Protect critical information

  • Published
  • By Col. G.I. Tuck
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing vice commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  We could be our own worst enemy -- or at least we have the potential to be. Every day, you will find Team Travis Airmen diligently fighting the Global War on Terrorism.

Whether at home or throughout the far reaches of the world, our Airmen are vigilant and protect our great nation. Our Airmen ensure global reach and enable combat power by providing strategic airlift, direct delivery, aeromedical evacuation, critical patient care, and aerial refueling capabilities to support the war fighter - to provide 'sovereign options in the defense of our country.'

From regularly joining ground convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan to operating more often 'outside the wire,' our Airmen risk their lives daily to protect our way of life. Imagine though, with one computer key stroke, we could be putting our Airmen who protect our way of life directly into harm's way, without even realizing it.

We often want to share news of an upcoming deployment, distinguished visitor's arrival to our base, or the comings and goings of our Team Travis leadership to name just a few. It is in this light of information sharing that we are asking your help to protect Team Travis' Critical Information Lists - the essential information we need to protect from those who would bring us harm. All Travis units have CILs and should exercise protecting these throughout our work centers as a continuous reminder to us all.

Technology can be a wonderful thing if used properly, with an Operations Security focus. As you know, the Air Force has made great strides in providing mediums that allow for unsecure and secure communications.

Just a reminder to make every effort to use Secure Network servers, digital signatures, encrypted e-mail, and STU/STE phones whenever possible, especially when discussing items on the CILs or classified information. In addition, if you have a hard copy of sensitive information (cover sheet protected please), don't just throw it into a recycle bin - shred it! You never know who is dumpster diving, digging through our trash.

Cellular phones, internet blogs and personal e-mail are extremely popular and convenient mediums to update friends and family about work, deployments, leaves, etc. It is very important to communicate with your friends and families, this I get. We're asking you, however, to review your email correspondences or think about your phone conversations with an eye and ear on OPSEC.

We obviously trust our family and friends, but a trained individual or cell can easily intercept information before it even reaches its intended audience and the consequences could be disastrous.

So before you hit send on that computer, please remember we are trying to keep our Airmen, families, friends and citizens safe.

BE PROUD! BE SAFE!