Comment

Comment by KatK on January 30, 2010 at 2:01pm

Will pray for Christine and her family.

Comment by momof2sailors on January 11, 2010 at 4:14pm

Same here. Except my son left last month.

Comment by momof2sailors on January 11, 2010 at 3:54pm

cfsnowmom,

I didn't post it to upset anyone. But just thought that everyone needed to be reminded of OPSEC.

Comment by momof2sailors on January 11, 2010 at 2:11pm

Here is the article we recieved in a email from MILTARY.COM aboutInternet Posts Indicate Threat to Navy
January 09, 2010
Stars and Stripes|by Sandra Jontz.

Messages posted recently by prominent contributors to Islamist Web sites are seeking specific information on U.S. military targets in hopes of carrying out an attack on Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, according to a U.S.-based group that tracks such sites.

One post on the jihadi forum Al-Falluja calls for information such as the “name of the particular naval unit to be targeted, its exact location, the number of troops on board the warship and their ranks, familial status, where their families live, the type of weapons the warship carries … and the number of nuclear bombs onboard,” reads a report compiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute.

Extremists reportedly are “on the verge of attacking U.S. ships in the gulf,” according to Steven Stalinsky, the group’s executive director.

Al-Qaida has been preparing for months to carry out attacks and has obtained weapons from the Somali mujahedeen that “Western countries sent to the Somali government but which instead fell into the hands of the muahideen,” according to information the group released Friday, translating an article from Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas that cited Kuwaiti security sources.

While there are occasional threats, Stalinsky said, the ones that appeared around the New Year are more significant because of who is putting them out.

“The postings that have come out recently are from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which has been in the news recently, and it is from some of their leaders and some of the main people and ... head moderators,” he said. “[The message] definitely carries more weight.”

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the failed bombing attempt of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.

Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service warned U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet of the threats on Dec. 31, said Cmdr. Chris Sims, Navy spokesman.

“We take all threats, real or perceived, very seriously and therefore maintain a constant high level of vigilance to ensure the safety of our personnel both ashore and afloat,” Sims said.

Citing security reasons, he declined to say whether the Navy changed any force-protection measures or policies or tactics as a result of the threats.

NCIS agents “continually evaluate threats based on credibility, imminence and specificity, and disseminate information about those threats” throughout the Navy, said NCIS spokesman Ed Buice.

“Regarding recent jihadist calls for intelligence-gathering on U.S. naval activities, the same practices apply. We have evaluated these communications and incorporated our assessment of them into several classified daily threat summaries that have been distributed to naval commanders worldwide.”

Observers and investigators come across countless bits of information, not all of which generate alerts. However, it was the specificity and the call for personal familial information that led NCIS to caution 5th Fleet, a Navy official said.

The recent posts generated a lot of blog traffic, and contributors answered the call for photos of U.S. naval assets by posting photographs to the sites, Stalinsky said.

A Dec. 30 Al-Falluja post called for a gathering of intelligence on U.S. Navy targets. The post was “in response to the call by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to Muslims to kill the Crusaders in the Arabian Peninsula on land, in the air, and at sea,” a portion of a Middle East Media Research Institute report says.

Included on the post were diagrams and a dated picture of the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. The photos, however, are from open-source Web sites, Stalinsky said, and easily attainable.

“While you can never know for sure who is putting something on a Web site, we know most of the important people by their names since we have been monitoring this for so long, and we can tell by the response,” he said.

One message posted Monday on Al-Falluja by a prominent contributor called “Abu Raghd” warns that al-Qaida has adopted a policy of “a blow for a blow and a raid for a raid” against America, the Middle East Media Research Institute stated.

“The writer states that, just as the Nigerian bomber surprised America with a new type of a bomb, future attacks will likewise involve ‘advanced bombs which your [security] apparatuses will fail to detect, or operations on an extravagant scale,’” reads the group’s translation.

The threats illustrate the precarious balance of keeping members informed and operational security, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Rick West said in a message posted Wednesday on the Navy’s Web site.

“Anyone who thinks our enemies don’t monitor what our sailors, families and commands are doing via the Internet and social media had better open their eyes,” West wrote. “These sites are great for networking, getting the word out and talking about some of our most important family readiness issues, but our sailors and their loved ones have to be careful with what they say and what they reveal about themselves, their families or their commands.”


©
This article is provided courtesy of Stars & Stripes, which got its start as a newspaper for Union troops during the Civil War, and has been published continuously since 1942 in Europe and 1945 in the Pacific. Stripes reporters have been in the field with American soldiers, sailors and airmen in World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and are now on assignment in the Middle East.

Stars and Stripes has one of the widest distribution ranges of any newspaper in the world. Between the Pacific and European editions, Stars & Stripes services over 50 countries where there are bases, posts, service members, ships, or embassies.

Stars & Stripes Website


the threats.

Comment by KatK on January 6, 2010 at 3:17pm

Read an article in Navy Times about extremists targeting US Navy ships. Here is part of the article and to read the whole article go to Navytimes.com:

One Dec. 30 post, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, calls for readers to assemble and submit information about American ships and their crews in chilling detail:

“Information on every U.S. naval unit — and only U.S. [units]! — should be quietly gathered [as follows:] [The vessel’s] name, the missions it is assigned; its current location …; the advantages of this naval unit; the number of U.S. troops on board, including if possible their ranks, and what state they are from, their family situation, and where their family members (wife and children) live; what kind of weapons they carry; the [vessel’s] destination …; the missions it has carried out; the way to monitor it around the clock; if its location is changed, define its movements and its route; monitor every Web site used by the personnel on these ships, and attempt to discover what is in these contacts.”

The writer, whose handle is “Ubada bin Al-Samit” and who posted on a Web forum called Al-Falluja, assured readers every item would be useful:

“My Muslim brothers, do not underestimate the importance of any piece of information, as simple as it may seem; the mujahideen, the lions of monotheism, may be able to use it in ways that have not occurred to you.”

The posts were provided to Navy Times by MEMRI spokesman Richard Wachtel, who said his group does not usually see comments that call so specifically to target American warships. Also significant, he said, was that the post was a response to an official call from the Yemeni terror group, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, to Muslims: “Kill the crusaders in the Arabian Peninsula on land, in the air, and at sea.”

We need to be very careful about what we write about our children and their ships if we have extremists targeting Navy ships specifically.

Comment by KatK on December 27, 2009 at 7:23pm

Dusty's mom-that sounds great and glad he got to be at the table for Christmas dinner!

Comment by KatK on December 27, 2009 at 7:22pm

Welcome, JoAnna! Let us know if we can help you with anything.

Comment by Mary, Proud Mom of Nick on December 24, 2009 at 4:54pm

Comment by momof2sailors on December 15, 2009 at 3:09pm

How long does or did it take for your sailors to call and say they made it to Japan? My son left Saturday night and I have not heard anything yet. Makes me worry.

Comment by CCR on December 5, 2009 at 7:11pm

Jane, is there a McCampbell group yet? If not, you can start one, then write a blog announcing it.

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