A World War II-era poster warning against "loose lips" carries a message that is just as relevant today.
Posted on 10/01/2005 12:18:39 PM PDT by mdittmar
WASHINGTON — Army officials this week issued new warnings to soldiers about posting personal stories from combat zones on the Internet and taking photos at overseas bases, saying those actions could jeopardize troops’ security.
The list of prohibited activities includes taking photos of Defense Department facilities, posting any official Defense Department information and releasing information detailing job responsibilities.
“Whether it is a family Web page or a personal blog, safety and security measures must be strictly observed,” the message said. “Sensitive DOD information must not be divulged to the public at large for national security reasons.”
The message also notes that even some unclassified information “may not be appropriate for use on the Web” and directs all other questions related to prohibited activities to security managers.
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said the goal isn’t to prevent soldiers from writing about their time in a combat zone, and said he knew of no discussions considering shutting down blog sites or banning the use of personal cameras.
But Boyce said soldiers need to know that simply taking photos could threaten operational security.
“We’re just re-emphasizing the danger here,” he said. “We have warned soldiers to please be extremely careful of any photography, especially street scenes, because they could be useful to the enemy.”
Boyce said shots of the aftermath of insurgent attacks or roadside bombs are especially dangerous, because insurgents could use them to gauge the effectiveness of their attacks.
Officials said the new guidelines were designed to be a reminder to troops and were not prompted by news this week of a Web site offering free access to pornography in exchange for gruesome war photos.
Last month, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker released a memo to unit commanders telling them to take the issue more seriously.
“The enemy aggressively ‘reads’ our open source and continues to exploit such information for use against our forces,” he wrote. “Some soldiers continue to post sensitive information to Internet Web sites and blogs. … Such OPSEC violations needlessly place lives at risk and degrade the effectiveness of our operations.”
Under current Army rules, soldier bloggers are required to register their sites with commanding officers, who have the authority to them shut down if they deem them problematic.
Sgt. Todd Kobus, who runs the blog site LostInIraq.com to chronicle his Massachusetts Army National Guard unit’s activities there, said he has been confused and aggravated by Army’s guidelines that have limited what he can write about the troops’ lives overseas.
“They have managed to keep everything extremely vague,” he said in an e-mail from Iraq. “The site hardly serves its original task of keeping family and friends informed of anything, aside from the prank wars that occur on the base.”
Kobus said he understands the need for security and has taken many steps to make sure his site doesn’t pose security risks, doing things like blotting out Iraqi troops’ faces in photos. But he still fields complaints from superiors worried about photos and stories on the site.
“All this is pretty frustrating since I have kept my site positive during the entire deployment, have never intentionally violated that giant gray area known as OPSEC,” he said.
The Army has also issued rules about appropriate e-mail use in the past, warning about revealing secure information in personal notes as well as discouraging anything that could “reflect adversely on the DOD or the Army,” referring to things like chain letters or pornography.
Some guidelines
There are new OPSEC guidelines which have been put forth by DOD and the Army regarding internet safety. Whether it is a family Web page or a personal blog, safety and security measures must be strictly observed. Sensitive DOD information must not be divulged to the public at large for national security reasons.
Below are some facts regarding security and important links to sites which provide valuable and timely information regarding this important topic.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the posting or dissemination of certain information, do not hesitate to contact your security or OPSEC manager.
Photography is prohibited in most DOD facilities. Do NOT post any photographs on any Web sites.
Be careful never to divulge information regarding official DOD information.
Even if DOD information is unclassified, it may not be appropriate for use of the Web.
Do not give information regarding the job you do for DOD.
Log on to AKO to see an important message from the Chief of Staff of the Army regarding OPSEC Security.
Source: The Pentagon OPSEC Working Group
It is a point well made.
This OPSEC situation is getting very serious. My entire brigade was recently required to brief our Soldiers on the dangers of violating OPSEC on blogs, in emails, etc. I pity the Soldier who gets busted for even unwittingly handing out sensitive information to the enemy.
I think we all knew this would become an issue. It's painful for me because I really enjoy getting the straight "poop" from the front but I would rather lose my access than see our warriors harmed.
For the soldiers of countries that pay them enough to enjoy modern electronics, the digital camera and the internet are incredible threats, as the abu gharib incident showed.
Interesting. I can go to the official Marine Corps site and view literally hundreds of stories posted about things going on in Iraq, see pictures of camps/FOB/airbases by the dozens.
And anyone viewing these pictures would consider them no different then ones posted at blog sites. A control tower or piece of tarmack with an F18 sitting on it will look the same in a picture taken by an official military journalist and a enlisted person taking a personal picture of the same exact spot. Where to we draw the line. Of course I would not take a picture of a given building in a camp and add a pointer to it saying.....hey this is the HQ building, or this one is where the medical tent is located.
If anyone in the insurgency wants info on any given based/camp all they have to do is ask a Fedayeen,Intel,other military Iraqi still beholding to the insurgency what to look for, and bingo they can get a map of the camp/airfield whatever. So I wonder what the true intent is here.
They'll know if
I hope it's OPSEC putting their foot down.
I believe that since it is the official USMC website, that all photo's and recounts have been vetted for OPSEC. This is actually a protective measure. Nothing should be posted without proper vetting. An individual Marine or soldier would have no idea about the larger mission, and it really does help relieve them from individual responsibility. You know that it would devastate a Marine to have inadvertently provided ANY exploitable info.
As I wrote I realized the importance of SECOPS. I certainly am not arguing the case that SECOPS should be transgressed in any way. But I and dozens of Freepers daily break SECOPS rules. No one should be posting anything to any news paper articles posted as to anything happening in Afganistain, Iraq, Samolia, in short any where on the globe we have active duty troops performing some form of action. In fact to better assure SECOPS can be adhered to perhaps Jim should instruct the mods to stop any article with news on what is happening in the WOT and associated pictures from being posted. In short. No more discussion of the Iraq etc..
Also it would go a long way if the DoD could get the congress to pass a law that would prohibit any meantion of any military actions world wide, and of course stop any journalism from being allowed to function within any area where our military may operate. These measures would go a long way in adhering to the principals of SECOPS.
China is a bit worried about the new technologies as well...though for different reasons. I've got a feeling Chinese soldiers don't get to be anywhere near a computer or cell phone. Just my humble cogitations ;o)
SECOPS?
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