Well I know that this post has absolutely nothing to do with discounts or coupons for the military....but it is about SAVING....saving our loved ones and keeping them safe by keeping our knowledge to ourselves.
OPSEC...Operational Security...is the motivator of this post. If you go HERE you will be provided with the nature of OPSEC and in laymen terms the rules that an individual should follow in order to ensure our military's safety.
Terrorists look for any piece of information that may provide clues to the big picture. Our inadvertent details will help others put together a puzzle that can cause great harm. As my hubby says, "Loose lips sink big ships:,....how true that is!" "While a small bit of information may be innocuous by itself, coupled with other small puzzle pieces it can create a big picture. And, that can cause serious trouble, not just for you, but for other military families, as well."(http://www.milspouse.com/)
As social networking sites take the communication network by storm, these sites also jeopardized the safety of our loved ones, deployed all over the world. OPSEC is a vital ethics code that every military spouse must adhere to. It is the unwritten contract that we, as military spouses and families, morally sign when we become a "wife or husband" in the military. It is a code of ethics which keeps our loved ones safe. It is an unspoken vow of silence to protect the secrets that we may know, in exchange for a piece of mind that our loved ones are safe. It is....a Promise to Keep a Secret......a SECRET!
Okay, now that i got that out of the way, let me give you a better understanding of why OPSEC is so important to me, and why it should be to you. Last week on Facebook, a friend of mine discovered that her husband was deploying early. She didn't hear it from him, or his command, or even the Ombudsman; she read it on Facebook. With that in mind, because she read it there, so did everyone else who was was friends of the friends of the friends....you get my point. I don't believe that she was even included in the "friends" Facebook chain, she just came across it. Immediately she was like what the...expletive...you know what I mean. When these active duty individuals and there spouses posted on Facebook, they not only violated OPSEC, they endangered entire squadrons, commands and surface groups. I mean come on, is it really that important to post your day to day...oh wait a minute, hour to hour moves and conversations on Facebook. I mean I care what my friends have to say, but I don't want to know about military deployments or homecomings, until I hear about from the Ombudsman or on the news. Yes I care what is going on, but I don't want to jeopardize the lives of every one's loved ones over an absentminded comment on a social networking site, just for a status update. Yes I will be the first to flag it, comment about how pissed I am that they posted it. It is a violation of mass proportion, it endangers my family and yours. Take the hint....wink wink...keep it quiet. I hope your getting my point.
To help understand the basics of OPSEC, read over these guidelines and commit them to memory or heart....it will protect us all!
OPSEC Rules:
Don't discuss future destinations or ports of call!
Don't discuss future operations / Exercises 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 or lack thereof!
Don't discuss people's names and billets, Regiments 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!
Don't discuss Security Procedures, movements, or arms.
BE AWARE!
Be smart, use your head, and always think OPSEC when using email or phone and SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES!
And be sure that you realize that information can be put together.. if you leak a bit here and a bit there, it doesn't take much to put it together for the whole picture- and there are those out there with nothing but that goal in mind..
KEEP YOUR FAMILIES SAFE- Remember~
LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS!
And if you are not sure whether its okay to say.. DON'T.
(Thank you to Navy Steel Roses for this list.. If you have things to add.. Leave me a comment and I will make sure to post it!)
https://www.iad.gov/ioss/index.cfm, http://www.milspouse.com/, http://www.navysteelrose.com,http//www.heartsofourtroops.com/opsec_rules2.htm,
No comments:
Post a Comment