DotComs Spar for Military Attention.

• Author: Kutner, Joshua A.
• Position: Brief Article

Military buffs, veterans, or anyone interested in national defense affairs now have access to two major Web sites that offer one-stop Internet browsing.

These sites--Maingate.com and Military.com--mostly re-package information that is available at dozens of other sites and news services. But, even though they lack original news content, they prove to be valuable communication portals for members of the military community who want to keep in touch.

Maingate.com (Point-and-Click, May 2000, p.39) is an ever-growing Web-based community, spawned from the Military Relocation Information Network, which originally intended to make life easier for military families that are transferred. Go to the site today, and you'll find military-related news, free e-mail for registered users, chat rooms, and links to practically anything one would need. Membership at Maingate.com is free to the military community.

Military.com

Just six-months old, Military.com has emerged as a solid competitor to Maingate.com.

This Web site is chock full of information sources, such as news and historical blurbs, and contains a search engine that allows users to scan Military.com, all Web sites with a .mil or .gov suffix, or the entire World Wide Web. The site also offers free e-mail, chat rooms, address books, and a toll-free telephone number and voicemail account. This service is called "Listening Post," a joint venture between Military.com and ThinkLink, a provider of Web- and phone-accessible integrated messaging and communications services. Listening Post offers members free computer or phone voicemail and toll-free numbers and 5-cents-a-minute special rate.

Another benefit of membership at Military.com allows users to create personal homepages for the unit, ship or squadron in which they serve or served. To date, Military.com maintains more than 20,000 of these homepages. One of the purposes of the Web site is to allow those who serve in the military to share their stories with each other.

"The idea for Military.com came from my experience in the Navy," said Christopher Michel, founder and chief executive officer. Michel previously served as a naval flight officer in active duty and today serves in the Naval Reserve.

"The men and women I served with were always looking to reconnect with old shipmates, share a sea story, or help one another," said Michel. "... There is a groundswell of interest today in honoring the men and women who served. Look at Tom Brokaw's book, 'The...