Watch what you say…
“They” are starting to crack down on bloggers and social network users who blog/talk about their military jobs.
OPSEC is key to the survival of our nation’s defenses. What does this mean? OP SEC means Operational Security. It means you shouldn’t talk about anything that our enemies could use to hurt our soldiers. Got a friend deploying soon? Getting ready to go yourself? Keep it off of your blog. It’s easy enough to find out what unit you’re from, and our deployment dates already end up on the news, but you don’t need to help spread problems more.
What does this mean? It means precisely this; shut the hell up.
When you find out your uncle is about to go to Iraq, shut up. When you find out your unit you just transferred to is going to Afghanistan, shut the hell up. When you find out your buddy got shot, or someone in your family is wounded, shut the F#*& up. Why? Because:
You just told the enemy what unit is where. You just gave up to the enemy’s intelligence agents where their attacks were effective, how effective, and also, you gave yourself up as a domestic target. Not to mention you just made everyone who’s already busting their ass to keep you safe work that much harder to protect their own ass just to stay alive long enough to see their families again.
I’m in the Army, that much is obvious. This means yes, I will deploy. When, where, how long, and what I’m doing over there? Do you really think I’m going to make it that easy? Sure, you could do a web search and find most of that info out by yourself, but it doesn’t mean I’ve got to make it easy. Every tidbit of information that every single person gives up makes it THAT much easier for someone who wants to hurt us/you to “google” it and mess our lives up.
A simple “I’m alive” message or “he’s alright” tweet is enough. When he/she gets home, or when YOU get home, you can gab and talk and share all of your experiences all you want. Our enemies can’t get nearly as much relevant information from old war stories. Save it, keep an encrypted journal on your laptop. Be smart about it.
I keep a TON of information on the web, about myself and what I do… but I don’t share trade secrets, or critical information someone could use to hurt my family, myself, or my friends. <3
