Originally published September 23 2005
Army fears military bloggers pose security risk
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Army is preparing to crack down on blogging personnel, World Peace Herald reports, because those posting photographs in their blogs may be inadvertently revealing vulnerabilities and tactics of U.S. military operations.
Peter Schoomaker circulated a memo to all Army personnel last week saying that "we must do a better job" at operational security -- "OPSEC" in military parlance.
"Some soldiers continue to post sensitive information" on the Internet and especially on their Web logs or online diaries, wrote Schoomaker, giving as examples "photos depicting weapon system vulnerabilities and tactics, techniques and procedures.
"Such OPSEC violations needlessly place lives at risk and degrade the effectiveness of our operations," he wrote.
Schoomaker promised that amendments to Army regulations would be promulgated within a month, and that officers would have access to new training materials on the issue by Sept. 2.
Leonard Clark was last month fined $1,640 and demoted to private for violating two provisions of the Uniform Military Code of Justice by posting what the military said was classified material on his blog.
The Army intelligence officer who blogs as Blackfive wrote on his site that he had seen little in the way of descriptions of tactics "that could not be found in an Army manual from an Army-Navy surplus store or on E-Bay."
The retired military blogger who calls himself "John, the armorer and master of Castle Argghhh," advises fellow bloggers to check with senior officers if they have any doubt about posting something.
She said the department was trying to exploit "the communications technologies (that) are changing the very fabric of our societies ...
"The enemy is actively searching the unclassified (computer) networks for information, especially sensitive photos, in order to obtain targeting data, weapons system vulnerabilities, and (tactics, techniques and procedures) for use against the coalition," he wrote.
"By showing the effect on a vehicle that way, you are revealing its vulnerabilities," Pierett said.
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