13. January 2009 by Layne.

Ladies and Gentlemen I’ve been getting lazy lately. Sorry about not updating more often. As the National OPSEC Conference in about a month away I suspect I’ll become more and more inspired. Until then I wanted to share something that the President of OSPA shared with the membership. Enjoy…

“So what’s so important about OPSEC, anyways?”

You may have heard that more than once. Some of you tell me that you hear it nearly every day. Those of you that are receiving this already know the answer- that’s why you’ve signed up to this mailing list. Some of you have even seen it firsthand.

We all know the story- about the Vietnam Purple Dragon Team, and how they determined the reason that the enemy was able to gain advance knowledge of missions and operations. On a higher level, OPSEC was developed to maintain mission secrecy and, thus, the advantage in combat. But to the individual soldier, it’s much more personal than that. OPSEC was there to save their lives and get them home again. To them, OPSEC was a way to help make sure that they wouldn’t die because of something that was simply beyond their control- be it their buddy with a big mouth or the letter home that was found in the trash.

OPSEC saves lives today. OPSEC is still there for the soldier as s/he is suiting up for a midnight raid. Or getting ready to jump (out of a perfectly good airplane, mind you) into hostile territory. OPSEC isn’t a box to check or a program to get out of the way- OPSEC is that almost ‘mystical’ thing that helps ensure that “our boys and girls” on the front lines are not put into harm’s way needlessly.

But, of course, today OPSEC goes much deeper than that. OPSEC is in every Government agency because it applies and helps ensure our overall safety as a Nation (and multiple Nations at that!). And, what’s more, OPSEC is gaining a foot hold in corporations, communities, and even families as a way to save lives and livelihoods- to preserve safety and profits alike. So the next time that someone asks you, “What’s so important about OPSEC, anyways?”, you can look them square in the eye and tell them, “Everything.”

Keep up the good fight.

Chris Cox
OSPA, President

“In My Life” - The Beatles

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10. January 2009 by Layne.

To merge or not to merge - that is the question facing the OPSEC community right now. OPS and OSPA are currently in merger talks and no one is quite sure how it will play out. High intrigue indeed. Me? I’ve been a little too close to the situation and I’m staying out of it. Suffice to say that both sides know exactly where I stand. And this is exactly what every member of each organization should be doing. Whoever you are with you need to voice an opinion to whatever organization you belong to. Belong to both? Then I suggest you let both know how you feel. The leadership of both organizations are trying to do what it best for its membership - and that is you. It’s not the Board of Directors job to do just what they think is best. No; it is their duty to do what is best for their members. To do this you need to let them know how you feel. So I stronly recommend you go to the OPS and/or OSPA web pages, figure out how to contact your leadership and let them know how you feel about a merge. Historically, the OPSEC community has been happy not getting involved and that is absolutely the wrong way to go. Take a stand - make your voice heard.

President@opsecprofessionals.org - Chris Cox
President@opsecsociety.org - Daryl Haegley

Keep the Faith!
Revelator

The Times They Are A-Changin’ - Bob Dylan

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23. December 2008 by Revelator.

It’s Christmas time again and instead of thinking about what presents to buy all I can think about is our military forces overseas. Spending the holidays defending your country is a supremely righteous thing to do and deserves the utmost respect from your fellow countrymen and women. But I can’t help but picture some 20 year old G.I. manning his post thinking about his family and wishing he was 10 years old again. Ten years old and sitting wide awake in bed on Christmas morning wondering if it’s still too early to wake up Mom and Dad so he can get to that tree and rip open all those presents with his name on them. How does he deal with that memory and still do his job of keeping us free?

And I think about that mom out there escorting a convoy on Christmas day… How does she do what her country has asked her to do knowing that she won’t be there when her kids wake up to see what Santa brought them?

And I ask myself; Where do we get these Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who volunteer to protect this country in such dangerous times? I signed up in 1978 during a time of peace and retired in 2000 without suffering any damage. If I were 18 today could I still make such a commitment? I honestly don’t know - but I thank God that there are fellow countrymen and women out there who will.

Every year about this time that poem about the lone G.I. standing his watch in the snow on Christmas Eve (and every other day) circulates and every year I read it and every year I get somewhat emotional about it. There are many versions of this poem but I’m gonna share just part of the one credited to Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt, USMC, written in 1986. When you’re done reading this please say a prayer for all those vigilantly guarding our freedoms in faraway lands.

The Very Thought
Brought A Tear To My Eye,
I Dropped To My Knees
And Started To Cry.

The Soldier Awakened
And I Heard A Rough Voice,
“Santa Don’t Cry,
This Life Is My Choice;

I Fight For Freedom,
I Don’t Ask For More,
My Life Is My God,
My Country, My Corps.”

Keep the Faith!
Revelator

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28. October 2008 by Revelator.

For years I’ve been trying to work this song into one of my presentations at the National OPSEC Conference but I haven’t had any luck yet. Unfortunately, the draft of the 2009 speech doesn’t look good for it either so I’m gonna see of I can do something with it here in this forum. It’s such a kick-ass song I have to do something with it - if for no other reason than to honor Billy Paul and the song that made him an R&B Icon. So it is finally time that we look at this song from an OPSEC perspective…

Me and Mrs. Jones
We got a thing goin’ on - Critical Information List item # 1 “Knowledge of an Affair.”
We both know that it’s wrong - CIL item # 2 “Personnel Vulnerabilities.”
But it’s much too strong to let it go now - CIL item # 3 “Operational Commitment to Objective.”

We meet every day at the same café - Huge vulnerability.
Six-thirty and no one knows she’ll be there - Oh, they know Dude - they know.
Holding hands, making all kinds of plans - OPSEC Cardinal rule # 1 – Don’t talk shop in public.
While the juke box plays our favorite songs - An extra indicator for those blind agents out there who are only going on sound and were too far away to hear them “making all kinds of plans.”

Me and Mrs. Jones - On the plus side, her real name is Mary Smith.
We got a thing goin’ on - Not for long if Dude and “Mrs. Jones” don’t start using OPSEC.
We both know that it’s wrong
But it’s much to strong
To let it go now

We gotta be extra careful - See? Some people just talk OPSEC without actually using it.
That we don’t build our hopes up to high - At this rate Dude, you’ll never get to that promised land
Because she’s got her own obligations
And so, and so, do I - Even though he is “talking around” the subject it would be easy for a trained analyst to decipher. For example “Obligation” translates to “husband and seven kids.”

Me and Mrs. Jones
We got a thing goin’ on - Oh, now he’s just getting cocky. And can’t we assume he is singing this to a friend? A friend perhaps without a “need to know?”
We both know that it’s wrong - Trust me, when you know it’s wrong you really, really need to lay some OPSEC on it.
But it’s much to strong
To let it go now
Well it’s time for us to be leaving - Seriously? More stereotyped activities?
It hurts so much, it hurts so much inside - Your enemy is about to walk in and make it hurt on the outside Dude.
Now she’ll go her way and I’ll go mine - Any one wanna bet they take the same route home every day?
Tomorrow we’ll meet - At a new place? A new time? No juke box? No talking about plans?
The same place, the same time - Figures – some people just never learn.

Me and Mrs. Jones
We got a thing goin’ on
We both know that it’s wrong
But it’s much to strong
To let it go now

Epilog: It seems that “Mr. Jones” was cheating on “Mrs. Jones” also and couldn’t care less about her and Dude. He knew about it of course – EVERYONE knew about it…but no one cared. You see, “Mr. Jones” was “Mrs. Jones” 5th husband. “Mrs. Jones” had seven kids, had done time in Joliet on several Domestic Abuse and Fraud charges and three of her husbands had passed away under suspicious circumstances. So, uh…no – “Mr. Jones” was pretty cool with “Mrs. Jones” doing Dude every day at the café. Three days later Dude disappeared never to be heard from again. This brings me to something I’ve said all along…the biggest threat to your security is the insider threat.

Keep the Faith!
Revelator

Me and Mrs. Jones – Billy Paul

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25. April 2008 by Revelator.

Layne “The Revelator” Marino has asked me to pass along the following message:

He’s alive, well, and will be back blogging soon. He’s currently TDY conducting OPSEC training, and is looking forward to checking in again.

Look forward to his next blog soon!

Chris Cox, OSPA President

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22. January 2008 by Revelator.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

August 28, 1963

Keep the Faith!

Revelator

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9. November 2007 by Revelator.

Good Day All - This is The Revelator and I’m here to tell you that The Godfather of OPSEC (Don Sidro) and I have taken over this blog. While it didn’t necessarily take much coersion to force the OSPA Prez to hand it over we still bumped chests and high fived at his willing submission.
Don Sidro and I will be the main contributers to this blog. While we think we have a great deal to contribute to the OPSEC community at large we understand that you will need changes of pace every once in a while and to that end we promise to invite many distinguished personnel from the OPSEC world to contribute guest entries. Also, if you feel you have something to contribute beyond a comment and would like to be a guest contributor please let us know.
Via this blog we will attempt to keep you up to date on OSPA happenings as well as happenings in the OPSEC world in general. We also hope to stimulate your OPSEC brain with musings about the state of the OPSEC world and anything else OPSEC related that floats across our consciousness.
Please feel free to comment as much as you want as often as you want.
Have a great OPSEC day and always remember to keep the faith!
Revelator

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25. October 2007 by Revelator.

Welcome to the official OSPA OPSEC blog! Semi-daily postings will discuss any issues relating to Operations Security, commonly known as OPSEC.

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