Confusing Statuses~OPSEC

So I wanted to post a blog about Operational Security (OPSEC) for several reasons.

I recently took a trip home to Chicago/Indiana. Being w/ my family and friends, there were comments about Facebook statuses that I had posted in the past, and that they aren't always easily understood. In those instances its a matter of OPSEC. I am a part of the military family, which isn't very common to my family and social circle back home. If there is something in my status that an individual doesn't understand, then it's not meant for them to know. The ones close to me and those in my military family that I depend on for support thru tough times know what it means and thats enough. I don't think I need to "cater" my status messages to the masses. I am honest and put what I feel, what I think. I try to be an open and honest person in my life, and that even goes to the "oh so important" Facebook status. I guess I've never really paid attention to how important someone's facebook status is to some people.

So in helping people to understand why my status is sometime not in the english language, but rather use military lingo... here are the rules the military world follows to keep us (military members, dependents, and the mission) safe.

1. Do not post exact deployment dates, or redeployment dates

2. Do not reveal camp locations, including nearby cities ( After the deployment is officially announced by military officials you may discuss locations that have been released, normally on the Country level)

3. Do not discuss convoy routes

4. Do not discuss detailed information on the mission, capabilities or moral of the unit

5. Do not discuss specific names or actual nicknames

6. Do not discuss personnel transactions that occur in large numbers (pay, wills, POA)

7. Do not discuss details concerning security procedures, response times, tactics

8. Do not discuss equipment, or lack thereof, to include training equipment

9. Don't speculate about future operations

10. If posting pictures, do not post anything that can be misconstrued or used for propaganda purposes. (A good rule of thumb is to look at your picture w/o the caption or explanation and see if it can be recaptioned to reflect poorly on coalition forces. For example, your picture shows your soilder rescuing a child from a blast site, but could be recaptioned to insinuate the child being captured or harmed. It's happened)

11. Avoid the use of count-down or count-up tickers for the same reason as rule #1

12. Be careful if posting pictures of loved ones. Avoid images that show significant landmarks near the base of operations, and black out last name and unit affiliations

13. Do not, ever, post information on casualties (coalition or enemy) before the official release of the information

14. Do not pass on rumors (I heard they were coming home early, etc)