Commanders’ support vital to OPSEC

  • Published
  • 60th AMW OPSEC Program
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Operations Security or OPSEC focuses on detectable activities that could be gained and exploited by an adversary to reveal specific facts surrounding sensitive operations. 

Although OPSEC focuses mainly on the unclassified aspects of performing our day-to- day operations, an astute adversary could, with relative ease, piece together enough facts of unclassified information to paint a picture of our classified operations. 

Commanders must have a viable OPSEC program to complement their other security programs. 

The following items should be emphasized in establishing and maintaining a robust OPSEC program: 

1. Identify and disseminate your unit’s critical information – it’s vital for the people in your organization to understand what aspects of your mission must be protected.
Develop a CI list, and make sure everyone in the organization is familiar with it and most importantly identify procedures to protect this information. 

2. Know the threat to your activities – either actual or potential – and brief them to your unit members. Air Force Office of Special Investigations can provide general and specific threat data for your organization. 

3. Assess how you create, transmit, store and discard unclassified information. If you store unclassified but sensitive information on the non-secure internet protocol router network consider it accessible by an adversary. If you throw away paper products in dumpsters or recycle bins consider it accessible by an adversary. If you send unclassified faxes or emails consider them accessible by an adversary. Bottom line – don’t make it easy for an adversary to gather information about your operations. 

4. Make sure your OPSEC program works closely with the other security programs. There is a synergistic effect. Be prepared to make the hard calls on risk management—there will be a tradeoff on protecting information and how it will affect the way you do business. 

5. Be supportive of your OPSEC program. If your personnel know you take it seriously then they will also. 

For more information, contact Ms. Cheryl Brown, 60th Air Mobility Wing OPSEC program manager, at 424-3345.