Is it right for Soldiers to post Military paperwork and photos of equipment on Social Media?

2016-08-11T02:51:19-04:00

Specifically talking about US Army WTF moments, when people post things to their page just for a laugh.

Do you think it compromises the Army Values?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2016 3:51 AM

2016-08-11T03:51:51-04:00

I guess it would depend on what paperwork or photos? Most stuff is unclassified and can be found through simple google searches. Beyond that, anything FOUO or classified, should not.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2016 6:17 AM

2016-08-11T06:17:27-04:00

No it's not right... It is dumb.

Response by 1SG Dennis Hicks made Aug 11 at 2016 7:30 AM

2016-08-11T07:30:25-04:00

In my opinion it would depend on what is posted, the WTF page shows the insanity that we must sometimes deal with on a daily basis. If anything our troops enjoy a good laugh. Before the internet you had to see these insane ideas and examples in cartoons like Pvt Murphy etc. As long as regulations are not violated as in OPSEC etc I see no problems with it. A happy troop is a bitching troop. Covering things up and pretending they don't happen is a recipe for a very bad ending.

Response by Col Rebecca Lorraine made Aug 11 at 2016 7:44 AM

2016-08-11T07:44:36-04:00

I personally like the "silent warrior". You shouldn't really be putting everything out there.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Aug 11 at 2016 8:30 AM

2016-08-11T08:30:24-04:00

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member " when people post things to their page just for a laugh.
Do you think it compromises the Army Values?"
Chief, lets ask...
CW2 Private RallyPoint Member Do you think it compromises the Army Values? If so WHY? HOW?
Not that you personally dont like it, that's valid but not answering the great question asked..So How or Why do you feel it compromises the Army Values?

Response by SSG Stephan Pendarvis made Aug 11 at 2016 8:56 AM

2016-08-11T08:56:24-04:00

Probably not....not good form...whether it's from ego bragging rights or just plain stupidity. It can be used by people to whatever means they like.

Response by SGT David T. made Aug 11 at 2016 9:12 AM

2016-08-11T09:12:05-04:00

As with most things it depends. Anything containing FOUO, classified info or PII would violate a ton of regs. If the equipment isn't classified then no problems there. If the paperwork is scrubbed to remove PII and does not contain classification that is fine too. As long as they aren't crossing any lines like I mentioned, there is no issue. If someone doesn't like it, then they shouldn't look at it.

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Aug 11 at 2016 10:00 AM

2016-08-11T10:00:49-04:00

If you feel you need to question it before you post, then don't. Honestly, look at OpSec.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Aug 11 at 2016 10:10 AM

2016-08-11T10:10:36-04:00

In matters of OPSEC or personal identifying information, it's an issue. If it's a matter of humor in uniform, then it's in the eye of the beholder.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2016 12:33 PM

2016-08-11T12:33:39-04:00

Response by Pat McCracken made Aug 11 at 2016 6:53 PM

2016-08-11T18:53:33-04:00

I think the more accurate question would be "Is it safe?" As a military mom, my son asks me not to even post his picture on social media because of his MOS. You are a professional. I'd keep things private.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2016 8:42 PM

2016-08-11T20:42:37-04:00

For years, the US lived in fear of the capabilities of the Russian military during the Cold War. It wasn't until afterwards that we found out that the Russian military was a paper tiger fraught with maintenance and logistic issues. The US has publicly acknowledged that it has located and subsequently bombed a Daesh headquarters based on the background scenery of a picture published on a social media website. Confirmation of official Russian troop deployments to the Ukraine were essentially proven by posts and pictures published on VK (the Russian version of Facebook) by Russian soldiers.

So do posts made to sites like the one you mentioned violate Army Values? They most certainly do. Portraying the degraded state of military equipment, military readiness, unit morale offer strategic insight into the overall status of the US military. However, this has to be tempered with such things such as the publicly released information of the extremely degraded readiness of Marine Corps aviation assets due to a lack of funding.

What it comes down to is most service members don't realize how much information can be collected by open sources. Posts made by PVT Snuffy may be insignificant by themselves. However, when someone from a Foreign Intelligence Service with an interest in a subject that PVT Snuffy posted to the website you mentioned goes through and searches PVT Snuffy's friend list, other posts made by him and his friends, open sourced information googled online and so on is combined, you can get a pretty clear picture of what you want.