Joint Base Journal Vol. 6, No. 12
March 27, 2015
News and information for and about Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling www.facebook.com/JBABdc
J OINT B ASE A NACOSTIA-B OLLING
www.cnic.navy.mil/jbab
Smart social media is part of operations security BY MICHELLE L. GORDON JOINT BASE ANACOSTIA-BOLLING PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) police encourage all base personnel and residents to be aware of their digital footprint and maintain strong privacy settings on all social media websites. The request comes just days after the terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) published personal contact information for U.S. service members, calling for American sympathizers to kill them. Larry Stevenson, JBAB antiterrorism officer, said while there is a heightened awareness, he does not expect anyone to stop using social media completely. Rather, he wants people to practice good operations security. “Operations Security, or OPSEC, is the process by which we protect information that can be
“We are the eyes and ears for our country, so we have to be careful of the things that we do and say...” - Larry Stevenson, JBAB Antiterrorism Officer used against us,” said Stevenson. “We don’t want to live in fear, but at the same time, we have to do a reality check. ISIL is recruiting personnel through social media - that’s why it’s really a concern now. We have to be aware of the information we share.” To practice good social media OPSEC, Stevenson recommends strong, secure passwords (a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters), as well as periodically checking privacy settings.
Twitter allows users to keep tweets private, and Facebook offers a “view as” function, which allows users to see what their profile looks like to the general public. He also cautions against accepting friend requests from someone you don’t know. Similar privacy settings can be found on other social media sites like Instagram and LinkedIn. “Know who you’re friends with,” said Stevenson. “However, even if you know your friends, you don’t know who they are friends with, so you have to be careful who you link-
up with on social media.” JBAB Crime Prevention Officer Sgt. Bianca Burgos said geotagging and location-based social-networking are also threats. “Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification to photographs, video, websites and text messages,” she said. “It is the equivalent of adding a 10-digit grid coordinate to everything you post on the Internet. Geotags are automatically embedded in pictures taken with smartphones unless the feature has been disabled.”
Location-based social networking is a similar concept. A variety of applications capitalize on users’ desire to broadcast their geographic location. “All communication can be intercepted and once it is online, it’s there forever,” said Stevenson. “If you don’t want it repeated then don’t say it, don’t text it, don’t post it. Limit what you put out there and keep information to a minimum because there is always a possibility that it could wind-up in the wrong hands. “We are the eyes and ears for our country, so we have to be careful of the things that we do and say, and we have to be aware of our surroundings at all times,” said Stevenson. “If you see something, say something. Report it.” To report suspicious activity, call the JBAB security office, 202767-5000.
JBAB hosts Joint Base Commanders Forum BY JEREMY K. JOHNSON JOINT BASE ANACOSTIA-BOLLING
Leadership from a dozen joint military bases met March 18 and 19 at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling for the 2015 Joint Base Commanders Forum. The forum, held at Bolling Club, was organized by U.S. Air Force Col. Eric Turner, deputy director of basing for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Turner said the annual gathering is designed to help joint base commanders address the challenges that come with combining bases. The initial meetings, he explained, began during the implementation of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) mandated creation of joint bases. They focused on individual bases, resolving issues immediately related to transitioning. As that process began to wind down and move into the finer points of streamlining joint operations, the meetings took a different direction and started to become general feedback and brainstorming sessions. “The OSD basing office began a regular drumbeat of getting together all of the stakeholders, typically by base, to work through all the various issues,” said Turner.
U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY JEREMY K. JOHNSON
U.S. Air Force Col. Eric Turner, deputy director of basing for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, briefs leadership teams from a dozen joint military bases during the Joint Base Commanders Forum held March 18 and 19 at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. “That has since evolved into an annual meeting where we get all of the joint base commanders together as well as all of the principal members of all of the military services that oversee installation support. “It’s essentially a forum where we discuss common challenges experienced across the joint bases, including solutions some have found that may be useful to others, and then a look at where the Department of Defense - and even Congress - are looking to take joint bases in general.”
When the commanders and their teams come together in one room, he continued, there are opportunities to hear multiple voices with outside perspective - a benefit that increases the chance of finding solutions. “One of the things we’ve noticed with joint bases is that you’re bringing together personnel and families from multiple service backgrounds. You’re bringing together Army families and Air Force families and Navy families,” Turned observed. “You’re bringing together those
missions into a single entity being run by just one of the services. As an example, at Anacostia-Bolling you’re bringing together both the Navy and the Air Force into an installation now being run and managed by the Navy. One of the challenges we’ve seen over the past couple of years is looking at how the Air Force mission and Air Force families work within a Navyrun system when they’ve been in the military for ten years, but may only have been stationed at Air Force installations. “So, [at the forum] one of the things we look to do is figure out how to bridge that - how to make a single community on a joint base where it doesn’t matter if you’re a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine.” Turner pointed to confusing labeling of common services on military bases as a good example of issues the group has successfully tackled. “Last year we had a long discussion on the branding at joint bases. If a base has a family support center, but the sign out front says it’s a soldier support center or it’s a sailor support center, family members from other services may not understand what that facility can do for them. We discussed labeling and what we can do for the community to help
them understand where they can get assistance for all kinds of things,” he said. “We discussed it again this year and we’re seeing progress across several joint bases where they’re starting to put into play a common vernacular that doesn’t have anything to do with one specific service, but tends to the needs of any military member and their family.” Turner also sees the forum as a way to put current fiscal challenges into perspective, allowing each joint base leadership team an opportunity to see how others are handling reduced financial resources. “Certainly, the Department of Defense has had a fiscal challenge over the last two years with budgets and manpower,” he noted. “FY’13 was a challenge with sequestration,” he said, referring to the fiscal year. “FY’14 was a little better, but not entirely where we would have liked to have been. “Even with the resourcing challenges, every one of the bases is continuing to do what they can to support the mission, and they’re doing a good job at that. From all reports that we saw, every one of the missions - whether it’s flying, training, logistics or a cyber mission - is getting first class support from their host service.”