I think RallyPoint should have topic groups which parallel each of the military services. Do you agree?

LTC Stephen F. — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:24:19 -0400

For the third time in a week, I have effectively been rebuked by RallyPoint Leadership because I added Army and Marine Corps service tags to a question that seemed appropriate to for members of those services. Right now there is no way that I know of to inform people who are interested in a military service as a whole without tagging the service. Tagging the service sends an email to everybody in the service.
I believe RallyPoint should have topic groups which parallel each of the military services which would enable those of us who are interested in one or more military Service and may or may not be a member of that particular Service.
For clarity each of the Military Service groups is listed as a branch. Army is located at https://www.rallypoint.com/branches/army
Air Force is located at https://www.rallypoint.com/branches/air-force
Marine Corps is located at https://www.rallypoint.com/branches/marine-corps
Navy is located at https://www.rallypoint.com/branches/navy
Coast Guard is located at https://www.rallypoint.com/branches/coast-guard
US Merchant Marine is not currently listed. Only the US Merchant Marine Academy is listed as a school https://www.rallypoint.com/schools/united-states-merchant-marine-academy-usmma and also as a Company https://www.rallypoint.com/organizations/us-merchant-marine-academy-kings-point-ny

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member, SFC Mark Merino, SSG Carlos Madden, SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", COL Mikel J. Burroughs, SFC Mark Merino GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad, LTC Stephen C., MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca, SGT Private RallyPoint Member, CPT Private RallyPoint Member. TSgt Hunter Logan, PV2 Private RallyPoint Member, SGT Robert Hawks, SGT Randal Groover, SGT Forrest Stewart, PO3 Steven Sherrill, PO1 John Miller

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Response by SGT Ben Keen made Aug 19 at 2015 1:26 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:26:38 -0400

I'm missing something here. What do you mean when you say you were rebuked by RallyPoint Leadership. Was the tag removed? Was the discussion taken down?

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 19 at 2015 1:28 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:28:09 -0400

Yes I would like to see an Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine topic groups. That way any member interested in one of the Services who is not assigned or attached to that Service could engage in discussions about the Service which would be limited to those of us interested in that Service.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 19 at 2015 1:36 PM

SN Greg Wright — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:36:10 -0400

I've had this happen myself. My original MM thread was tagged for me into the "MM Academy" group, which has about 33 followers. Morever, it's textually long (ie the number of characters), and there's a limit, and so only one other group would fit. That thread is now seen by nobody in any of the Armed Services groups. It effectively killed it. So what you're asking for is something I very much wish would happen, and I'd give you more than the one thumb's up, if I could.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Aug 19 at 2015 1:40 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:40:51 -0400

LTC Stephen F. This sounds like a reasonable request to me. I've not had that issue, but I've never used the various service branches as a tag. I'm sure something can be worked out with RP. LTC Yinon Weiss can you have someone at RP explain to the RP community why those tags would be removed and what the correct ROE is when using them, so everyone has a better understanding. I don't want to see anyone leave RP because they are upset or don't understand the Rules of Engagement. Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Aug 19 at 2015 1:51 PM

Sgt Kelli Mays — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:51:03 -0400

Not sure what this means "Topic Group Discussions"

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2015 1:53 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:53:58 -0400

LTC Stephen F., I don't know the Question you're mentioning, but I have had it happen several times too. Sometimes I'm not sure what they want as a tag. Quite a bit of the tags aren't listed as the ones I feel are appropriate. Some tags are in their lists which surprises me, that I can use.I have had double posting also. I think it's the way the question is worded, in away, that does not pick up the same question before I publish mine. I wish there was a way there could be a key word in the question which shows all questions with that word in it.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2015 2:18 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:18:05 -0400

I know I am an Admin but I am saying this as a member. The Army as a whole is big. If you post something on there we all see it already. But if you tag it with a Service Branch it is a bit to vague. I really don't care about some of the stuff that affects the Army. If the Army is getting a new pair of dress shoes I couldn't care less and I don't want it to show up in my feed. But tags should be specific. I often tag infantry, ranger, or leadership in my posts. I could say that any and/or all of my post could be tagged with Army but isn't just about everything here about the military?

We already have topic groups. I don't understand. All you have to do is tag it in your interests and you will get feeds from those topics. May you may not be familiar with this.

As an Admin if I were to see a discussion about shoes tagged with Army I will personally remove the tag and replace it with something more appropriate.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Aug 19 at 2015 2:37 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:37:45 -0400

I know the powers that be were originally against service groups because they thought it would stovepipe too many conversations - even though in reality there are a lot of things that are branch specific. IMHO, there is a need for them.

As an admin I try not to delete the tags a person has added unless there is a more fitting tag to replace it. The goal, in my opinion, is to adjust and add to the tags so that a discussion hits the most people it can. While entering a new question and adding tags, if you see that the tag auto completes or gives you options then that and the optional tags are recognized by RP and have group page associated with them. If you have to completely type it you'll notice when you submit the question that the tag does not appear in your listing for the question. If enough of the same tag is submitted via different discussions/questions. RP may eventually recognize the tag for a group page.

Hope this helps.

Response by Maj Chris Nelson made Aug 19 at 2015 2:53 PM

Maj Chris Nelson — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:53:14 -0400

Personally, sometimes I like looking at issues within other branches....SOMETIMES I may know of a situation, that while not exact, is close enough that I may bring an alternate view to people.... Perspective if you will.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2015 2:59 PM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:59:41 -0400

I think CPT Private RallyPoint Member summed it up perfectly and I agree with him.

Response by SGT Anthony Rossi made Aug 19 at 2015 3:49 PM

SGT Anthony Rossi — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 15:49:34 -0400

I would be nice. Sometimes because of my ignorance of specific acronyms I don't understand what servicemen and women are referring to who are not affiliated with the Army. However I can see how it could cause issues from the Admin point of view.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 19 at 2015 4:25 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 16:25:06 -0400

Update, thanks be to SSG Carlos Madden who provided the relevant background history on this topic: "In the past we did have the Service Branch's as topics however, members would always tag the branch instead. There are alternatives to tagging service branches such as "Troops," "Sailors," "Airmen," etc." I just became a follower of the "Troops" and "Airmen" groups. I am the only follower in the Troop topic group therefore I uploaded the logo and the canvas images :-)
Thanks to all of the volunteer administrators who weighed in on this topic.
I have the utmost respect for each of you [many are tagged below].Anybody who knows me realizes I tend to "recon by fire" and intend no disrespect. :-)
COL Mikel J. Burroughs, LTC Stephen C., MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca, CPT Private RallyPoint Member, CW5 Private RallyPoint Member, SFC Mark Merino, GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad, SSG Carlos Madden, SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", TSgt Hunter Logan, SGT Ben Keen, SGT Private RallyPoint Member, SGT Ben Keen, Sgt Kelli Mays, PV2 Private RallyPoint Member, SGT Robert Hawks , SGT Randal Groover , SGT Forrest Stewart, PO3 Steven Sherrill, SGT Anthony Rossi, SN Greg Wright

Response by SGT Robert Hawks made Aug 19 at 2015 4:33 PM

SGT Robert Hawks — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 16:33:55 -0400

Great idea

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 20 at 2015 10:31 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 10:31:56 -0400

For inclusion in RallyPoint I recommend that US Code be used to determine what is in an what is out.
For the purpose of this title [this is from 5 US Code more commonly known as Title 5 Government Organization And Employees]-
(1) the "civil service" consists of all appointive positions in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the Government of the United States, except positions in the uniformed services;
(2) "armed forces" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard; and
(3) "uniformed services" means the armed forces, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."
CW5 Private RallyPoint Member , SFC Mark Merino , SSG Carlos Madden , SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", SFC Mark Merino, GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad, LTC Stephen C. , MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca, PV2 Private RallyPoint Member, COL Mikel J. Burroughs, SGT Ben Keen, SGT Private RallyPoint Member, SN Greg Wright, CDR Terry Boles, LTC Yinon Weiss