OPSEC

Its a weird word, most people outside of the military have no idea what it stands for or what it means...but the more time I spend in the military lifestyle, I find that Marines and their spouses still have no clue what it means either! 

I find there are 3 groups when it comes to dealing with stuff regarding OPSEC (Operational Security- aka not disclosing where the service member is, dates and times of movements, you know...stuff to help keep them safe!)

Group 1- "Oblivious" This group is the group that has no idea about OPSEC, they will post facebook statuses that say "My Marines will be home from deployment in 3 weeks, 2 days, 5 hours!", or "Oh no, my husband is leaving from Camp Lejeune to go to Afghanistan tomorrow at 4pm!"...There are two categories within this group that I have found.  This first "sub group" are the ones that really have no idea what OPSEC is, its often their first time dealing with a deployment or someone in the military, they truly don't know that they are not allowed to post when their boyfriend is coming home.  That sub-group is way more tolerable then the second sub-group.  The other category from "oblivious" is when they KNOW the rules, but they chose not to follow them because their profile is "private" or they saw it on someone else's facebook so it was okay for her to post it to.  They just don't think the rules apply to them, and don't see the harm in telling the world when their Marine will be coming home.  News flash- it matters!!

Group 2- "The good ones" This group knows the rules and follows them.  They are awesome, and amazing, and are often the ones who nicely message those in group 1 to tell them about OPSEC and have their delete their statuses that break the rules. Everyone in the group- give yourself a pat on the back! 

Group 3- "OPSEC Police" This group thinks that anything regarding the military is breaking OPSEC...I have seen people try to say that OPSEC doesn't allow you to say where your husband is at all (as in "Saying your husband is in Afghanistan is against OPSEC", um nope- its not!), or some even go really radical and say that you shouldn't even discuss that he is in the military or his job that he does...News flash- not everything related to the military is breaking OPSEC!

Moral of this story- if you are in a relationship with a service member- read up on OPSEC, know what you CAN and CANNOT say in public.  Strive to be in group 2...group 1 and 3 are annoying!