New Online Videos Attempt to Show Soldiers' Iraq

There have been two developments recently in the world of online video that aim to convey U.S. military life in Iraq back to the home front -- though for much different purposes.  On Monday the New York Times ran a short feature on the redesign of the U.S. Army Website, where potential recruits can now view pared-down, YouTube-esque videos of soldiers in Iraq talking about life there.  As the Times reports, the "Straight From Iraq Series," is intended to target the 17-24-year-old demographic using this more current technology.  From the paper:

The goal is to provide those considering the Army — along with parents and others who influence their decisions — with “verifiable information about what being a soldier is really like, what combat is really like,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commanding general of the Army Accessions Command in Fort Monroe, Va., which is overseeing recruitment.

The changes in the “Army strong” campaign place more emphasis on the Internet, event marketing and other methods that connect with young Americans on a closer, more personal level...

...In addition to the new content on goarmy.com, there will be new TV commercials, meant to help drive traffic to the Web site. The first ones compare the Army to a company, a team and a school by showing young men and women in settings like an office building, a gym and a campus. The scenes shift into scenes of soldiers performing military tasks like marching and saluting the flag.

Oh, and for those of you rodeo fans out there, here's some bad news:

To help pay for the new media features, cutbacks are being made in areas like the Army’s sponsorships of professional rodeos.

Elsewhere on the Internet, a new Website called TroopTube is up and running allowing military members and family/friends to share videos.  It may seem along the same lines as YouTube's functionality, but in May 2007 the Defense Department blocked soldiers from accessing that Website for, according to the Associated Press, "security and bandwidth issues."  TroopTube's homepage states that it is a Website authorized by the Defense Department.  The AP even highlights some interesting technology built into the site: