In efforts to educate Sailors about naval operational security, U.S. 7th Fleet (C7F) established the first Operational Security (OPSEC) Working Group, March 2.

The C7F OPSEC Working Group's initiative is to teach and train Sailors in the 7th Fleet area of operations (AOO) on cyber security rules and regulations, and how to obey cyber laws on a daily basis.

While the working group will examine a wide range of OPSEC issues, its main focus is cyber security.

The OPSEC team developed from a recent symposium held at Yokosuka Naval Base in February, where cyber experts addressed Sailors on how to increase awareness and combat issues relating to cyber security.

OPSEC Security Officer Lt. j.g. Shawn Douglas said people get complacent on OPSEC and do not realize that they jeopardize Sailors' lives.

"We make ourselves vulnerable and that is why we are here to educate," Douglas said.

OPSEC programs were developed during the Vietnam War to determine how the enemy was able to obtain advanced information on military operations.

Former Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet Adm. Ulysses Sharp established the "Purple Dragon" team, which inspired the current logo for OPSEC. The purple dragon symbolizes the idea of "thinking like the wolf," or looking at your own organization from an adversarial point of view.

Assistant chief of staff at C7F Communication Information Systems Capt. Timika Lindsay emphasized the importance of communications and cyber security for the military and how it is susceptible to attack with disastrous results to U.S. national security.

"Cyber is the fifth warfighting capability," said Lindsay. "When you type on your keyboard, it's a warfighting ability."

At the OPSEC meeting, senior enlisted C7F OPSEC representative Chief Cryptologic Technician Technical Ben Northcutt said operational security is not only one of the easiest rules to follow, but it's also one of the easiest rules to break.

"Violating OPSEC will cause problems in personal life and can also potentially ruin the command's mission and the Navy as a whole," said Northcutt.

Douglas also stressed that OPSEC is everyone's responsibility, including service and family members. He noted family members also have a duty to protect Sailors and their shipmates by practicing operational security. For example, members who post future port visits on Facebook are in violation of OPSEC. Photos posted online can also contain metadata that may expose a ship's vulnerabilities.

For additional guidance, Northcutt advised Navy Sailors to use the five-step OPSEC process:
* Identify critical information
* Analyze the threat to that information
* Analyze the vulnerabilities
* Assess the risk
* Develop countermeasures

The new C7F OPSEC Group, which includes members both enlisted and officer, plan on inviting other commands in 7th Fleet's AOO to join with C7F's mission of educating and enforcing operational security rules and regulations to more Sailors and family members.

For more information, visit www.c7f.navy.mil.

For more news from Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, visit www.c7f.navy.mil/.