This is the first incident in a year.

Seems like a non-incident. What if a North or South Korean soldier was killed?

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Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!

I went back and edited this post ---- I also deleted two posts that got the heated debate about my DMZ question going again.

I am sure we are never going to find common ground on whether or not my question was important OPSEC or not - but one reason I got frustrated with this whole mess was ---- I was sure the answer to the question was pretty much public domain / common knownledge.

I should have not been lazy and googled for the answer instead of taking what I thought was a short cut by asking people closer to Korea who would know the answer (probably from having read Stars and Stripes).

But, after the latest head bashing I took for this time simply coming remotely close to the topic by replying to Mike's post -- I did some googling - and found my answer within 10 minutes.

From the People's Daily 1 Nov 2004

US soldiers have stopped patrolling the sealed inter-Korean border as part of arrangements to give South Korea a greater role in defending itself, the US military in South Korea said Monday.

The action, which went into effect at midnight last Sunday, means there are no US soldiers patrolling the 248-kilometer-long and 4-kilometer-wide demilitarized zone (DMZ), the buffer area between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), except for a handful of administrative US personnel at theborder village of Panmunjom.

As part of last Sunday's measures, the US military relinquishedits only guard post along the land border, called Outpost Ouellette, turning it over to the South Korean side, Kim said.

That's all I wanted to know. I knew this stuff had been discussed in the press the last few years. It was public domain.

O.K. Just so everyone understands what OPSEC is; here are a few quotes from OPSEC related site found on google. Notice how most say Unclassified.

This first quote is from
http://rf-web.tamu.edu/security/SECG...clas/Opsec.htm

OPSEC is not a specific category of information. Rather, it is a process for identifying, controlling, and protecting generally unclassified information which, if it becomes known to a competitor or adversary, could be used to our disadvantage.

Here is another from this site. http://www.ioss.gov/bulletin.html


Operations Security (OPSEC) is an analytic process used to deny an adversary information - generally unclassified - concerning our intentions and capabilities by identifying, controlling, and protecting indicators associated with our planning processes or operations. OPSEC does not replace other security disciplines - it supplements them.

From this website, notice how this one says "MOSTLY FROM WEBITES"

http://www.nswc.navy.mil/ISSEC/Docs/...ec_basics.html


I work for the military so when I think of security, I think "CLASSIFIED INFORMATION". But, I need to learn to rethink this issue. MOST!!! of the information that is collected from/by/against any organization military or otherwise is simply compiled from unclassified sources (like web pages!). We create signature data, data that defines exactly what we are working on and how we are doing that work. In addition to classified and sensitive unclassified data, we also generate and store proprietary information which ranges from financial bids to source code.

So, again what we say on this board no matter WHO/HOW or how little you think it may be someone may beable to use it. Remember most OPSEC is gathered from UNCLASSIFIED information.

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

So, based on the head bashing I've taken for asking a question whose answer is available through the news media - and based on all of the quotes you just put above ---- you guys need to get some picket signs together and start protesting in front of the Stars and Stripes division in Korea.

Because information about USFK units and operations and drills -------- and handing over duties at the DMZ -- have all been covered repeatedly by the S&S -- and I found a couple of articles on the DMZ handover to answer my original question.

Look --- I am actually hopeful to see that some take OPSEC so seriously. It is a discipline. And as a discipline, if you don't practice or exercise it, it becomes loose and undisciplined. So if you take a question like mine - that is reported in the common press - including the US military press - and available on the internet -- then you will guard real serious OPSEC related information - which is a good thing.

OPSEC is not as cut and dry as that.

Public affairs releases information all the time. For instance they release the exercise dates to the public and Stars and Stripes prints an article on the subject. Public affairs generally releases information that would normally be considered OPSEC because USFK decides the information will serve the public’s best interest and help establish good relations with the host country.

A good general rule for OPSEC is not to post military/job related information on the internet that you can not find on the internet. If you can find it on the internet on Stars and Stripes and other media sources it has most likely been released by public affairs. I don’t think the Stars and Stripes is in the business of leaking classified information or printing stories that are OPSEC violations. It would be bad for business as the military could ban the paper from the bases and dry up 95% of their customer base.

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Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!

Look, I don't care what you post on your web-site or what the Stars and Stripes or any other paper based newpaper or web page has.

On THIS website I do care what you post. You can say your taking a head bashing all day long and what you think OPSEC.

If you were not the original poster I would still be doing the EXACT same thing.

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

Many bits and pieces of unclassified information concerning military operations can be had from many sources. The internet has exacerbated this problem. In years past we referred to these bits and pieces of info as EEFI's, " essential elements of friendly information." Someone who is searching and tracking these bits and pieces can eventually put together a jig saw puzzle and form a picture about certain things. The internet and forums like this have made it harder to control than it ever was, even harder than during the heavy espionage years of the cold war. The military itself has been guilty of posting too many "EEFI's on their own web pages. Perhaps it is best to not begin threads about sensitive military subjects if people are not allowed to contribute public information in an open way. Everyone who wants to reply to a thread here may not be military or former military and so they don't view these things in the same way as many of us do.

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Turk Quid Pro Quo

I think we all get the idea behind OPSEC now. So lets leave that subject.

USINKOREA- hope your head is better now. Some times I just stand back and let these things work themselves out...
So it was the first week in November, 2004? You might want to put that in your one post, quoting the Peoples Daily that says "Midnight last Sunday" to prevent confusion. That apparently was actually 1 Nov. 2004.