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Some Writers need to understand OPSEC

June 13th, 2010 Posted in Military, The SandGram v1.0

Folks, I have sat back and watched an interesting fight evolve between Michael Yon and a group of mil bloggers who I like and admire.  The latest post by Yon on the weaknesses of a certain base in Afghanistan in my opinion is irresponsible and Yon being a former Army guy should know better!  Mr. Greyhawk from the Mudville Gazette is a guy I believe to possess a slow burn when it comes to his temper but this latest post by Yon about releasing prisoners has him torqued while his 3CAB post has others fuming, and I mean pissed off rightly so.

 I had one tour in Iraq in 05 next to Fallujah and if I were to point out soft points of that base or my base on my web page at that time, I would be up on charges.  All the people who support him with money might as well start giving it to Green Peace because I doubt that this guy will ever see another embed EVER!!

 While I was in Afghanistan in 08, I was stationed in Kabul, but I always wrote about being in Kandahar for safety reasons.  OPSEC rules are in place for a reason and for the supporters of Mr. Yon who don’t understand this; it’s to keep folks from dying.  He could have easily edited the email deleting the key notes to keep the bad guys from even guessing its whereabouts and then contacting the command with this info.  He chose to spray and pray this errant email on his site with no consideration for the consequences of the guys over there.  It’s easy to drop a dime when you know that you will never feel the effects of it while you get foot massages in Thailand. 

For any of you parents out there with children serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and you hear that any reporter who would publish info like this on a public site like Facebook, and is going to join their outfit as an embed, I strongly urge you to write to the commands and beg them to reconsider. I want everyone to know this is coming from a Marine Officer whose greatest concern was getting a Marine or Soldier hurt by what I wrote. Safety folks, there is a war out there with real bad guys who would love nothing more then to cut the head off your son, brother, sister, or dad.

 Semper Fi, Taco

UPDATE on M.Y.

Folks, I was at the beach with the family when I discovered that Mr. Greyhawk and CJ had sent bogus emails to Mr. Yon pretending to be soldiers over in the war and it appears that Mr. Yon published these letters with no fact checking at all of the sources.  This makes me chuckle a bit as I think of what hate he must have for those guys now.  I am a nobody, thus haven’t been singled out for attacks by his masses which is fine by me, but a buddy Chuck over at TCoverride has put a letter out to his fans that really shows a lot of restraint and thought… Please enjoy his piece, I think he’s a poet!

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  1. 4 Responses to “Some Writers need to understand OPSEC”

  2. By Bridget on Jun 13, 2010

    Well said Taco!

  3. By Joe on Jun 22, 2010

    Taco,
    As always you are right on top of things. Although I haven’t been following the rift between Michael Yon and the other bloggers as closely as you and don’t know any of them, I have been following Yon.

    In the late 80s I served with a Marine who was lucky enough to survive the Beirut Bombing (he was in the building). A High School Class mate lost her brother KIA, a LCpl, with 240 other Marines and sailors who weren’t as lucky that day.

    From my limited view, it is important to bring Beirut into the argument because it shows the significant damage that bad ROE can do.

    I haven’t been following the argument close enough to take sides, that isn’t the point. I’m just asking the question concerning whether the ROE makes operational sense to begin with, and if it is being properly explained to the troops.

    Semper Fi,

    Joe

  4. By kanani on Jun 24, 2010

    I’ve been watching in from afar. I’m busy with work, but still, am aware of this whole shaboo.

    I understand Yon is feeling vindicated now for McChrystal’s exit. He’s indicated that he thinks he’s going to have many more embeds, now that the there is to be a change in command.

    I hope his assumption will not bear fruit. After all, he has violated OPSEC, has failed to fact check, has passed published at least one bogus story greatly inflating his worth in the whole event.

    Unfortunately, Yon will always have a large following. At least in the near future. Not much to do about it except one thing: give shout outs to the good writers who have embedded and have done good work. I know at least 4 who would like to go back again, but lack the financial resources. Encourage people to donate to them –quite frankly, they don’t ask nearly as often for funding as the daily paypal button of Yon’s.

  5. By Taco's Mama on Jun 26, 2010

    Kanani, can you give us some names? I have supported Michael in the past along with Bill Roggio, and Michael sounds like a very bitter man. Bill’s Long War Journal seems to have funding now so I’m always interested in new folks.

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