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Safeguarding information critical to defense, success

Kitty Hawk Public Affairs

Release Date: 10/16/2002

By: JOSN David Beyea

Crew members on board the United States' only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier are asked not to prove the old cliché "loose lips sink ships," true, by protecting information.

Experts say that safeguarding information is critical to Hawk's defense and mission success.

"OPSEC (Operational Security) is protecting sensitive information so that it can't be used by others against us," explained Lt. Cmdr. Carol Prather, command security manager on board USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). "It's important that we don't make it easy for anyone who's working against us to get a tactical advantage."

According to Intelligence Specialist Senior Chief James T. Isham, Hawk's intelligence division leading chief petty officer, OPSEC runs under the principle that one or more pieces of unclassified material, when put together, can damage security by revealing classified information. "OPSEC is built around not giving any indication to our enemies of what our intentions are," Isham said.

Prather said important information that needs to be protected under OPSEC includes Hawk's schedule and its mission.

Whenever you're dealing with a timeline or talking about ship's movements, you shouldn't specify anything outside of seven days, explained Prather. When you're within a week of an event you can start talking about the day it will occur. Finally, when in a 48-hour window, the time of a ship's movement can be discussed.

"The point is to minimize the publicizing of the ship's movement as much as possible," said Prather. Discussions about the ship's movement should be limited to keeping family members informed for planning purposes, she added.

Prather said similar caution should be taken when discussing Hawk's mission. When Hawk is on a specific mission, it's important that the minimum number of people know what that mission is. Crewmembers need to avoid mentioning the what, how and when of a mission to or near anyone who doesn't need to know.

"You can talk in generalities, but people need to stay away from specifics," said Prather. Typically, the command provides the crew guidance to help crewmembers know what can and can't be discussed regarding a mission's OPSEC requirements.

In addition to conversations, Prather said it's also important to be cautious when writing e-mails. "Assume that e-mail is subject to monitoring - both by friendly and unfriendly entities," she explained. "Just as a phone, e-mail is vulnerable."

Prather said anyone writing e-mail should follow the same guidelines they would in a conversation. To help ensure sensitive information is not sent out over e-mail, automated data processing security monitors all e-mail on board Hawk.

"It's important to remember that each person on board Hawk knows valuable information and needs to protect it," said Prather.