Written by, Angela Caban

Being involved in the military community for 9 years now, I have always been very aware of Operations Security (OPSEC). I always watch what I say and how much information is given out, even to family members. I figure that while my husband is keeping us safe, my job was to keep him safe. I recently asked reader’s if they knew what OPSEC and PERSEC were and 75% answered no. Which makes me wonder, why aren’t they educating spouses on and off base? I can’t stress enough the importance of ensuring all information on your soldier and movement is kept personal. This can be the difference in assuring that your spouse and family are safe, or not.
So what is Operations Security? The Department of Defense defines this as “Keeping potential adversaries from discovering our critical information. It protects our operations – planned, in progress, and those completed”. Success depends on us, the family members. Personal Security (PERSEC) is just like OPSEC, in which it involves guarding the information that you know.

The biggest OPSEC/PERSEC violation I have seen is on social networking sites. You can tell so much about a person just by looking at their profile online; their political party, religion, how many children, where they live. But one thing no one should know is the fact that you are a military spouse home alone while your husband is overseas. By displaying this type of information, you are making yourself a target and potentially endangering yourself and soldier.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with displaying how proud you are of your soldier, just choose the words carefully. Wearing a shirt that states “Half My Heart is In Iraq” is clearly not the right choice. Try something like “Proud Military Wife”. What you want to ensure is that you do not make yourself a target while your spouse is away. Advertising your spouse’s deployment on social networking sites is clearly not a smart choice. And as for support groups online, as long as you are not giving away viable information on your soldiers location, there is no problem finding support and encouragement online.

Examples of Violating OPSEC/PERSEC

-Your soldier’s exact location overseas
- Any information on troop movements – this includes any movement while they are deployed, in transit to/from
-Do not ever give dates of departure or homecoming and do not post countdowns online
-Be vague about your personal information on the Internet
-Do not give out your soldier’s name and rank
-Be very careful how you display your patriotism; shirts, bumper stickers or any kind of fashion that states you have a loved one overseas.

Keep your soldier, his unit and your family safe by keeping any information to yourself. And always remember “The ENEMY is listening, HE wants to know what YOU know…So keep it to yourself!” (Military Intelligence Division)

If you wish to learn more about OPSEC/PERSEC, please visit the Department Of Defense website, or speak with your Family Readiness Program Officer on post.