What does BCKS stand for ?
Evening Nichols !
Battle Command Knowledge System (US Army). Although somewhat outdated, it relates to IT, Computers, Military and Government.
There were folks at Aberdeen working this issue, but I don't recall what became of it.
I went to Africa to work with Tom :D
BTW, Jed is already posting more recent info at COIN Seminar. Forgive me, I'm a tad outdated !
To come over the top rope...
...on what everyone has already said, if you're looking to strengthen it through the addition of content and snazzy advertising, it might not get much of a return.
I agree with Jed that a lot of folks just don't care. Trying to reach them is going to be difficult, if not impossible. The declining readership of journals like the Marine Corps Gazette is an example of a shift in paradigms. The Marine Corps Association is taking great strides to recover and regain prominence, but it is very tough.
One more concrete point to add though, and that is BCKS is a pain to navigate through for a noob, which may be an initial turn-off.
The Spirit of The Grandfather Warrior
The SWJ/SWC has the Spirit of the Grandfather Warrior and it is powerful MOJO. Some Indians believed that all knowledge of warfare should be preserved and passed down to anyone with the warrior spirit. There was no need for firewalls because if you used that knowledge in the wrong way you would still be beaten by the superior warrior who with the help of his grandfather (History of Battle) would be given the right knowledge at the right time to protect the tribe. Because of the USMC association with the "code talkers" and the SWJED open thread to all warriors the spirit is especially strong and protected here. The warrior knowledge is great! we have more soul than we can control. If you want to learn how to fix your project read the threads on combat tracking especially by 120mm or better yet go to one of the schools. If you don't want to do that just read the passion behind some of the posts by JED,JC,Tom Odom,Marct,RTK,Rob Thornton,Bizmarc17,Rifeleman,SWJED and others I can not recall but they all have powerful MOJO. They have the spirit of the grandfather warrior. That is what you need. ;)
Just a couple of observations...
Hi Folks,
There seems to be some fair agreement that the BCKS interface is cutting edge, 1995 technology - i.e. if not useless, then needlessly limiting in today's environment. Now, I should point out that I don't have access to it but, from what I have picked up just reading comments, I'm not sure I'd want access :wry:.
Just getting back to the original post for a minute, I'd like to highlight something:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MJOCONN1
Success stories, without compromising security of course, are what the team is looking for.
MJ, why success stories? I can certainly imagine that they would be useful for budget arguments, but wouldn't it make more sense to concentrate on a SWOT analysis of BCKS and frame your RFI that way?
SWCAdmin makes a really good point when he noted that
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SWCAdmin
We have made a very conscious decision to be open and welcoming here at SWC. We MUST recognize the limitations that places on what we can discuss. But we can still do a lot of good. The larger community, though OPSEC constrained, adds a certain value of its own.
One of the things I really like about the SWC is that very "openness" and, I think, that it does have a value add for the people on the sharp end. A couple of people have pointed out that BCKS is used by a CoP that is concerned with their careers rather than with war fighting; Jed's comments about it being "mostly juvenile banter, cherry soldiers asking questions about job and assignments, and discussions having nothing at all to do with the military" come to mind. What then was the goal for BCKS? Is it supposed to be a CoP for warfighters? If so, I'm afraid it has probably failed and become, instead, a CoP for careerists.
Let me make one other observation: BCKS is limited to American military personnel. One of the nice, "open" things about SWC is that we have posters from quite a few countries militaries - Canada, France, Germany, Britain, etc. Given that almost all US operations at the present time are part of coalition efforts, why then should the CoP be limited solely to Americans? (Yes, I know, my Canadian nationalist sentiment is showing itself :D).
My final point concerns the OPSEC issue and is in response to SWCAdmins' comment
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SWCAdmin
Similarly, there is a drag to SIPR and FOUO. Sure, fewer enemy get the picture. But so do fewer friendlies.
There has been a real concern with OPSEC here, both from those in the military, and from us non-military types. In today's era of professional warfare, having a place where someone who is not in the military can help with the war effort is rare. There is a lot of rhetoric being sprayed around about a "long war" and a "total war" but, tell me, where can non-military people make their contributions? Would BCKS give me that chance? Would it give many of the posters here that chance?
Sorry to sound like I am up on a soap box, but I am :wry:. We have he technological capability to maintain OPSEC and to allow non-military people to help in this "People's War". Maybe your BCKS team should consider ways in which that can be encouraged.
Marc
Would BCKS give me that Chance ?
Evening Marc !
Quote:
where can non-military people make their contributions? Would BCKS give me that chance? Would it give many of the posters here that chance?
The answer is a resounding NO. Without AKO access (and my account is extremely limited), you cannot post, assist nor provide relative Bravo Sierra.
Regretfully !
Jed and JC drive a good point home. The "forum" does not contain input from the soldiers on the ground nor from the field. Essentially, we have what Tom coins as GI grumbling. There's literally tons of that to the tune of 10,000 plus posts.
I did spend several hours today on the IED links. Interesting, but access and endless PowerPoint presentations for the DC crowd left me hungry.
I think I'll stick with you folks..thank you very much :D