A unique guidebook that contains pointers to well over 1500 official military Internet sites and resources at over 200 bases throughout the United States and in fourteen foreign countries - Downloadable Pentagon press conferences, speeches, testimony, statistics, and fact sheets - Follow developments in international hot spots - Track U.S. military units around the world and locate military personnel - Read and save military magazines and journals, official manuals, and regulations - Learn about weapons, from small arms to next generation systems - Eavesdrop on and participate in special Pentagon warfighting studies and exercises When it comes to the information superhighway, no part of the U.S. government has sped forward more quickly than the military. Virtually every base and military unit has been linked to a publicly accessible Internet site on the World Wide Web. The U.S. Military Online facilitates online connection with the Pentagon and the U.S. military establishment. It also provides descriptions and online connections to Pentagon think tanks, schools and war colleges, libraries and military history resources, and museums. And for the high-tech buff, it offers dozens of pointers to military research sites dealing with artificial intelligence, modeling and simulation, telecommunications, navigation, and computer hardware and software. The U.S. Military Online will be indispensable to any journalist, student, member of the military, librarian, military buff, or interested citizen who wants easy access to up-to-date inside information on the U.S. military.

Chapter One

Finding the U.S. Military on the Internet

With the Web now exceeding 300 million pages, there is no longer any comprehensive index or search engine for what's online. There is no comprehensive government or Defense Department search database of note, and the DOD itself readily admits that it does not know how many public Internet sites it maintains. What is more, military sites are themselves a mix of open pages, password-protected pages, and restricted sites. Add to this a growing "hidden Internet"--databases and a vast array of information that is not in the form of hypertext markup language (HTML) documents and therefore is largely inaccessible to automated search engines--and more than ever it is difficult to find information.

The big commercial search engines, themselves locked in fierce competition for users, also focus more and more on consumer services (e.g., delivery of news, entertainment, and E-mail) rather than scouring all of the nooks and crannies of the Web to build ever larger indexes. This is understandable on another count, for the major complaint of most Internet users is too much information, not too little. "Popular" sites are indexed completely and with great frequency to keep the search engines "fresh," but many--perhaps hundreds--of sites in the .mil domain are increasingly left behind.

Still, search engines remain the essential tools to find material on the Internet. The big five--AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, and Lycos--dominate the field and are central to research in the .mil domain. But a host of other services are also needed: specialized search engines, general and specialized directories and catalogs of websites (specialized link bibliographies), and, increasingly, the internal search engines of individual websites. One of the biggest innovations in the .mil domain over the past year has been the introduction of these internal search engines (throughout the Directory the sites with these search engines are designated with a [magnifying glass]. As websites themselves become bigger and more complex, and also serve as gateways to databases, such as publications repositories, search engines are needed to find materials. The internal engines are invariably more inclusive and up-to-date than any Web-wide resource, and in the .mil domain, they often index material that is otherwise not cataloged at all.

Search Fundamentals

Internet-wide search services can be categorized in four basic groups: the big five large search engines, Web-wide directories, "metasearch" sites that aggregate the results of many search engines, and specialized search sites for specific tasks.

The big five Web-wide search engines are huge automated systems that rely on "spiders" or "bots" to troll the Internet, compiling databases that are then searchable by keyword. Though they vary in size, in the protocols for use, and in their freshness, they all exceed 50 million pages of material (the largest are well over 100 million), and each has attributes that distinguish it from the others.

Directories differ from search engines in that they are subject catalogs of web resources, created manually by people. The largest of these indexes (Yahoo! and Infoseek) are beyond the size for much selectivity. Smaller catalogs (e.g., Magellan and Lycos) can be more selective and also often offer in-depth reviews.

Metasearch sites parse out searches to more than one search engine or directory at the same time. A profusion of these sites--All-in-One, Mamma, MetaCrawler, Savvy Search--are attempting to tap the combined wisdom of the individual search services. They are good for very precise searches and when other search tools fail, particularly to check whether some nugget of information is available anywhere.

The various search services not only index the Web, but also include access to information in Gopher, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Telnet, and newsgroup (USENET) sites.

Web-wide Search Engines

Alta Vista Search Engine

   

    http://altavista.digital.com/

Excite Search

   

    http://www.excite.com/

HotBot

   

    http://www.hotbot.com/

Infoseek Guide

   

    http://www.infoseek.com/

Lycos

   

    http://www.lycos.com/

Web Directories

Magellan

   

    http://www.mckinley.com

Yahoo!

   

    http://www.yahoo.com/

Metasearch Engines

All in One Search Page

   

    http://www.albany.net/allinone/

Dogpile

   

    http://www.dogpile.com/

Inference Find

   

    http://www.inference.com/ifind/

Mamma

    http://www.mamma.com/

MetaCrawler Searching

   

    http://www.metacrawler.com/

Metafind

   

    http://www.metafind.com/

SavvySearch

    http://savvy.cs.colostate.edu:2000/form

Though the major search engines all have conventions to limit searches by domain, allowing retrieval only of official information--i.e., in the .gov (U.S. government), .mil (U.S. military), and .int (international governmental organization) domains--the GovBot Database of Government Web Sites (http://cobar.cs.umass.edu/ciirdemo/Govbot/) is a search engine exclusively of U.S. government sites. Its depth is not as great as that of AltaVista or HotBot, but it does have the advantage of specialization, particularly as the big search engines increasingly are unable to index everything on the Web, or uninterested in doing so.

The Defense Department itself does not maintain anything close to a .mil-wide search engine, but the DefenseLink site (http://www.defenselink.mil) offers a frequently updated internal search engine that includes press releases, transcripts, statements, and contract announcements. The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Catalog Search (http://www-cat.dtic.mil:8883/ cgi-bin/search.cgi/x-catalog:/www-cat.dtic.mil:8883/catalog-o) searches the extensive collection of the military's main server. The Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Broad Catalog Search engine (http://call.army.mil:1180/cgi-bin/search.cgi/ x-catalog:/call.army.mil:1180/CALL) pulls together the web resources of numerous Army sites, including the main academic institutions.

Military-Oriented Web Directories

The main Web-wide directories mentioned above, including directories of the search engines such as Infoseek and Lycos, provide already prepared net directories or "subject trees" of websites organized by categories and retrievable via keyword searching. The military aptitude of these sites is not particularly high, but they are useful for browsing, and they include references to nonofficial military resources, which are not the focus of this directory. There are also a number of more specialized military-related directories. These tend to be more inclusive, and often have comments and authoritative descriptions of Web resources.

NEW AFDA Library Military and Strategic Studies

    http://www.lib.adfa.oz.au/web/military/mil.htm

Compiled at the Australian Forces Defence Academy .

AJAX: United States and International Government Military and Intelligence Agency Access

    http://www.sagal.com/ajax/

Bulletin Board for Libraries (BUBL) Information Service

    http://bubl.ac.uk/link/subjects/BUBL_by-subject_listings

UK-based index to resources in Aerospace Engineering, Development Studies, Geography, Government and Public Administration, History, Military Science, Politics and Social Sciences, and Russia .

NEW CARL's Gateway to the Internet

    http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/gateway.htm

Compiled by the Combined Arms Research Library (CARL) at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, links to topical areas of military interest .

Electronic Headquarters for the Acquisition of War Knowledge (E-HAWK)

    http://www.e-hawk.com/

Includes the Catalog of Military Internet Resources (Mil-Cat) and World Wide Web Site for Scholars of Military History (Mil-Hist) .

NEW International Affairs Network (IAN)

    http://www.pitt.edu/~ian/

Comprehensive academic-oriented directory of international relations resources on the web .

NEW International Relations and Security Network (ISN) (Switzerland)

    http://www.isn.ethz.ch/

Swiss directory of international security resources on the web, including many non-U.S. sites .

National Defense University Library's Defense Nexus

    http://www.ndu.edu/ndu/library/military.html

Guide to U.S. and international military links, official and private.

* NEW War, Peace and Security WWW Server

    http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/

An excellent and comprehensive site of military resources worldwide, compiled by the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College .

Official Military Internet Listings

Given the propensity of the U.S. military to endlessly change organizational structure and names--and given the transitory nature of the Internet--familiarity with the various official listings of websites compiled by the Defense Department and the various services is essential to find organizations and resources. Some of these listings and search engines are also interfaces for the Government Information Locator Service (GILS), an initiative mandated by the Office of Management and Budget by which government agencies are to use electronic means for providing information to the public.

Defense Department and DOD-wide

Guide to GILS Records

    http://www.defenselink.mil/locator/

Defense Technical Information Web (DTIW) Locator

    http://www.dtic.mil/dtiwl/

Air Force

Alphabetical listing

    http://www.af.mil/sites/alphabetical

Organizationally by major command

    http://www.af.mil/sites/sites_com.html

Army

Search engine by organization and keyword

    http://www.army.mil/

Alphabetical listing

    http://www.army.mil/alphabetical_official.htm

Chronological listing, with newer sites listed on top

    http://www.army.mil/date_official.htm

Navy

Navy Online Homepage

    http://www.ncts.navy.mil/nol

Search engine by title

    http://www.navy.mil/cgi-bin/sites.pl

Alphabetical listing

    http://www.navy.mil/cgi-bin/sites.pl?-alpha

By category

    http://www.navy.mil/cgi-bin/sites.pl?-cat

Marine Corps

MarineLink websites

    http://www.usmc.mil/websites.nsf

Military Locators

Military Bases, Units, Ships

* The Armed Forces Communications, Inc. Homebase http://www.armedforces.com/ thomebase/index.htm is a privately maintained worldwide installations and units list and directory of note.

Standard Installation Topic Exchange Service (SITES)

    http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/sites/

Maintained by the Defense Manpower Data Center, provides information on major installations organized for military personnel transferring duty stations (e.g., education, employment, medical services). The graphics-intensive and slow site includes detailed descriptions of bases with listings of major units .

DOD Worldwide List of Military Installations

    http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/installations

Somewhat outdated but still useful .

* Distribution of Personnel by State and by Selected Locations and Atlas/Data Abstract for the United States and Selected Areas

    http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/pubs.htm

Navy Bases and Air Stations--U.S.

    http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/bases/navbases.html

NEW Naval Vessel Register

    http://www.nvr.navy.mil

The official U.S. Navy register of commissioned ships and craft .

Navy Ships

    http://www.ncts.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/

Listings of ship home ports, ship mailing addresses, and ships by type and hull number, all in separate files .

Directories of Units and People

The Defense Switched Network (DSN) Directory online at a number of websites, including at http://dsnbbs.ncr.disa.mil/. A searchable online version of the somewhat dated Air Force Address Directory (AFDIR 37-135) (March 1995) is located at afdir.hq.af.mil/afdir/index.cfm and at http://www.afmc.wpafb.af.mil/lib/AFADDR.html. The Army's Aerodrome Directory at http://leav-www.army.mil/usaasa/FIB/AD2qtr.htm profiles descriptions of airfields in the United States.

Biographies

The biographies of most active duty general officers (generals and admirals) are contained either at central repositories or at the commands and organizations where they are assigned. The regularly updated "General/Flag Officer Worldwide Roster" is also located at http://webl.whs.osd.mil/mmid/m13/fobtop.htm.

The DOD Network Information Center (NIC) Whois Database Lookup at http://nic.ddn.mil/cgi-bin/whois provides a search capability for DOD E-mail users. The NEW Navy X.500 Directory Service at http://www.public-navydirectory. newnet.navy.mil:9090/ has more comprehensive coverage for Navy activities.

Defense Department and Service Officials

    http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/biographies.html

Air Force Leaders

    http://www.af.mil/lib/bio

NEW Air Force General Officer Roster Page

    http://www.hq.af.mil/DP/afgomo/ROSTERS.HTM

Navy Leaders

    http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/people/bio-top.html

    http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/people/flags

Marine Corps General Officers and Senior Executive Service Biographies

    http://www.usmc.mil/generalo.nsf/

Personnel Locators

Each of the services provides locators for active duty and former military personnel (military regulations and the Privacy Act of 1974 protect the home addresses of service personnel).

Air Force Worldwide Locator

    http://www.afpc.af.mil/afwwloc.htm

Army Worldwide Locator

    http://www.army.mil/vetinfo/persloc.htm

Navy World Wide Locator

    http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/people/faq/.www/locate.html

Marine Corps Locator

    http://www.usmc.mil/wwwusmc.nsf/finding+Marines

Veterans and Veterans' Organizations

The National Personnel Records Center of the National Archives http://www.nara.gov/regional/stlouis.html is the repository of military personnel records of veterans during the 20th century.

NEW DOD Alumni Database

    http://www.army.mil/vetinfo/default.htm

Army Alumni Organizations/Associations

    http://www.army.mil/vetinfo/vetloc.htm

Database of Army unit and branch alumni organizations and associations, including links to private homepages .

Military Acronyms and Terminology

As one browses through the military on the electronic highway, it is hard not to be confused by the acronyms and special language. Each military service and each military discipline (e.g., artillery or aviation or intelligence) has its own language, and very few provide much assistance in deciphering their official-speak for the uninitiated. The authoritative Department of Defense (DOD) Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (Joint Pub 1-02) is itself available in Adobe Acrobat format online via the Joint Electronic Library at http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/new_pubs/jp 1_02.pdf A searchable dictionary database including the DOD Dictionary and the Joint Acronyms and Abbreviations master data file is located at http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/

Army Acronym and Abbreviation Glossary Search

    www.pica.army.mil/apps/a+a_search/bin/a+a_search.cgi?

Army Training Digital Library's Acronym Database

    http://www.atsc-army.org/atdl/search/acronym.htm

* Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Dictionary and Thesaurus

    http://call.army.mil/call/thesaur/index.htm

Continually updated database of terminology, acronyms, geographic codes, and operations .

Program and System or Equipment Codes Query

    http://webl.whs.osd.mil./peidhome/guide/mn02/sysquery.htm

U.S. Military Abbreviation and Acronym List

    http://sierra.nosc.mil/seymour/FoG/acronym6.html

Weapons Facts Sheets and Characteristics

Air Force Fact Sheets

    http:/www.dtic.mil/airforcelink/pa/indexpages/fs_index.html

Includes combat and combat support aircraft and helicopters, space launch vehicles, and missiles .

Army Weapon Systems Handbook

    http:/www.dtic.mil/armylink/factfile

Searchable database including helicopters, artillery and missiles, air defense systems, armored vehicles, trucks and logistical equipment, ammunition and ordnance, communications and intelligence collection (including satellites), and small arms .

Defense Fact File

    http:/www.defenselink.mil/factfile/

Gateway database to DOD and service fact sheets dealing with aircraft, ammunition, armor, communications, artillery and fire support radar, missiles, ships and submarines, vehicles and weapons .

Marine Corps Fact File

    http:/www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf

Includes aircraft and helicopters, amphibious raid equipment, anti-armor weapons, armored and tracked vehicles, uniforms and personal supplies, communications, artillery and missiles, infantry weapons, and land-mine-related equipment .

Navy Fact File

    http:/www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/facfile/ffiletop.html

Includes aircraft and helicopters, shipboard guns and torpedoes, missiles, surface ship, and submarine types .

Sources of Photographs

In addition to a number of specialized homepages providing images online, virtually every command and base also has a photo gallery. Two NASA image archives--the NEW NASA Image Exchange (http://nix.nasa.gov) and the Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Server http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/ PhotoServer/--contain thousands of online photographs, many relevant to the military.

The DOD Visual Information Center (1363 Z Street, March AFB, CA 92518; 909-413-2522) is the public archive for images and photos from 1982 to the present.

NEW * Joint Combat Camera Center

    http://dodimagery.afis.osd.mil

Online searchable database of publicly released and restricted photos by

military specialists, accessible with username and password of "public."

DefenseLINK photos

    http://www.defenselink.mil/photos/index.html

Comprehensive official photo library, including portraits, all services, weapons, and special operations or announcements such as Bosnia or Taiwan straits operations .

American Forces Press Service photos

    http://www.dtic.mil/afps/photos/

Air Force people, operations, weapons

    http://www.af.mil/photos/

NEW ACC Image Bank

    http://www.acc.af.mil/imagebank

AFIT Gallery

    http://www.afit.af.mil/Schools/PA/gall4.htm

Air Force Museum

    http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/

Aviation images

    http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/image/image.htm

NEW Army photos

    http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/photos

Army Equipment Photo Gallery

    http://www.jmu.edu/rotc/gallery.html

Navy Digital Imagery

    http://www.navy.mil/navpalib/.www/digital.html

NEW Marine Corps Image Archive

   

    http://www.usmc.mil/images.nsf

Starting Points

Military Starting Points Defense Department/DefenseLINK http://www.defenselink.mil/ Joint Chiefs of Staff http://www.dtic.mil/jcs AirForceLINK http://www.af.mil/ ArmyLINK http://www.army.mil/ NavyOnLine http://www.navy.mil/ Marine Corps/MarineLINK http://www.usmc.mil/ Air Force Reserve http://www.afres.af.mil/ Air National Guard http://www.ang.af.mil/ Army National Guard http://132.80.130.121/ Army Reserve http://www.army.mil/usar/ National Guard http://www.ngb.dtic.mil/ Navy Reserve http://www.navy.mil/homepages/ navresfor/navres.html Marine Corps Reserve http://www.marforres.usmc.mil/ Other National Security Starting Points Central Intelligence Agency http://www.odci.gov/cia/ Coast Guard http://www.dot.gov/dotinfo/uscg/ Department of Energy http://www.doe.gov Department of State http://www.state.gov Federal Bureau of Investigation http://www.fbi.gov Federal Emergency Management Agency http://www.fema.gov/ National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://www.nasa.gov North Atlantic Treaty Organization http://www.nato.int/ Veteran Affairs http://www.va.gov/ White House http://www.whitehouse.gov

Copyright © 1998 Brassey's, Inc.. All rights reserved.