The U.S. Army is now poised to occupy your iPhone.

With the release of a multipurpose app for the Apple smartphone that includes news, video, and even gaming options, the Army is advancing into the mobile communications sphere that it sees as crucial to connecting with its global audience.

The Army's iPhone app is the first official one released by the Department of Defense to provide news, photos and video on a military branch. The new mobile application is available for iPhone and iPod Touch devices --- and will work on the iPad when it comes out this Spring. The app enables soldiers, family members, and the public to save content and to share it via Facebook, Twitter and email.

To find out what's under the hood, OhMyGov! talked with Col Kevin Arata, the Army's director of the Online and Social Media Division, and Robbie Thompson, the contract program lead for Army.mil (Read the first part of our two-part series.)

Although one would expect it to be positioned as a recruiting tool, the app is actually much more.

"Our real job is to inform the public. But if we inform the influencers, then it may help with recruiting," said Arata.

The app provides access to both video and still imagery of the Army in action, including content hosted on the service's Flickr feed and YouTube page. Podcasts from the Soldiers Radio News show are also available directly through the application.

Screenshots of the Army iPhone app

"With the iPhone we saw an opportunity to be more transparent about what's going on in the Army," Arata said.

However, the team did not parachute blindly into the iPhone app development game without doing some research first.

"There was so much excitement about getting an app that we worked diligently to adapt to the platform quickly," said Thompson. "We thought about the platform first and then how to convey the information."

"From a public affairs perspective our job is to inform the American public and we do that from the kinds of stories we are trying to promote," added Arata.

A very handy feature of the app is the digital pocket almanac. With the kind of slick interface that you'd expect from our armed forces, the app provides access to information about Army uniforms, military rank, and weapons systems. It even lists the words and music for the Army's song, though unfortunately no audio track for you to sing along with. (Your fellow Metro riders might be glad.)

In addition to news and interesting facts, the iPhone development group added a little fun too: a challenging strategy game. In fact, the game has been so popular that user feedback has prompted new updates to the app and made it more interactive. Game players can now share their scores through Facebook Connect and save their best move. 

But gaming aside, the app is a serious foray into the mobile communications arena, which the Army sees as vital for sharing information with the country.

"The new app allows people to be better informed...with the good stewardship of the American people's money, whether it's taking care of the soldier....or things we are doing in Haiti," said Arata.

Downloaded more than 22,000 times since its late December release, the Army app ranks in the top 25 of free news applications in the iTunes App Store, with high customer ratings.

The application is available for free from via iTunes or by visiting the Army.Mil Mobile site.

Finally, for those who don't have iPhones, an Android version is coming soon, and the Army is looking at providing the app on other mobile devices as well. A web-optimized version is also being studied for the Blackberry.

The Army also maintains a presence of the following social media sites:

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, iReport, NowPublic, Delicious