COMMENTARY: Keeping social media, OPSEC separate

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dillon Johnston
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Editor's note: This is part three of a three-part series on the responsible use of social media. No federal endorsement is intended or implied.

Since the advent of social media, participants have become obsessed with sharing every little bit of their lives with everyone they know. While the ability to do so has made it much easier to keep in contact with family and reconnect with old acquaintances, it has also made it easier for the United States' adversaries to track down sensitive information and use it against U.S. military personnel and civilians at home and downrange.

The repercussions of a simple post about a loved one returning from a deployment may seem innocuous to friends and family on social media, but to someone who would seek to do harm to the military, such a post is a goldmine of operational security information. If the enemy knows when and where a deployment is to kickoff, this knowledge jeopardizes not only the lives of deployers, but the mission as a whole. This could then have a ripple effect greater than anyone could anticipate.

While most of the time these sorts of catastrophes are averted, there have been some close calls. One example, involving traditional media, occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A reporter drew a map of his location relative to the enemy's position and broadcast it live on television, just hours before a major operation was to start.

Although this did not result in any friendly losses, the element of surprise was lost and the mission was in danger of failure.

There was another incident in the early stages of Operation Desert Storm, when a reporter broadcast from a forward operating base, giving its location away and making it a Scud missile target.

Even though social media posts are not broadcasted on a major network like live television, these posts have the potential to reach a global audience in a very limited amount of time, which can lead to terrible results. Producers can shut off a television broadcast and effectively stop the transmission of sensitive information as soon as they realize what's happening. The Internet is different. Everything posted on the Internet is there forever in a database or server somewhere.

Even if a person deletes a post full of OPSEC information, it is still accessible. The best way to counteract this is to know the rules of what can and cannot be posted and to review all posts for sensitive information prior to publishing.

If a person releases OPSEC material with knowledge of the sensitivity, that person may face legal ramifications and career-impacting consequences.

"If someone were to post OPSEC information on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, a number of things could happen to them," said Capt. Carrie Christy, 100th Air Refueling Wing Legal Office assistant judge advocate from Dallas. "They could be charged with a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or under federal laws.

"What they are charged with would depend on the facts of the case. (This could affect their career) either because of criminal charges, or because their chain of command chooses to deal with the issue administratively. Such actions could (also) result in an employee losing their security clearance," Christy said.

One such occurrence of knowingly exposing classified information was when a U.S. Army intelligence analyst leaked classified documents on the Internet and was convicted of 17 crimes, earning the individual a 35-year sentence in a maximum security prison. The individual was acquitted of the most serious charge in the case - aiding the enemy. If the individual had been convicted of that charge, it could have lead to a death sentence.

It's the responsibility of everyone who posts on social media to police themselves and be diligent in making sure there are no OPSEC breaches. The success of Team Mildenhall's mission depends on it.