Embracing Teenage Technological Flexibility:

The Defense Department often “ends up technically trailing the new generation,” says USAF Col. Hal Bullock, chief of US European Command’s information superiority and knowledge management division. He calls that an “interesting” but “not surprising” phenomenon. Bullock is leading an effort within EUCOM to engender a new way of sharing information, one that is meeting some skepticism among older personnel. One area being developed, says Bullock, is something today’s teenagers have embraced—virtual interaction Web sites called portals. EUCOM already has established a more complex portal that enables command officials and certain allies to share knowledge electronically in both delayed and real-time.