OPSEC as defensive posture

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Robert Slayton
  • 354 Fighter Wing OPSEC program manager
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  As the weather starts to grow cold with the upcoming Alaskan winter and Iceman Team members are at home rooting for their favorite football teams to play better offense, everyone needs to take time to also ensure we're playing our best defense to protect critical information.

OPSEC is a defensive discipline; it is aimed at thwarting the offensive efforts of a potential adversary. At Eielson Air Force Base, we play an effective defense by practicing good OPSEC principles such as 100 percent shred policy and using secure communication when necessary, while also instilling the five-step OPSEC process -- identification of critical information, analysis of threats, vulnerabilities analysis, risk assessment, and application of appropriate countermeasures into our everyday lives.

Offensive disciplines, such as different forms of intelligence gathering always enjoy an advantage over defensive disciplines like OPSEC. For example, the offense only has to succeed once to be effective, while the defense has to succeed each and every time to enjoy the same success. Also, the adversary's offense only has to find and exploit one weakness in our defensive posture, while the defense has to expend the energy and resources required to defend against all offensive strategies. Furthermore, the offense learns immediately when it succeeds, while it is hard to know right away when defense is succeeding or not.

While a gameplan is used to win games in the NFL, Airmen use OPSEC to win the daily battle against persistence adversaries. Play One is to remember the purpose of OPSEC is to enhance operational effectiveness. It employs the methodology of intelligence analysis. Its point of view is of an adversary or competitor. Its focus is on information critical to that adversary and their purpose and it is unique in that it does not exclude any useful sources of information. OPSEC specifically protects against inference and is applicable in any competitive situation.

Although written straightforward and logical, OPSEC is nevertheless difficult to master. However, since it can yield important and tangible benefits, particularly in today's world of uncertain threats and reduced security resources, mastering OPSEC is worth the effort it takes. Every Airman can start to master OPSEC by following some of the principles identified above, and doing their part to play solid OPSEC defense. By doing this, the Iceman Team we can better posture to protect critical information ... on and off the field.