OPSEC was something I thought I had down. But a long time ago, I had a phrase I used FAR too often. “My husband is deployed.”
It just seems like such a “normal” thing to say as a MILSO. After all, it’s the truth! I need to find a sitter before making an appointment, I have to use a POA to get paperwork filed and I spend my evenings with a DoorDash meal since I skip a meal due to no time to eat.
Being on social media, I have to constantly be aware of the information I am putting out. After all, as the saying goes, “loose lips sink ships”! By keeping information secure, it keeps our brave service members and their families safe.
A thousand times a day, you or someone you love probably breaks OPSEC (operational security) or PERSEC (personal security). There are sneaky ways that everyone breaks it, and here are just a few.
Countdowns or Count ups
This isn’t one I have personally done often, but this is super popular among military families: countdowns and count ups. It may seem like a good way to cope or prepare and relatively harmless at first. After all, you have your social media accounts set to “private” and only specific people are considered in-the-know. But even a simple comment of “Thank you both for your service” from someone whose accounts are more relaxed can end up with your info in someone else’s sight.
Just like that, everyone can know of your situation: are you alone in the house, the age of your children, do you work out of the home and even information about your neighborhood.
Don’t make that mistake. Lock it down, now.
Photos
Facebook and Instagram: my two favorite social media outlets! Full of great tools and information! Also, great for sharing pics with family and friends. You can caption each image, and even tag them with fun #hashtags. You can even tag your location or people you are with!
But this can set you up for some problems if you are not careful! Imagine all the info a person can get from this: #deploymentdate with my #strollerwarriormiramar ladies #halfwaynight #threetogo #proudamphibwife
Wow, that is a lot of information! Potential terrorists or thieves now have a lot of info right at their fingertips. You are a military spouse with kids in a running group in San Diego California. Your spouse is on an amphibious ship currently deployed, and will be gone for three more months. Now they can target you AND your spouse’s unit. Scary right?
In addition, as mentioned before with countdowns, the picture can now be seen on the profile of every person you tagged, allowing all their friends can see it too. And if one person comments on it, suddenly all of THEIR friends can see it. Big Brother is real!
Car Stickers
I know you have seen them before. Those adorable stick figure families, showing the adorable kids, a cute stick puppy and even the fact that the little boy loves soccer. But these can give a lot of outside people information that MAY seem harmless at first, but can actually set you up for trouble. Your spouse is military, which means s/he might be gone a lot, the number and approximate ages of your children and if you have a possible guard dog.
Even base affiliated stickers, for sports teams or units, share a lot of stuff. Base affiliations can even help people follow you home and sport teams/school info on school allows others to know where your kids could be! OPSEC is vital, even if your spouse isn’t deployed at that moment.
Media Announcements
Homecoming is great! We’re all super excited and stuff. You want to share the news with the folks back home. Maybe you have not so great news to pass along, but your supporters far away might want to know.
Officially, all info about individual personnel, units, ships, homecomings and other news related to the military needs to come from Public Affairs. This office, and this office alone, has the power to funnel info to the media. Families and spouses who share info could unwittingly pass along troop locations, homecoming days or other classified info. Just don’t do it!
Then your article or news segment is spread on Facebook, which is essentially an information free-for-all. Bad things can happen when you break OPSEC without the Public Affairs office involved. Best to let the professionals take care of it.
Oversharing
A few years ago, this was me all of the time: oversharing details of my life to perfect strangers. I get it from my mom, I think. Everywhere I would go, the gym, bank and even the pediatrician’s office, the I would somehow end up sharing that my husband was deployed. That would spark more questions, which I would then give even more answers to. Anyone within listening distance could have found out my spouse’s unit and location. Giving them lots of options for re-sharing that info to potential bad guys.
That along with the anticipation of homecoming brought even more yapping from me, especially from those helping me get ready: the hair dresser, check out lady when buying a new dress, etc. I would also post on social media of all the prep, and those were getting liked and commented on by friends and family, sharing my info with their networks. ALL would have been possible OPSEC violations and things I needed to reign in.
Luckily, nothing happened.
As the years have passes, I have wised up, especially on social media and in public. I share information about my spouse’s status ONLY when required, and never elaborate about my spouse’s specific location. Most military related information is on my blog’s social media accounts and although I feel I am candid with other MILSOs, almost nothing reflect my true location or anything about his leave and arrive dates.
As a MILSO, it can feel isolating at times, but there are some precautions you need to take. Following some basic rules and safety precautions can greatly limit you as a target and keep your service member and their work safe!
What do you do to maintain OPSEC / PERSEC? What are your sneaky slip-ups?
