Posted on Dec 30, 2014
CW5 Jim Steddum
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milSuite is a social media tools for the Department of Defense and supports Web 2.0 solutions behind the firewall (CAC enabled).

milSuite is a collection of online applications focused on improving the methods of secure collaboration for the United States Department of Defense. The effort is produced by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical's MilTech Solutions office with the online suite consisting of four applications: milBook, milWiki, milWire and milTube.
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LCDR Chaplain Corps Officer
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Our Navy Chaplain Corps has migrated to milBook for sending out information to the Corps, so yes I use it. However, as 1SG (Join to see) said, I find it cumbersome and not easy to navigate. I think the system has potential as a collaboration tool, unfortunately it's not very intuitive which leads to people logging in to check the one area that they need to check and then immediately loggin right back off.
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1LT Infantry Officer
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Yes, I use milsuite frequently and I beat the utility of milbook, milwiki, miltube, and eureka into my students. However, it is a cumbersome system.

My key issue is that it's not guaranteed to be permanent, not unlike the APF. The contract is for a predetermined number of years and it takes longer for the institutional change to incorporate innovations such as milsuite.

My favorite example is all the WOCs who have to sign up for milsuite before attending WOCS and lose their minds.
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CW5 Jim Steddum
CW5 Jim Steddum
10 y
What do you mean about the WOCS?
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1LT Infantry Officer
1LT (Join to see)
10 y
Chief, I work at the Logistics NCOA and I've seen close to a dozen instructors and some students sail off to WOCS. Most have been directed to join milBook groups for their respective WOCS class number. I helped a few of them navigate the system.
Overall, milSuite is so obscure at the junior enlisted and junior NCO level that that WOCS class group is their first contact with the system. That is what I meant by the example of people losing their minds.
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CW5 Jim Steddum
CW5 Jim Steddum
10 y
1LT (Join to see), thank you for that feedback. We have taken a serious look at how we use milBook for candidate collaboration and made some very significant changes to the process. If you get a chance, let me know what you think about the process now, by going to the one page that all candidates will be referred to: https://www.milsuite.mil/book/community/spaces/apf/usawocc/warrant_officer_career_college. This link goes to candidates by way of ATTRS, the recruiting website, and welcome letters. Once they get there, it is an auto-join feature. No more approval process (from someone outside of the College).
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COL Randall C.
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milSuite is a (not so) hidden gem that every service member needs to be knowledgeable of for one simple reason - The Service's are migrating to digital distribution for the majority of information and this is the official medium for it. As many have commented, the interfaces could be better, but do not let that detract from the information that is available to all CAC holders. The Army is the predominant use of milSuite at the moment, but use by the rest of the Services is increasing.

Most S1Net consumers know that it migrated over to milBook a few years ago. If you don't know what S1Net is, you're missing a (https://www.milsuite.mil/book/community/spaces/apf/s1net) plethora of information on Army topics relating to active duty, reserve component and retired soldiers. As CW5 Jim Steddum stated, it's probably the best resource I've discovered that has relevant info to my profession.

Army doctrine (TRADOC) is quickly becoming synonymous with milSuite (https://www.milsuite.mil/armydoctrine). As part of Doctrine 2015, TRADOC is completing the move away from the "traditional" doctrine books with a ponderous update cycle to something that can be streamlined and more 'friendly' to the field. Of particulair note to the non-TRADOCians out there is that ATPs are designed to be interactive with the experts in the field .. so if you ever complained about what you're seeing in the official pubs, this is your chance to directly influence/change it (make sure to look over https://www.milsuite.mil/wiki/Army_Doctrine_Rules_of_Conduct first though).

I could go on regarding content, but the easiest way to find sources of (mostly) official information is just to use the search box and explore.
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CW5 Jim Steddum
CW5 Jim Steddum
10 y
Sir, thank you! The Commandant, USA Warrant Officer Career College has directed that all of our students get a introduction to milSuite upon inprocessing. Our ILE students receive a formal block on Knowledge Management which includes using milSuite as a tool to increase knowledge flow.

During the last class I taught, a curmudgeony Special Forces Warrant (W4) that had never even heard of milSuite became a believer in the system as soon as I suggested he search for something interesting to him. By the end of the class, he was teaching others in his class how to use milBook.
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