Threats prompt new security warnings for military

Military facilities around the U.S. are on alert, urging troops and their families to take precautions amid continued threats of violence from the Islamic State group.

The responses to that threat are being driven not just by the need to ensure protective measures are taken, but also to address increasing concerns being voiced by troops and family members who are worried about safety for their loved ones and themselves. It marks a shifting mindset, from one of full confidence that the military community was safe on its home turf to an unsettling sense that that is where they are newly vulnerable.

The Defense Department refuses to discuss the protective measures it has taken on behalf of the country's 2.1 million service members, and to date Washington has not issued universal guidance. But many senior leaders and installation commanders are taking matters into their own hands, issuing clear warnings of the potential for "lone-wolf" style attacks like those carried out in mid-October on military personnel in Canada.

On Wednesday, for instance, the Marine Corps distributed a servicewide announcement instructing personnel to report "even the most minor suspicious activity" and to watch what they share on social media. Doing so, the message says, will help reduce the likelihood of an attack.

At MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., officials with the 6th Air Mobility Wing took the Marine Corps' warning a step further. Troops assigned to the base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command, should downplay their military affiliation while in public. Uniforms, even military T-shirts and car bumper stickers, could put people at risk, it says.

'LEGITIMATE TARGETS'

Perhaps the most chilling statement came from the Pentagon, where late last week officials with the building's internal security force sent employees a memo calling service members and law enforcement officers "legitimate targets." Such attacks, according to the memo, could involve knives, guns or bombs — and most likely would be perpetrated without warning. The memo cites unspecified sources within the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

"We disseminated this advisory, not because of a specific threat, but as a reminder for Pentagon employees to be vigilant at home, at work, during travel and in their communities, by using individual protective measures," said Christopher Layman, a spokesman for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

At installations across the country, troops and their families are increasingly on edge, sources tell Military Times.

"At least a third to half of my friends in the military-spouse community have changed their last names on their Facebook profiles," said Kristine, the wife of an active-duty Marine who, like other military spouses interviewed for this report, asked that her last name not be published.

"I have chosen to leave mine as it is, but I did change my profile picture to one which doesn't show any military association," she said.

Bonny, spouse of an Air Force crew chief, acknowledged feeling "scared to death" by recent communication from her husband's command at Langley Air Force Base along the Virginia coast. They have since attended a commander's call and a meeting with leaders in the Key Spouses program. Officials told the families gathered that they could not give details on the severity of the threat but recommended they shut down social media accounts.

While it was an initial consideration, "we came to the decision that we are not going to live our lives in fear over this," Bonny said. She and her family opted instead to max out privacy settings, remove military and location references and teach their kids to be especially careful on social media, which the parents closely monitor.

A bigger problem, she said, is soothing the fears of loved ones.

"Our families and friends are worried more than us, probably because we are accustomed to threats, and extremely upset that they have to lose social media ties," Bonny said. "For military families that's huge because of distance."

Distance of a different kind is an issue for Brandon, a sailor whose wife also serves on active duty.

"I am not scared for myself. I've got the man upstairs, along with 2,000 rounds and six weapons fighting on my side," he said. "I am only scared for those times I am on duty and my wife and daughter are alone."

Brandon said he takes seriously the threat posed by the Islamic State. He taught his wife how to shoot weapons and they both carry sidearms wherever they go. They deleted social media accounts, as well.

"It made me realize how ridiculously accessible we are through Facebook," he said. "Little stuff like shutting that off gets you off the map. This terrorist group is organized and they are not dumb. I would not second-guess them at all."

RAMPING UP PRECAUTIONS

Select Navy commands also issued warnings as airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, many carried out by Navy warplanes flying from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, ramped up in October. Officials in Jacksonville, Fla., and Norfolk, Va., have encouraged sailors and their families to guard against common operational security mistakes like posting personnel rosters or scheduled ship movements.

And while the response varies from base to base and service to service, online safety is a consistent theme. Spokesmen for three Army posts — Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Belvoir, Va. — each said their installations had adopted no additional security measures. Yet a recent directive published by the Army Threat Integration Center calls on troops to disable mobile apps that track their whereabouts and to avoid posting anything on social media that reveals where their kids attend school or would otherwise allow someone to know ahead of time where they'll be.

Kristine, who runs a family support site called USMC Life, has a substantial digital presence. Her site's Facebook community alone has more than 200,000 followers. In recent days she rechecked her privacy settings to ensure her personal profile is locked down, and she's purged from her website the last names of her staff members.

Even so, Kristine downplayed the risk associated with one's digital footprint, saying it would take considerable effort to target someone electronically. Military officials are using these threats as an opportunity to compel people to behave more responsibly online, she said.

"There's a larger chance of the Islamic State targeting us through random acts of violence around local military installations, or by following people's cars by tracking DoD stickers, or additional military decals on their vehicles," she said. "For me, this is just one more reason to move to 100-percent ID scan at the gate and ditch the military decals on our cars."

Contributing: Tony Lombardo, Kathleen Curthoys, Michelle Tan, Stephen Losey, Sam Fellman, Meghann Myers, James K. Sanborn and Kevin Lilley of Military Times