OPSEC Brief - Air Force style

[Flash]

There is a big controversy about this particular briefing in the AF right now.

It has to do with the fact that Dozer was the Raptor Demo pilot, and as such SUPPOSED TO BE the public face of the Raptor. He was blessed at the General Officer level to go out and talk about approved discussion points with the public at large...which is exactly what he's doing in that presentation.

The PowerPoint was supposed to be an internal-only case study at Davis-Monthan AFB's OSI detachment.....

This is the "counter" email that one of Dozer's fellow Raptor pilots has sent out and is also making its way through the bro network:

For starters, the background on Dozer's online postings is simple. He had the misfortune of being selected by the USAF against his will to be the initial Heritage pilot and F-22 demonstration pilot. He also had the unfortunate timing to be the most visible representative of an advanced fighter program on the brink of cancellation. The two were certainly an unenviable situation, which, coupled with the extensive travel, constant family separation, and generally unappreciated time and effort would've made me a bitter, angry (angrier?), and incredibly malcontent fighter pilot.

Dozer became none of these things. Instead, he worked very hard to be the best ambassador for the Air Force and the F-22 program that he could. He was TOLD to inform and educate the public, Congress, and other servicemembers about the unique capabilities and undeniable operational necessity of procuring this fighter. He was TOLD to put a positive, recognizable face on the program, and, as a very succesful fighter pilot, champion the Raptor against its opponents.

He also was encouraged by multiple General Officers to get online, promote the airplane, and put some positive press out there to counter the huge swell of negative publicity surrounding the F-22.

Let me re-phrase that last statement. General Officers in the USAF recommended he spend time online, on public bulletin boards, and post positive information and interact with the public about the F-22.

I get your point about the brief and how it was part of his job to get out there and push the Raptor, but your bubba net email is a bit overboard. I don't know for sure but I would not consider pilots who are selected to do the Heritage Flight or be a demo pilot to be 'misfortunate'. The F-16 demo guys I talked to at an air show loved what they did, they couldn't stop talking about it. Same thing with Heritage, challenging flying but I would be willing to bet the pilots love it.

Another aspect of the email is what seems to be a general trend among the USAF brass and F-22 supporters of making the plane seem like a phoenix constantly rising from the ashes, in addition to being 'Superplane'. While the F-22's production run has always been a source of some debate and there was some talk from the chattering class about it being on the chopping block, the program has never been 'on the brink of cancellation'. Especially by the time Dozer was selected to be the demo pilot. And the supposition that the brass pushed him to post on boards and be 'Mr F-22' is probably truthful, I just find the whole thing a bit overboard, on his and the brass's part. It seems like another case of big blue waving its flag, trying to get attention 'above all'.

Finally, the email does not strike me as an off-the-cuff email to a bunch of bubbas. I would not doubt that it is authored by a USAF fighter guy, but it seems a but too polished and preachy to be some random fighter guy in a squadron. Maybe his friends at HQ are covering his 6, but definitely does not have the same 'realness' to it as the previous email you posted by the guy decrying the USAF awards in OAF.

 

[FlyinSpy]

Interesting brief. One thing I found interesting was how much the AF has drunk their own Kool Aid-flavored bathwater on slide 4, where they state F-22 costs as "$187 million each, including R&D costs". $187M is the (dubious) unit fly-away cost, which most certainly does *not* include R&D. Roll in R&D and other procurement costs, and you get $338M per unit - and that's according to the AF's own budget numbers. (http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123022371). If you're suspicious of AF motives, you can probably pad that figure some.

As far as the rest of the brief, it's an interesting case study. I concur with the assessment that as the public face of the F-22 he's supposed to be out there rah-rah'ing his platform, but he probably needs to show a bit more discretion.

One thing people forget about open source is that it's a big Interweb out there, and there is an awful lot of mis-information out there; foreign intelligence services could go batty trying to separate the wheat from thr chaff. What makes this case not so good for us is that the source in this case (Dozer) could be vetted relatively easily as someone actually in the know, and not some 15 year old talking smack. A foreign intelligence service could then easily simply track his responses to queries, and probably get some useful information out of the effort.

I think the big takeway in the end is that it's fine to post on the internet, and that you can't really completely hide your identity. You can show discretion, though, and keep your important cards close to your chest. I think this forum does a much better job than others about the OPSEC issue; sustained vigilance is the watchword.

 

[whitman]

I think the big takeway in the end is that it's fine to post on the internet, and that you can't really completely hide your identity.

Especially when you put your work email address (first.last name@xx.af.mil) in your profile!

 

[mmx1]

Well, the email begs the question of why we even need a LtCol pimping out a particular type/model aircraft to the public. Lobbying congress is one thing. But come on, convincing aviation groupies on internet forums that the F-22 is hot shit is not a particularly constructive use of a LtCol's time. I doubt the members of Fence Check have that much sway over the fate of the F-22.

 

[Schnugg]

They also disparaged a fine website and its posters in the process

Did you notice Eric H's name in there?

 

[SH-60OB]

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/03/airforce_f22_opsec_031408w/

Totally off subject but did anyone else notice this line in the AF Times article "... and was anointed the first commander of the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, last May."

That must have been one heck of a ceremony. Puts "Above All" into a different perspective

 

[HeyJoe]

Did you notice Eric H's name in there?

It's a semi/pro photography site and he hosts his gallery and business there. It's graphics are top notch and webmaster keeps a tight ship. They don't deserve to be smeared with doubts.

 

[Schnugg]

It's a semi/pro photography site and he hosts his gallery and business there. It's graphics are top notch and webmaster keeps a tight ship. They don't deserve to be smeared with doubts.

Concur...sounds like the whole OPSEC training brief presentation thing was a mistake in many ways for the USAF.

 

[HH-60H]

Well, the email begs the question of why we even need a LtCol pimping out a particular type/model aircraft to the public. Lobbying congress is one thing. But come on, convincing aviation groupies on internet forums that the F-22 is hot shit is not a particularly constructive use of a LtCol's time. I doubt the members of Fence Check have that much sway over the fate of the F-22.

It's illegal for the military to lobby Congress.

 

[jarhead]

....

Harrier Dude, Hacker, et al …

just to be clear, I wasn’t trying to run “Dozer’s” name through the mud with my post. I received the PowerPoint from a reputable source, and the .ppt itself is from a supposed reputable source so I figured it would be good to post here at AW. After reading “Harrier Dude’s” & “Hacker’s” posts, I did some researching myself. If you google “dozerf22” and “fencecheck” you will get some of the posts from that thread … Fencecheck has already closed that thread but Google still has it cached … I went through ~20 threads from that topic that OSI Davis Monthan made a big stink about. I really didn’t find anything shady. I would question making comments on how many jets his sqd currently has, if they are standing alert, and how many more they will receive over the next year or so because he was CO at the time, not a Demo pilot "tasked with interacting with Joe public" (unless he's spreading bad gouge on purpose). Other than those comments, I didn’t read anything else worth getting your panties in a wad.

Anyways, anybody who has dealt with AF intel knows they are as anal & uptight as those AF dudes who point their little M-16’s at you and arrest you for crossing the little red line at AF bases (even after watching you climb out of your jet you just taxied in and parked). I didn’t think they would put a spin on something like this. I will go back and change my little sarcastic “very quick summery” and take Dozer’s name out of it and make it generic ... (my edit function isn't working though for that post)

One thing I don’t understand … what’s the logic behind putting a F-22 pilot on aviation website forums and “promote” the aircraft (if that was actually the case) … he needs to be in front of Congress doing that, especially as the CO … besides, he should be busy standing up his squadron in AK, not bullshitting with 15 yr olds, let an O-4 do that ...

S/F

 

[HackerF15E]

The bottom line on this is that the situation isn't a "that Lt Col is such a tool for blabbing his gums" that the vast majority of armchair OPSEC-enforcers in this forum and others are making it out to be based only on the information in that briefing.

 

[Steve Davies]

Especially when you put your work email address (first.last name@xx.af.mil) in your profile!

Unless I missed the sarcasm...

1) The intention was to post using his real name... that's what he'd been told to do

2) If you know someone's name in the Air Force (as the public face of the F-22A, he was well known in many circles), and you know what unit they work at, you can email them. They don't have to post their address on the interweb for you to find out what it is.

Besides, if a foreign intelligence agent wants to contact you, he's hardly going to send you an email at work - there's someone I know who can attest to that based on first hand experience.

 

[HackerF15E]

I don't know for sure but I would not consider pilots who are selected to do the Heritage Flight or be a demo pilot to be 'misfortunate'. The F-16 demo guys I talked to at an air show loved what they did, they couldn't stop talking about it. Same thing with Heritage, challenging flying but I would be willing to bet the pilots love it.

That's not why that phrase was used. You're right...he was fortunate to be selected for that job.

It's that old "no good deed goes unpunished" joke. He "had the misfortune" to be selected but he was not a volunteer. In other words, he was told by leadership to have a highly public job that he wasn't particularly interested in.