Security Sensibility
“The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.” John Locke, English Philosopher
I don’t think the topic of security has any boundaries. Depending upon whether you are male or female, stateside or overseas, the types of security issues might vary, but the overall topic of security for you and your family should be a worthy topic for all.
While displaying our service member’s branch/division decal or our kid’s athletic team bumper sticker on our car is a source of pride and one we should not have to fear in an ideal world ~ this is not an ideal world! Those expressions of pride disclose information about you or your children to potential predators. The local residents near your installation know which divisions/units are deployed and when they’re coming home. When my husband was deployed I actually considered displaying “Welcome Home Soldier” on my car for the whole time he was gone just so I didn’t give anyone the impression I was alone. Identifying your children’s school or an extra curricular activity tells others where your child can be found on weekdays and often evenings and weekends.
Living overseas is a whole new ballgame! We are not only taught during newcomer briefings that we should not do anything that makes us stand out as Americans (which is sad!), but we are reminded daily on the AFN stations to blend in with our host nation and not stand out. Yet we see cars with “Dallas Cowboys” decals (as an example) across the entire back windshield of cars or bumper stickers that say cheer on the Atlanta Braves! As if that’s not bad enough, when we’re out shopping on the economy we see service members wearing sweatshirts and baseball caps with U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, etc. The only time I wear that type of attire is if I know I’m only going on base and there’s no chance I’ll need to stop anywhere that’s off post. And probably the biggest identifier of all when you’re overseas is “the handbag of choice” by military spouses! In respect of OPSEC I won’t mention the brand name, but you know what I’m talking about. If the bag is a “must have”, why not wait until you’re back on American soil to carry it OR purchase the one that has the brand in the lining or on the hardware as opposed to being all over the outside of the bag?
That brand is sold at the BX/PX and can be purchased on the Star Card or through lay-away, but I think the overseas AAFES locations should only sell them with a reminder/alert about OPSEC. Those of you in the states might think I’m overly concerned about this one brand, but those who live overseas know that you can’t get in a line at the commissary or at the food court in the BX/PX without being surrounded by them. In the states non-military females are equally as eager to carry them, so military spouses aren’t as likely to stand out. Overseas, you rarely see a local national carrying one.
Each of us should probably pay a little more attention to keeping ourselves and our family safe. Although I attended the pre-deployment briefings and had read all of the preparedness material and the “dos and don’ts for spouses of deployed soldiers”, I recall a couple occasions when I still used the “my husband is deployed” line in hopes a tire sales person might (out of patriotism) not rip me off or to explain to the car dealership why I missed our annual service appointment. Immediately afterwards I regretted having said it and then worried that sharing that information might not have been in my best interest.
It’s not an ideal world and while our service members are fighting to keep all of America safe, we should probably be a bit more aware of what we do that might jeopardize our own safety, or the safety of our children, our home, our vehicle, etc.
I wonder how many of our readers serve on a Board for their Spouse Club or another charitable organization on their installation. Does that organization have a website that lists its Board Members’ first and last names? Not a good idea. Since all of the members already know your full name, it would be much wiser to use just the first name, or to use your first initial with your last name. To make it worse, does that organization publish their meeting date/time on the website? If yes, potential predators can identify when you will be away from your house each month. As a website developer, I recommend to my clients that they either send that schedule to their Board members via Email or that they publish it on their website in a place that’s only accessible by the Board Members. Ask your organization’s webmaster to make some changes in the interest of security and remind your friends to do the same.
Whether your service member is in a frequent deployment rotation or “homesteading” at a stateside installation…………it’s best to ask yourself if the information you are about to share verbally, online, through your wardrobe (and accessories), on your vehicle or with signs in front yard…………would be valuable information to a potential predator.
We are all very careful about safeguarding information that could put our troops or our country at risk; we should be equally as careful about securing safety for ourselves and our children.
MZspouse
