The most annoying part of it all has been the constant emails with the updated information. Today it was the Army Fact Sheet for OPSEC and Milblogging from the Army Public Affairs Office, dated 4 May 07. Here's a few snippets:
In no way will every blog entry/update a Soldier makes on his or her blog need to be monitored or first approved by an immediate supervisor and Operations Security (OPSEC) officer. After receiving guidance and awareness training from the appointed OPSEC officer, that Soldier blogger is entrusted to practice OPSEC when posting in a public forum.There is no way any work would get done if our OPSEC officer had to pour over all of our blog postings. We've all been taught about what not to talk about, we all know what's sensitive. And in case we forget, it's posted. Same thing with what we can and can't take photos of, even though it still happens. Just harder to be caught if you don't share them.
Army Regulation 530-1, “Operations Security,” was updated April 19, 2007, but the wording and policies on blogging remain the same from the July 2005 guidance first put out by the U.S. Army in Iraq for battlefield blogging. Since not every entry/update in a public forum can be monitored, this regulation places trust in the Soldier, Civilian Employee, Family Member and contractor that they will use proper judgment to ensure OPSEC.See? It really is the same thing that we've been doing for awhile. Quit jumping to conclusions. Just be smart about what you put out there, because everyone -- whether you want them to read it or not -- can read it. And this is exactly why I don't post about a good number of things, and why I've choosen to be as anonymous as possible.
Although I do find emails in my inbox asking me to be a part of a live interview about all of this in Baghdad rather amusing.
2 comments:
Well said and nice blog!
Techno -- your point is well taken.
Our agitation, however, is driven by wanting to assure that no irrevocable loss of access to the views of you and your fellow warfighters via this medium, occurs in the future ... either by Pentagon myopia, or by the design of certain political operatives.
We need your unique, hard-learned, real-world perspectives on this conflict, so we can make better decisions (from Congress to the voting booth) here at home.
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