Gunner's Blog

 

 

From: ACITI (Assistant Chief of Information for Technology Integration)

To: CFM (Me, Charlie Mitchell)

CC: webmaster@navy.mil; OSD-C31 (Office of the Secretary of Defense, Command, Control and Information)

Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 9:07 AM

Subject: Your web site

 

Chief:

 

We are deeply concerned about the presentation of Fleet Home Town News Center news releases on your World Wide Web site. We feel that this aggregation (I will cover "aggregation" in my next installment. ) of information has the possibility to pose a threat (Well,  I feel like that it is a great thing for the junior enlisted men and women of the US Navy, USMC, and the USCG) to the physical and or mental well-being of DON personnel and their families. Department of Defense and Navy regulations prohibit the publication of the names of family members on DoD and Navy publicly acccessible Web sites.  (USAFNS.com is not a DON website) And while we do provide that information to the media in targeted news releases, this type of aggregated information is not presented on a single web site as it is with yours (Maybe, but, that is why I did it - you know, find a need and fill it!). The key word here is "aggregated." Of greatest concern to us is the ability of some bad actor to create mental anguish on the part of these families (Absolutely correct - one of the prices that we pay for the freedoms that we enjoy is the possibility that in our freedom, we may garner the attention of someone that we would rather didn't know we existed.  However, that possibility existed before the Internet was invented, and before that, before the light bulb was invented, and before that, before the wheel was invented.  In other words, that is one of the human conditions. )

 

As example, taking one of your listings at random: "Navy Hospitalman Apprentice Erica N. Whitmire, daughter of Claudia F. and Lawrence M. Whitmire of (Withheld) N. Y., recently graduated from the Basic Hospital Corps School at Naval Hospital Corps School, Great Lakes, Ill." With this information, I can call Mr. or Mrs. Whitmire in (Withheld), N.Y., at (Tele Number Withheld), (Absolutely Correct - However, each and everyone of us has the right to an unlisted telephone number - don't we!   And, obviously, the Whitmire's feel that they are capable of handling the annoyances that come with having a publicly listed telephone. ) claim to be from the Naval Personnel Command (What about Caller ID?)and advise them that something drastic has happened to their daughter. Families unfamiliar with proper Navy procedures would not suspect a hoax and may be additionally victimized. (Correct - But, it should be pointed out that a vast majority of hoaxes are perpetrated by individuals that are know to the victim.  I.E., remember "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" or "Is your refrigerator running?"  Pranks such as those are almost a "coming of age rite in our society."  This point is one of those "Do as I say, not as I do" things of the military hierarchy.  For proof, use www.switchboard.com and search Virginia for Alan P. Goldstein, Stephen R. Pietropaoli and T. M. McCreary; then Google them.  All three have listed telephones numbers, and have reams of official DON news releases mentioning them by name. but obviously have the attitude that our young men and women can die for their county, but cannot sign a news release form authorizing publication and have that authorization honored.  CHINFO is "babying" our troops with an "inside the beltway" attitude of "don't worry, big brother knows what is best for you."  ) This is not far-fetched. Here's is a report from the Washington Post of 6 April: Red Cross Warns Of War Hoax Washington Post April 6, 2003 Pg. C3 (As of June 30, 2003 the Navy and Marine Corps had a total of 560,501 men/women on active duty - see page 5 of http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/M05/hst0306.pdf .)

 

Red Cross Warns Of War Hoax

 

Military families, including one in Hopewell, Va., have been targeted by hoax telephone calls informing them that loved ones in the service had been killed, injured or reported missing, the American Red Cross said Friday.

 

The hoax calls started April 1 and have also been made to families in Delaware, Alabama and Michigan, the Red Cross said. About 10 that is about such calls have been reported, (10 out of 506501, or .0001974%  in 6 days - one hoax is to many, but that number is statistically insignificant.  Nor has a hoax or anything like it been traced back to a news release on USAFNS.com.  If there had been, I am sure that I would have heard about it.  USAFNS.com publishes about 50,000 US Army and US Air Force releases each year.   As of this writing, there are 11,879 AFHNC postings on USAFNS.com.) and the Red Cross is investigating and turning over any information gathered to the Defense Department for investigation. In Virginia, a person claiming to be with the Red Cross told a woman her son had been taken as a prisoner of war. The woman later spoke to her son, who is safe.

 

A Red Cross spokesman said the organization does not notify military families of situations affecting servicemen and women. The military delivers those messages, almost always in person, he said.

 

Also, we';ve ahd some Sailors' apartments broekn ito when they were on deployment ( This is the same as the hoaxes, almost always perpetrated by someone known to the victim - ask anyone that you know in law enforcement .) While we understand these releases constitute a drawing card to your site and provide the content around which you can sell advertising (And, what is wrong with that?  Newspapers publish the releases on pages with advertising!  At that time, and until Monday, May 17, 2004 I had not sold advertising, and only did so to help defray the cost of maintaining the website. ),  we would appreciate it if you would remove these releases from your site and no longer publish them.  ( I respectfully refused! )

Thank you for your consideration.

 

Assistant Chief of Information for Technology Integration

Navy Office of Information

Washington, D.C. 20350-1200

 

The withholding of FHTNC releases from USAFNS.com does not accomplish CHINFO's desired objective.  Instead, it blocks the true mission of FHTNC.  Here is FHTNC's Mission Statement from SecNav Instruction 5720.44a Change 2 of 9 May 2002 (eight months after 9-11-01): 

 

 

~G: Stay tuned, more to come.  Next installment will destroy the "aggregation" allegation.  FLASH, I just had an uncomfirmed report that FHTNC may be forced out of business by December because their legacy software system has not been funded for migration to the Navy Marine Corps new NMCI server system.   I wonder why?  If you can confirm that rumor, please contact me: