Learning OPSEC

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Permalink Reply by Cher on November 12, 2008 at 8:13pm

Melody, you are absolutely right, although I do think the photos issue has been mentioned, maybe in not so many words. I think we should all work towards moderating our groups as best as we can, because I really think there are quite a few of us who might not realize some of these things apply to them. It's a natural mistake, but a potentially lethal one. It occurs to me that some of us have gained so much personal strength from our intense pride that we forget that very pride can "give away" pertinent details about ongoing missions and active locations by what we think are innocent photos. This puts our sons right in the line of fire and if not our own, then other moms' sons. I've even talked to parents who are kind of arrogant about this, and state that the enemy already knows about the locations so why not? This is a basic responsibility and I think it's how we at home help the war effort in the technology era of the 21st century.

Personally I would be comfortable in temporarily banning anyone from the site who has not adjusted their profile and postings to be OPSEC safe until they comply. Not forever, but until they get it straight that they need to think about this as yet another avenue for bad guys to make their mark. Also hiding their profiles as private while they are banned. There just isn't any way to assume we all get on here every single day to monitor our profiles, right? We should not just look the other way here. I think there is a real urgency, while violence is still occurring overseas, and scams are still being perpetrated against military families here at home.

I'd like to note that the Marine policy is simply no photos unless approved by them. I took my cue from them. I'm guessing, knowing the Marines that there probably isn't too much they'd let get by. You all are welcome to look at my profile, and you will see that I don't put photos on there and that's not because I don't have any. Even my myspace page shows only old shots of my sons when in civvies, not in any identifying uniforms.

If those of us that are familiar with the procedures start the process of educating the moms that are new to this, we'll have done all of us a huge favor. We can easily start with our own groups.

I'd welcome Catherine's input here.

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Permalink Reply by HTsWife on November 10, 2008 at 10:25pm

on one of our ships, the guys were playing around & took pictures of it. the pictures got passed thru some hands on the ship, but they were taken in a secure area. the background of those pictures caused that ship to issue a formal 'breach of security' report. this is why you need certain clearance for certain areas, & you see certain parts of ships/subs/etc covered w/ tarps & such when they're in homeport or dry docked. a simple picture can cause a lot of damage.

another instance, where the spouse was not clear on what OPSEC (or even general care) meant... our sailors were allowed to tell us when they were coming home from deployment 2wks beforehand. but they were instructed to explain to their spouses/parents that they told, that this was not 'public information' yet & wouldn't be until much closer to the date. a wife on another ship in the group went on the news (we're not sure if she was approached or she approached them) & told them who her ship was, who all the group ships were, where they were at the moment, that they were on their way home, that they would be home on such & such date at such & such time, even at such & such pier!!! (this example is a little extreme b/c i've not come across too many instances as blatent as this, but it does happen.) this turned homecoming upside down & inside out. they changed the dates, the sailors were only given the information of "we've changed our date of homecoming, we'll let you know when we can" & no one was told until it was released 48hrs before hand. they staggered the ships that were formerly coming in together, & caused homecoming to be thrown off as much as 2wks either way, for some of the ships.

on another forum i'm on, there's a military section & many of them have tickers marking their time of deployment, showing specific dates. even if it's a few days off, it can cause problems when added w/ other pieces of information someone could pick up.

in today's society, w/ the danger of physical harm a very real thing, i try to keep in mind, what information would i share w/ a total stranger that i met on the street, in a parking lot, or in a store? would you tell them they just left Anywhere, Nowhere last week on their way to Somewhere, Sometime next Tuesday? would you tell a stranger your sailor's full name/rate/rank?

another lady i knew, her husband was a SEAL, she was so careful about talking to anyone. while he was gone for a stint, she had 2 men knock on her door & ask questions about her husband, leading questions, & they knew he was in the SEALs already & other secure information. she wouldn't talk to them & sent them away. a week later 2 more men showed up & did the same thing!! she reported it & they brought her husband home & they were both investigated for breaches in security. it was a huge mess & last i heard from her, they still weren't sure how these men got this information.

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Permalink Reply by Jean C on November 10, 2008 at 11:39pm

Please be very careful of what you also post on 'my space",,, use the same rules that apply here, for security reasons.
No last names, date, locations, departures, returns,, etc. if you want to share with a family memeber,,,use the email, telephone, or send snail mail, please.
on sons last deployment, this was brought to our attention, and it was very scary the way it was described to us.
none of us wants to put any sailor in harms way by giving out too much information.

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Permalink Reply by Cher on November 11, 2008 at 9:09am

In all honesty, we really shouldn't put so much faith on the privacy of emails. How many times have you shared a personal detail with someone in an email, at work or at home, and had someone copy someone else? Next thing you know, it's out there. It can be embarrassing or professionally devastating. Listen, I am glad we have a forum, we need that on several levels. But the trust/bond thing can turn on a dime. Any one of us could be someone other than the person behind the profile. Terrorists are clever. Not to make everyone be paranoid, but keep that in mind. I posted on one site where someone kept trailing me asking for return information for my son's unit. I looked up their profile and it turns out they claimed an occupation in a city where that industry did not exist. Scared me to death and I reported it to the site administrator. Sometimes it's just a non-computer savvy parent, sometimes it's a bad guy.

I learned quite a while ago to not put anything in writing that could bite me later on. Nothing.

Jean's right about myspace. Do you realize that anyone, anyone can copy and repost your photos? For this reason I have no photos of my sons in uniform online anywhere. I know that most people here have photos of their sons and daughters in uniform and I know lots of Marine and Army parents do it, but I will not, even though I have some great ones I'd love to share. For one thing, they are identified by name right there on the uniform. For another, the best ones are in locations where someone might be able to recognize a landmark and get some insight into where a mission was carried out. I strongly urge you to keep your myspace profiles private, invitation only, and even then be extra careful. Same goes for the kids.

Right after my oldest son deployed I got a PM from the mom of one of his room mates in his barracks. She was able to verify a detail that was true and my son backed it up. She has photos she took of the day they deployed and wanted to send them to me. As much as I would have loved to have seen that, since I didn't attend the day they left, I turned her down. If it means that much to me later on I'll talk to my son about how he'd like that handled. In the meantime, my thinking is that had something happened to him I might have pursued the pictures, but other than that, it doesn't matter as much as having him safe in front of me.

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Permalink Reply by Carla Street on November 11, 2008 at 5:00pm

What I direct the moms to do is to take the lead from their sailor and to always make sure that you tell them that you belong to a site. Also, to choose an alias for themselves and/or their sailor is there is any concern at all. Ask them what they feel they say you are not to tell. If at any time you feel they are trying to not tell you something, take their lead and don't say anything to anyone.

When they are deployed, if you want to tell about say where they have been, take the lead from the navy.mil site, if it's posted there, then generally it's okay.

The Ten OPSEC and COMSEC Points:

Don't discuss future destinations or ports of call!
Don't discuss future operations or missions!
Don't discuss dates and times of when we will be in port or conducting exercises!
Don't discuss readiness issues and numbers!
Don't discuss specific training equipment!
Don't discuss people's names and billets in conjunction with operations!
Don't speculate about future operations!
Don't spread rumors about operations!
Don't assume the enemy is not trying to collect information on you so he can kill you, he is!
Be smart, use your head, and always think OPSEC and COMSEC when using email or phone!

Operational Security Guidance for Family Members
As a family member of the military community, you are a vital player
in our success and we could not do our job without your support. You
may not know it, but you also play a crucial role in ensuring your
loved ones' safety just by what you know of the military's day-to-
day operations. You can protect your loved ones by protecting the
information that you know. This is known in the military
as, "Operations Security", or OPSEC.

What is OPSEC? OPSEC is keeping potential adversaries from
discovering critical Department Of Defense information. As the name
suggests, it protects US operations - planned, in progress and those
completed. Success depends on secrecy and surprise, so the military
can accomplish the mission more quickly and with less risk. Enemies
of freedom want this information, and they are not just after the
military member to get it. They want you, the family member.

Unofficial Websites The posting of pictures and information that is
pertinent to your loved ones military unit to personal or family
websites has the potential to jeopardize their safety and that of
the entire unit. Coordinate with your unit's Family Readiness
Officer and have pictures screened and posted to the "Official" Key
Volunteer website. This will ensure that you contribute to OPSEC and
keep the force safe.

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Permalink Reply by Cher on November 11, 2008 at 5:07pm

Kudos and Applause! Now, to make sure we all get this message!

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Permalink Reply by Achseh on November 11, 2008 at 5:27pm

Not only do loose lips sink ships and put our military members in potential harms way, they also put their spouses in that position too.

I know a gal from years ago, our husband's were on the same ship. At that time the ships allowed bumper stickers "I love my *ships name* sailor" type.

The news in Norfolk is always at the pier broadcasting when the ships leave. Someone in her neighborhood put two and two together (the ship left, she loves her sailor) and used that opportunity to break into her home in the middle of the night and attack her with a knife. Lucky for her, he didn't know her brother was there and her brother saved her life and stopped the rape before it began.

Military wives are at risk from too much information out there, too. Best to just keep things on the down low, people.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on November 14, 2008 at 2:37pm

The biggest reminder is to not use specific dates and names together. You can be general - i.e. May, June, etc. But again, leave out specifics.

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Permalink Reply by Uli on November 26, 2008 at 1:18pm

Having learned security matters in an international setting, I am constantly amazed at the use of last names. in addresses, in postings etc. No matter if they are not the same as the Military persons last name. It is OK to ask your military person "How are you" anything along the lines of " what are you doing, where are you, is a no no, even if they are just eating a burger at the local hang out.
Remember, Phone lines have ears other than your own, specially cellphones.
If they volunteer info great, consider it for your ears only.
We have one child, that to this day does not appear on Google or any other search engine, does participates in everyday modern life. Lest you think child is hidden in a back woods cabin.

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