy to online
platforms to develop military networks because online
networking is inexpensive. One such private effort
is Rally Point, an online site that appears to replicate
LinkedIn for a military audience. This sort of cost-saving measure could appeal to many, especially as the
millennial generation (sometimes referred to as “digital
natives”) is comfortable with online communication.16
As a result, could the end of experience-based military
social networks be on the horizon?
This techno-optimistic idea is not supported by our
research effort. Our study found noteworthy evidence
supporting the conjecture that American military
officers occupy a central position among senior military
officers from Anglosphere nations of the Asia-Pacific
because the personal networks among them are heavily
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experience-based. The resulting policy implication is
to support continued investment in promoting these
experience-based networks. Among this population,
frequent flier miles and name badges still matter more
than video teleconferences and character-limited
messaging.
Finally, how do these findings provide value to the
U.S. taxpayer? This question matters as it focuses on
the effectiveness of the U.S. military’s approaches to
conducting defense diplomacy. In turn, more effective
alliance and partner activities enhance U.S. capabilities,
so these activities can become a cost-effective way to
achieve national objectives. For the Army, networks
among allied military leaders support the chief of staff ’s
regionally aligned forces initiative.18 Moreover, continued development of these networks should ease the inevitable difficulty of working in alliances and coalitions.
Therefore, social network analysis relative to identifying
and explaining network development and functioning
contributes tangible benefits.
January-February 2015  MILITARY REVIEW