OPSEC

Since the holidays are coming up, I thought I'd take this time to talk about OPSEC, or 'operations security'. Basically, this concept teaches us one key fact: You never know who is listening. Yes, to some this may sound a bit paranoid, but let me be the first to tell you, they mean business. This is no laughing matter ladies. Ill-wishers all over the globe are just itching for you to post your sailor's deployment schedule on facebook, or to blog about your sailor's return home on such and such day. Be wary of posting comments like: "I can't believe my sailor is leaving for a 7 month deployment tomorrow morning!" This tells anyone with a bad mojo for the US Navy that there is a ship or submarine leaving tomorrow for a long deployment, and that ladies, is prime attack knowledge. Not good.

The main things you want to steer away from are:

• Posting any dates!
  
• Posting any locations, unless they have already left that specific location
• Posting any ship names corresponding with dates or locations

Now, there are still ways to post your feelings on the internet without giving away vital military info. Here are some examples of comments that are A-OK with the US navy...

• "I'm so excited to be seeing my sailor soon!" This lets everyone know that you haven't got much time left until you get to see your sailor, without giving away any specifics like dates, locations or even if you are flying out to see him somewhere without his ship coming home.
• "My sailor is gone and I'm missing him like crazy!" This says that your sailor is away, maybe on deployment, maybe just on duty, and that you miss him, which I'm sure you do! This way, no one knows when he left for sure, or for how long he'll be gone.

We want what's best for our loved ones, and keeping their deployment info on the down low is just another way we can do our part to keep them safe and out of harm's way!