LinLori

“] Recently, on one of many military spouse pages I happen to “like” on Facebook, this story began circulating again.

“1st of 3 men in NC terror ring sentenced to prison”

These men were caught conspiring against a Marine base in Quantico, which hits home a bit because that’s in the same state as me. The fact that they’re being tried in North Carolina because that’s where they lived? Even more frightening.

But it brings to mind a good point. We make a lot of talk about keeping our men safe overseas. It’s our top priority, actually. If you see the OPSEC badge in my sidebar, it’ll take you to a blog I really admire, where she breaks down OPSEC really nicely.

But there’s another aspect to OPSEC that involves keeping ourselves safe. This particular case – wherein the terrorists are being sentenced currently – brings that to the forefront of my mind and made me want to post about it today.

I remember being taught about this in boot camp, and being taught about it again in various safety standdowns while I was active duty. And I really think that, in today’s world, it’s something every military spouse should learn and heed carefully.

While our active duty half is deployed overseas, we of course do everything we can to ensure he stays safe. We don’t talk about where he is, the unit he’s with, what they’re doing – you know the drill, I’m sure. If you don’t, go find that badge in the sidebar.

But how many of you know how to lessen the threat to yourself – whether your spouse is home or overseas? Given this case, they did have an advantage. One of their members was the son of a retired officer. But they were targeting families.

“Hit everything you can to hurt America and the Jew.” -Examiner

Real nice, right? I’m not even going to get into the levels on which this disturbs me, being an American of Jewish faith. They weren’t just checking you out while you were jogging. They were checking. you. out.

How can you make yourself less of a target?

Of course, watch what you say when blogging and on the internet – even Facebook. Guess what? Terrorists know how to use computers. I know it may not seem like it, since they’re stereotypically pictured as living in caves, but even trained monkeys can use Facebook. If you’re not sure? Don’t tweet it / update it / post it / blog it / pin it, whatever.

I’ve actually stopped using Foursquare, and I don’t ever check in on Yelp. I’m paranoid, I suppose, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Yes, I check in on Facebook, but I have my privacy settings locked down.

Vary your routine. Go to the post office every Thursday? Stop it. Go grocery shopping on a particular day of the week? Switch it up. If they don’t know where you’re doing to be and when, you’re a harder target to track.

Make sure you’re not tossing sensitive information in the trash. We’re lucky and have a wood stove, so we burn our sensitive documents weekly. Even if it’s a credit card offer – it gets burned. If you don’t have a wood stove, fireplace, or fire pit, please invest in a shredder of some kind. Protect your identity and your safety.

Don’t wave your ID around like it’s a VIP pass. It makes you more attractive to just about anyone as a target, including terrorists. What will screw with people’s heads more quickly than taking a military spouse hostage? Additionally, you may, in fact, have information they want. And you and I haven’t undergone the kind of training our spouses have to endure terrorist interrogation techniques.

Invest in measures to protect your home. Security systems are great, but if you can’t afford that, please make sure that the locks on your doors and windows are good and latch securely. I’m not saying you should get an attack dog, but… well, make sure Fifi will alert you if someone’s in the house, at least.

Invest in personal protection measures. I’m a huge proponent of our second amendment rights. I have my concealed carry permit and my pistol is as important as my purse when it comes to leaving the house. Not everyone is comfortable with guns. So consider OC spray (pepper spray), a personal taser, a pocket knife, or some form of personal protection you are comfortable with.

These measures not only make you a less appealing target to terrorists, they also make you a less appealing target to just about anybody – burglars, identity thieves, etc.

What do you think? Is there a point of being too safe? Did I miss something? What do you do to stay safe both when they’re home and when they’re gone?