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    USS Essex Operational Security

    USS Essex Underway Operations

    Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Anglin | ARABIAN GULF (Oct. 9, 2021) Ensign Charlotte Miller, left, and Lt. j.g. Chelsy Alamina...... read more read more

    ARABIAN GULF

    10.21.2021

    Story by Seaman Richard Anglin 

    USS Essex (LHD 2)

    Any civilian will tell you that it’s important to protect your identity and personal information, but as members of national defense, it is of abundant importance to protect one’s identity. A leak in one’s personal cyber security can affect the ship and our military force. It becomes our mission to protect ourselves from foreign adversaries who seek to gather information about our ship and its movements. This is our job in Operational Security (OPSEC).

    "Our enemies want a raw picture of how we operate,” said Senior Chief Information System Technician Brandon Lambert, the information security [manager] aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). “They can get a glimpse of what is vulnerable to us, so they can possibly strike at it, or use this information to manipulate us.”

    Information like our location, movement patterns, and size of naval exercises can provide a working schematic for our adversaries on where and when to strike.

    “They are able to use every piece of information they come across to devise a plan, knowing when to possibly attack, time frames, and areas that we are most vulnerable,” said Lambert.

    “These bits of information can be gained from a variety of sources like social media accounts, Bluetooth and cell phone usage,” continued Lambert. “We must tailor our mission based on operational security.”

    “Giving out personal informationcan compromise our evolutions,” continued Lambert. This can force leadership to come up with a new plan, which would work around any details that may have been leaked. Mission security can be jeopardized by something as simple as a comment online.

    “Seemingly innocent comments to family, like talking about when we are receiving mail, can show our movements and locations,” said Information System Technician 2nd Class Avery Warner, who specializes in information assurance. “If someone who shouldn’t have this information now has it, they can figure out when and where we are getting a resupply, which jeopardizes our safety.”

    “There is a lot of information that can be pulled from a single comment,” said Warner.

    “Parents and family members are not trained in OPSEC”, continued Warner. “They can unintentionally pass on critical information to others, unaware of the possible dire consequences.”

    Warner’s solution: Think before you post.

    “If people thought about what they posted before they said it, there would be less posts that allow information to slip out,” said Warner. Similarly, Lambert believes that we can do more as a ship to remind Sailors the importance of OPSEC and how to execute it effectively..

    “We should give examples on how adversaries can use our information against us,” said Lambert. “It can be as simple as sending an email out about a certain area that we’re about to pull into, and how that can trickle all the way back to the enemy. I think if we give those kinds of examples on how spillage affects us as a nation; the Sailors would get the full picture of OPSEC.”

    Essex and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.

    For more news from USS Essex, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USSESSEX, or visit https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/lhd2.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.21.2021
    Date Posted: 10.21.2021 08:05
    Story ID: 407672
    Location: ARABIAN GULF

    Web Views: 95
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN