PA army bases shutting down social media pages amid federal order to ‘ensure well-being’

PENNSYLVANIA (WHP) — The U.S. Army War College, along with other well-established military bases across the Commonwealth, announced they are closing their social media pages at the end of the month per a new federal directive.

The takedowns aim to “ensure the well-being” of “soldiers, families, and Department of the Army (DA) Civilians”, the directive outlined.

The war college said the directive is “part of a service-wide effort to streamline our digital communications.”

The post went on to say that all channels will be shutdown on July 30.

In a post made by the Tobyhanna Army Depot, the base said its channels will close on July 28.

CBS 21 also reached out to the Letterkenny Army Depot, which confirmed it will be following the directive and deactivating its Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts on July 30.

While the order impacts Pennsylvania bases, the federal directive applies to all bases across the country.

However, there are exceptions stated by the directive.

Effective immediately, only the Army organizations listed in enclosure 2 are authorized to operate official social media accounts. All other organizations must close and archive their accounts pursuant to Army records management policy.