Death by Power Point in the military

The most popular article right now on the New York Times’ website is about the U.S. military’s overuse of Power Point presentations:

Last year when a military Web site, Company Command, asked an Army platoon leader in Iraq, Lt. Sam Nuxoll, how he spent most of his time, he responded, “Making PowerPoint slides.” When pressed, he said he was serious.

“I have to make a storyboard complete with digital pictures, diagrams and text summaries on just about anything that happens,” Lieutenant Nuxoll told the Web site. “Conduct a key leader engagement? Make a storyboard. Award a microgrant? Make a storyboard.”

In this 2005 story I did about soldiers’ media training at Fort Drum, troops spoke grudgingly about “death by Power Point”.  Most everything learned not out on the training fields and firing ranges comes from a Power Point presentation.

I found this odd, especially when it came to post-deployment screening for combat-related trauma.  In both of these stories, people in charge of soldiers’ mental health describe Power Point presentations as a principle method for teasing out PTSD-related issues.  It just seemed too impersonal for a mental health challenge that’s so emotional and stigmatized to be effective.

The Times article also cites a blog post from a Fort Drum soldier, Captain Crispin Burke.  When asked to do an interview over the phone, Burke e-mailed the paper:

“I would be free tonight, but unfortunately, I work kind of late (sadly enough, making PPT slides).”