OPSEC --- Rules You Have to Follow!!

This is a repost** Please read!! :)

OPSEC, also known as Operational Security, is the principle that we, as Army wives and family members, should all abide by when talking about our soldiers. If you’ve been on any military related message board on the internet, you have more than likely seen a warning to be sure to practice OPSEC. This means protecting the information you know about your soldier and his unit.



Generally, it means that you should not give out the following:



- Your soldier’s exact location overseas



- Any information on troop movements – this includes any movement while they are deployed and in transit to/from theater (including R&R). Do not ever give dates or times.



- Any information on weapons systems, how they train or numbers – for this reason, many pictures from overseas can easily violate OPSEC



If your soldier is in a special operations unit, the OPSEC guidelines can be stricter. You may not be able to say he is deployed at all much less where he is. His unit and/or FRG should provide the OPSEC guidelines for these situations.



Always abide by the rules set forth by his unit. Just because it is on the news does not mean that you can talk about the issue. By talking about it, you are only verifying the information.



CORRECT:



My soldier is deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom



INCORRECT:



My soldier is in XYZ Unit and is stationed at ABC Camp in XXX city in Iraq.



Give only general locations IF his unit allows it. The above incorrect statement is entirely too much information.



INCORRECT: My soldier’s unit is returning from deployment and flying into XYZ Airport at 8pm next Thursday.



Never give dates or times for troop movements. Keep in mind that “next Thursday” is a date. This includes R&R dates as well as deployment and redeployment dates. Planes have been delayed for days or weeks because an excited family member made this information public.



INCORRECT: Please pray for my soldier. He called today and told me he is going out on a very dangerous mission tonight. They will be gone for three days and I’m very worried about him.



When our soldiers are in dangerous situations, it is natural to want to reach out to others. But the above statement puts your soldier and his unit in danger. You could have very well just alerted the enemy about their mission.



It is important to realize that putting together the bits and pieces needed to create the larger picture can be amazingly simple on the internet. Many mistakenly believe that if they don’t talk about it all at once, the information is safe. This is wrong and dangerous to assume.



The internet is a wonderful tool but in regards to our military, it is a very dangerous one as well. It takes only minutes of searching online to find enough pieces of information that could potentially endanger our soldiers.



DEPLOYMENT TICKERS

Many family members like to use deployment tickers to count down their soldier’s deployment. Never have a ticker that shows XX days until he returns. If you must have a ticker, then have one with the amount of time he has been gone. Although it is best to not have this type of ticker at all.



Finally, for your own personal safety, be very aware of what you are putting on the internet or saying in conversations in public. With the internet, it is not difficult to track down an address and phone number. Do not make yourself a target by letting the world know that your husband is deployed.



PERSEC

PERSEC is also known as personal security. Like OPSEC, this involves guarding the information that you know. Do not give out your soldier’s name along with rank. This includes blacking out his name tape and rank in pictures. If he is in a special operations unit, you should also black out any unit affiliation.



Be vague about your personal information on the internet. This is plain common sense in just every day life – regardless of if your family member is in the military.



The old saying loose lips sink ships still holds true today. Keep your soldier, your family and his unit safe by keeping the information you know to yourself. You never know who is lurking and gathering information on message boards, myspace pages and profiles. Better safe than sorry!

(http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Am-A-United-States-Army-Girlfriend/426705)


AGAIN:
I am not trying to start anything...god forbid considering this is RUG and its always a drama fest here, but we all need reminding every so often. EVEN ME. So please when discussing any and all business related to our soldiers, take caution. What you may think is innocent is just fuel for someone to use.


ETA: I copied and pasted what I once posted before. Please oh please if you have to comment, don't make this a fight. Its just a friendly reminder. Thank you, and have a nice day :) 

Thanks Jennie!!! We all need a refresher after a while!! We should have like a monthly OPSEC post! 

Just asking for clarification, our FRG said saying the month hubby was coming home for r and r was ok, is it not ok to say that? 

Here is something that might help with that Meredith...

What is OPSEC?

OPSEC, also known as Operations Security, is the principle that we, as military wives and military family members, should all abide by when talking about our loved ones. If you’ve been on any military related message board on the internet, you have more than likely seen a warning to be sure to practice OPSEC. This means protecting the information you know about your loved one and his or her unit.

Generally, it means that you should not give out the following even on Facebook:

(1) Your loved ones exact location overseas

(2) Any information on military movements – this includes any movement while they are deployed and in transit to/from theater (including R&R). Do not ever give dates or times.

(3) Any information on weapons systems, how they train or numbers – for this reason, many pictures from overseas can easily violate OPSEC.



If your loved one is in a special operations unit, the OPSEC guidelines can be stricter. You may not be able to say he or she is deployed at all, much less where. His unit and/or FRG should provide the OPSEC guidelines for these situations.Always abide by the rules set forth by his unit. Just because it is on the news does not mean that you can talk about the issue. By talking about it, you are only verifying the information.

CORRECT: "My loved one is deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom."

INCORRECT: "My loved one is in XYZ Unit and is stationed at ABC Camp in XXX city in Iraq."

Give only general locations IF his unit allows it. The above incorrect statement is entirely too much information.

INCORRECT: "My loved one’s unit is returning from deployment and flying into XYZ Airport at 8pm next Thursday."

Never give dates or times for troop movements. Keep in mind that “next Thursday” is a date. This includes R&R dates as well as deployment and redeployment dates. Planes have been delayed for days or weeks because an excited family member made this information public.

INCORRECT: "Please pray for my loved one. He called today and told me he is going out on a very dangerous mission tonight. They will be gone for three days and I’m very worried about him."



When our soldiers are in dangerous situations, it is natural to want to reach out to others. But the above statement puts your soldier and his unit in danger. You could have very well just alerted the enemy about their mission.It is important to realize that putting together the bits and pieces needed to create the larger picture can be amazingly simple on the internet. Many mistakenly believe that if they don’t talk about it all at once, the information is safe. This is wrong and dangerous to assume.

The internet is a wonderful tool, but in regards to our military, it is a very dangerous one as well. It takes only minutes of searching online to find enough pieces of information that could potentially endanger our loved ones.



Practice good OPSEC and lets get our Soldiers home safe and sound.

I found this from the 1st Infantry Division's FB page.

So yes even R and R dates/times etc shouldn't be given. There is supposed to be a class being given about what is ok and not ok that is offered via ACS. I remember seeing it somewhere, just have to look for it. They actually advised our FRG leadership to take this class. 

One of those "classes" on OPSEC was back in August apparently...

If any of ya'll want to probably have a class or such done about this, you might want to contact ACS about getting the OPSEC program director Jermal Clark to conduct one. 

Meredith. Basically nothing can be talked about with your husband being over there preiod. Not with family not with friends really not with other in the army even tho im pretty sure alot of people have posted on here including me just today about r and r. 

Ok thanks for the clarification, all that was told to me ever was not to give exact dates, but that general dates (IE months) were ok. 

my friend got mad at me just last week becuase i said cant wait till deployment is over or something like that and i posted a month and she told me TMI and i said i didnt post a date i only posted a month she goes that still OSPEC I kinda got snappy with her becuase i wasnt in a good mood anywyas and said this is my 3rd deployment i know what i can and cannot post on FB and then later on i deleted my post. 

plus the month i posted last week i have heard this week that its going to a earlier month then i posted. but then again thats rumor and the army can never decide when they wanna send them home 

yea i didn't think stating a "month" was against opsec rules cuz your not giving a day, date just a month so it could be any day. Also I thought that saying 15 weeks left or 128 days left or less than 5 months was okay as well but some people seem to get their panties in a bunch when you post that on your facebook status. Alot of wives don't know any different cuz their husbands post it on their status so they figure its okay since they are doing it. Some have never heard of opsec. I think that it's good to just tell someone politley "hey did you know that you aren't suppose to do that and here's something you can read that explains it better" like the starter of this thread (bc some wives don't know) but instead some are rude about it and say something like "im tired of all the army wives who post too much info about their hubby's return date and their husbands should have to stay behind longer and that will teach them a lesson not to post the info they shouldn't." Just something I've seen before. 

glad to know all this because no one has ever told me there were any kind of rules. i just thought there were certain things our spouses couldnt tell us and i left it at that. 

Ya our 1st frg meeting this deployement was a month after the guys left and thats the 1st thing they did was go over OSPEC. well and to refresh us and show the new wives how to read the LES. My frg leader is so scared about OSPEC that she told us she wont even tell her family where her husband was at. Now i think thats taking it a little extream Ya i know the family can be like oh ya my son is in so and so place to their friends and then its spread all over but what if their family wants to send a care package?? Then they are going to need an address to send it to. ANd i know if you are in Cob speicher you actually have to right Cob speicher on the package before the apo numbers Even so it doesnt take much to type in the apo's numbers to google to find out exactly where your loved one is becuase their wife wont tell you. What are you going to do deny your family to send your husband packages?? in my opinion my frg learder not even telling the family where he was at i think is a little extream. Like i said im sure his family wanted the address so they are giong to find out either way where he is at rather you tell them or rather you give them the address. 

Rather then using dates or days I use the donut of misery, it's all in %'s so only you know the exact dates. Then you can still share with out sharing to much ;) 

where can i find this donut of misery? i would like to use that so I don't offend anyone else by stating 4 months left. 

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzLYkCLqE1i0YjE3MmRjMzAtY2IyNC00OTNkLWJiZDctNTAxNDU5NmEwNGVk&hl=en

Here ya go... this is a link from this site that posted about it.

http://www.militarysos.com/forum/during-deployment/395832-donut-misery.html 

Donut of Misery is really cool!