More Questions Asked

With new spouses come the same old questions. I know I had enough of them when I was first plunged into the military life. I had to learn just like every other mil-spouse. It takes time to learn. It takes mil-spouses longer because there are not classes or seminars to teach them.

One of the most important subjects that tends to be very neglected is OPSEC, or Operations Security. What is it and are military spouses unknowingly violating it?

If you have been a mil-spouse for longer than 20 minutes, you have heard the term along with PERSEC (personal security). We are told this is how we keep our service members and us safe. “Loose lips sink ships” sound familiar? It is not just some WW 2 slogan.

How important is OPSEC? In Pensacola, an experiment was conducted to determine OPSEC adherence there. Small pieces of information about a “massive” deployment were planted among the service members. It did not take much time before little bits began showing up in small local newspapers about a deployment. Obviously, service members bear the lion’s share of blame. They should know better given their constant OPSEC briefings. But the only person they told was their spouse. Result? Experiment failure because spouses talked using unsecure methods.

What can we and what can we not say on the internet, via email or to people in real life? I often see OPSEC violations multiple times per week in Facebook groups.  Spies listen to the “chatter.” They pic up a piece of information here and a piece there then add it all up to get a picture of events. They rarely get the whole story from one source.

So, without military terms, I will try to define OPSEC in terms normal people can understand.

OPSEC 101: Things you can’t say.

1. Don’t share specific information about the mission of assigned units.

·         AKA…don’t go on Facebook and post “USS Higgins is sailing to chase off the Chinese cruisers in the Taiwan Straits. Please pray for them. Hugs and kisses.”

2. Don’t share specific dates and locations of deployments.

·         AKA…don’t go on Twitter and post “Omg…I’m so sad. My husband sails for the South China Sea. How will I make it through?”

3. Don’t list your service member’s specific job on the internet.

·         AKA… “My husband is a gunner’s mate on a destroyer. I couldn’t be prouder!”

4. Don’t share you service member’s exact location overseas.

·         AKA… “My husband is working so hard over at FOB nowhere in Idontwannabehere, Iraq. Can’t wait for him to come home!”

5. Don’t share anything about unit moral or equipment.

·         Adversaries take advantage of sagging unit moral knowing the fight may be easier for them. Why would they not go on an offensive if they knew all the artillery guns were malfunctioning?

6. Don’t share anything about deployment schedules or itineraries.

·         “The element of surprise” is something your spouse’s unit would not enjoy if you were telling the world their schedule.

7. Don’t share exact dates your service member is scheduled to return from deployment.

·         AKA… “ONLY 11 more days to go! I can hardly wait! I’m using this awesome countdown timer so we can all keep track.”

Remember, when it concerns OPSEC, social media is not your friend and should be considered a direct line to our adversaries.

Other things to consider:

·         Pictures say more than you think. They could give away your service member’s exact location.

·         Make sure all metadata is stripped from pictures, Metadata contains exact date, time and locations that the photo was taken.

·         Don’t post or share EVER about unit casualties until you are 100% certain that next of kin is notified and the information is publicly available. Would you want to hear of your spouse’s death from Facebook or Twitter?

·         Turn your own phone location settings to off. There really is no need to share your current location with the world of social media.

OPSEC 101: Things you can say…

·         “I love my Marine/Sailor/Airman/Soldier.”

·         “My service member is leaving this summer.”

·         “Looking forward to my service member coming home soon.”

·         “So proud of everything he’s accomplished.”

·         “Right now, he’s deployed.”

·         “Missing him / her every day.”

If you must share, keep it simple. Be as vague as possible. Sharing anything “exact” will likely be a violation. My default posting is usually something like “They are underway” or “They were in the Philippines.”

Other things to consider:

    Please know that anything you post (even on a private FB page) can be made public and is forever. Anyone can take a screenshot, and it is apparently not difficult to hack into most people’s messages or email accounts and share the information with an adversary.

    Take caution with using anything to identify yourself as a military family, especially when stationed OCONUS. Be cautious of bumper stickers on cars, hangings in your windows. This applies to PERSEC too. Our nations adversaries are not the only ones interested in knowing about you.

OPSEC and PERSEC may seem a little bit unfair or infringing on your rights but ultimately, these guidelines are what help keep us and our service members safe from adversaries (anyone who may want to hurt us). 

Welcome to the military lifestyle ladies.