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Text Box: Homefront in Focus;  OPSEC and Your Role  Operational Security. What does that mean?  Perhaps more importantly what does it mean to me? Since September 11th we are much more aware of operational security but is all this cloak and dagger stuff really necessary? I mean, after all, who’s really going to tail me to gain information about my husband’s vessel? I lived in Washington, DC for twenty years. There is a tongue-in-cheek phrase that we drop in that area when you ask people about their vocation. Many times when you meet new people and ask where they work they will respond, “I work for the government”. Now there is a surprise for the DC area, right? The “government” is the number one employer there. But it is the next question that always tickled me. “What do you do?” The “joke” answer is, “I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.”  But I would offer the proper, reverent chuckle and drop the topic. I didn’t have one of “those” jobs in DC.  I wasn’t privy to our nation’s top secrets, the safety of the world did not rest on my weak shoulders and I laughed at all of this secrecy stuff. In World War II many posters from the ‘war department’ were posted in towns across the country. Many were recruiting posters or information on civil defense. One that directly applied to the Navy is “Loose lips sink Ships”. That still stands today. As an ombudsman I have been asked many times about all this “security stuff”. I want to tell you what sobered me. Do you remember the USS Cole (DDG 67)? October 12, 2000, the Cole pulled in to Yemen for a routine fuel stop. A small craft, loaded with explosives, pulled along the port side of the Cole and exploded. The explosion left a 40’ by 40’ hole in the side of the Cole, seventeen sailors dead and 39 more injured. The investigation revealed that the terrorists actually had a trial run several months earlier where they tried to launch a similar assault on the USS The Sullivans. That assault failed because they overloaded their boat with too many explosives and it sank. How did the perpetrators of these attacks know the ship’s schedule? I do not know. But I do know that we as spouses play a huge role in keeping the movement of our husband’s ships/subs confidential. We truly do not know who is listening. But I do know I want to play my part in protecting my husband and yours. Here are a few tips to consider and remember in talking with others about ship’s movement or schedule. First, please do not discuss schedule or movement in public. We may think no one is listening at Starbuck’s, or at the playgroup but we do not know so why risk it? Don’t discuss ship’s movement in public forums and that includes the commissary and NEX. When talking with family develop a “code”. You can relay information in code, such as; the ship will be back 1 month and 2 days after grandpa’s birthday. I know one family who has renamed the months of the year to flowers. They then talk in terms of their code, “Dad will be home on the 12th of Daffodils”. Cool, eh? The kids developed the code and all family members were instructed in the code.   The former CMC of Naval Base San Diego told an audience of Ombudsman it concerned him that the clerks at the commissary knew ship’s movement better than he did. We have stickers on our vehicles that readily identify us as military families. Let’s do our part to keep our sailors safe. Develop your code and use it. OpSec is important and we are part of the team. All Rights Reserved Homefront in Focus 2007