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Show COMMENTARY TIMES December^ 2008 Information Assurance — How do those loose lips sink ships? BY SCOTT WIRZ Hill Aerospace Museum director Weekly Since Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Lee Carter... Standard-Examiner publisher Mary Lou Gorny Hilltop Times Editor Lee Anne Hensley HllttopTimes Writer Deadlines: Editorial and news items are due by noon on the Friday prior to the Thursday print date. To submit news items e-mail hilltoptimesOstandard.net or call 625-4273. For Classified Advertising, call 625-4300. For Retail Advertising, call 625-4388. The Hilltop Times is published byOgden Publishing Corporation, a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under, and in compliance with, a Memorandum of Understanding with Hill Air Force Base. The content of the Hilltop Times does not necessarily represent the views of, nor is it endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or Hill Air Force Base (collectively, the Government). The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Government of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the Standard-Examiner's Davis County Office, 67 S. Main St., Suite 140, Layton,. _.. Utah, 84040. Additional editorial content is provided by variotif militate and "civil-" "^ ian wire services and Hill Air Force Base public affairs departments. Call 625^273 with story ideas or comments, or send e-mail to Editor Mary Lou Gorny at mgorny@standard. net. Call 625-4300 for Classified Advertising or 625^388 for Retail Advertising. O ne of my least favorite phrases is, "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." People say this all the time as a joke or to imply that they know something you can't. The phrase is overused and it makes light of one of the most critical aspects of our jobs—information assurance. This year marks the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and our nation's entry into World War II. While we often remember the men and women who gave their lives on Dec. 7, few people appreciate the true lessons of Pearl Harbor or understand how they apply to us today. Prior to the Japanese attack, we regarded Pearl Harbor as a "safe" facility. Our war plans were based on the "fact" that any move made by Japan against our forces would take place in the Philippines. Japanese forces, equipment and tactics were considered inferior to our own. Japanese agents used both our lax attitude and prejudice against us, collecting invaluable intelligence regarding fleet movements, ship moorings—even the daily routines of shipboard personnel—for use in planning the attack. Japanese agents took photos of our ships in harbor, watched from shore as the fleet put to sea and read everything they could about how our Navy functioned in the Pacific. They gathered enough information for war planners to build a large scale, highly detailed model of Pearl Harbor from which to plan the attack. The Japanese also learned that the Honolulu radio station stayed on the air all night when the Army Air Corps was flying bombers to Hawaii from the West Coast. The station's Report suspicious activity via the ^ *. AFQSi EAGLE EXES program t r * Dial: 777-5056 / 5057/ 5O5S. Watcb T Report - Protect ' Force Protection is Our Business Everyone is a Sensor When you call or send an e-mail, your comments will be recorded and staffed through the agency responsible for action. Please give your supervisor and chain of command the opportunity to work with you in answering questions and solving problems before calling the Action Line. This will help me better serve your interests. Items of basewide interest will be published in the Hilltop Times. services: v •'•-:*% -^ THINK SAFETY Hill's Total 2008 DUIs: 32 Hill's Last DUI: 0 Hwe4H&&t 15 Unit Involved: Airmen Against Drinking and Driving provide rides when designated drivers are unavailable. Call 777-1111 any time to request a ride. "I consider that indiscretion cost us 10 submarines and 800 officers and men." One of the most thought-provoking aspects is that in both instances the Japanese didn't use anything fancy to get the information they needed. Everyday items such as cameras, radios, books and newspapers all became instruments of war—not in and of themselves, but because of the information they contained and how it was used. We had clearly underestimated our enemy and the ease with which that enemy could gather information vital to our . national security and turn it against us. In our digital age, protecting this inf orma- , tion is even more challenging. The internet, digital cameras and thumb drives have become such an integral part of our daily lives that most of us don't stop to think about the risk associated with them. This makes it all the more frustrating when we come to work and find that our favorite websites are blocked, email attachments get stripped for no apparent reason and the use of memory sticks and similar items is explicitly prohibited. The reason for these policies is simple—they pose a threat to our ability to positively track and control information. One of the many lessons of Pearl Harbor is that we don't always see the threats to our nation. That doesn't make them any less real. Information assurance policies exist for a reason and we are all essential for their success. Tb conduct ourselves as if personal inconvenience outweighs policy compliance is to deny our Air Force Core Values and potentially put both ourselves and our country in harm's way. Let's show that we haven't forgotten the lessons our parents and grandparents learned the hard way. Good information assurance practices will always make for a stronger national defense. And loose lips still sink ships. 777-7000 action.line.pa@hill.af.mil Phone numbers —The base agencies listed can be contacted directly if you have a complaint or a problem with their Have you checked to see what the load is like before you lift it? Loose pieces inside a box can cause accidents if the box becomes unbalanced. Is it easy to grip this load? Be sure you have a tight grip on the object before you lift it Handles applied to the object may help you lift ft safely. signal helped the young and inexperienced crews successfully navigate the long over-water flight. It would become a homing beacon for the Japanese aircrews as well on Dec. 7. The Japanese complemented their intelligence efforts by carefully conwirz cealing their development of advanced weaponry, such as the Zero fighter, and the exact nature of their plans. Within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces were on the offensive in Hong Kong, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines. The attack on Pearl Harbor forced us to shift our focus from battleships to aircraft carriers and submarines. While aircraft carriers required large task forces for protection, submarines could operate independently and were capable of penetrating deep into Japanese held areas while maintaining the element of surprise. They succeeded in disrupting the flow of desperately needed war materials and brought back a crucial bit of intelligence about enemy anti-sub tactics that saved the lives of many fellow submariners. Although more than a dozen subs had been lost to enemy action by mid-1943, this was a relatively small number compared to the amount of damage inflicted on the Japanese. Then in June 1943, Congressman Andrew Jackson May gave a news interview and made public the reason that so few of our submarines had been lost—the Japanese weren't setting their depth charges deep enough. His comments made it into print and were soon transmitted to Japan. The effects were devastating. Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, Pacific submarine fleet commander, later wrote, 777-3056 Security Forces 24-hr. Crisis Information... ...777-3056 Force Support Squadron.... ...777-4134 Base Restaurants 777-2043 Retirement/Compensation.. ....777-6142 • (civilian) Social Actions 777-3516 Employer Relations 777-7129 A day that. lived in infamy BY DAVE KENDZIORA Ogden Air Logistics Center historian O ALEX R. LLOYD/U.S.Air Force Newitommander and demo pilot for the Viper West F-16 Demonstration Team at Hill Air Force Base, Maj. David "Booster" Graham, stands next to an F-16 Fighting Falcon after a flight Nov. 5. To read more about the new members of the Viper West F-16 Demonstration Team, see next week's edition of the Hilltop Times. Military Pay. 777-1851 Civilian Pay 777-6246 Air Force Suggestion 777-6901 Program Hill Straight Talk 777-9696 IC Complaints 777-5305 (for appointment) IC Complaints 777-5361 (after hours) Fraud, Waste or Abuse 777-5361 (recording) Loud Noise 1-877-885-9595 (complaints) 75th Medical Croup 777-4918 Civil Engineering 777-1856 Hill Pride Hotline 777-7433 Public Affairs 777-5333 Military Housing ...825-9392 Maintenance Safety Office : 777-3333 Safety Office Hotline 586-9300 Union 777-3257 AFOSI Narcotics Hotline 777-1852 Family Assistance Center 777-3090 ' (whenactivated) :.,- ,. • ;.. .-._•; Casualties USA: 218 killed in action, 364 wounded in action. USN: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA.USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA. Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA. Total: 2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA. Battleships n Sunday, Dec. 7,1941, the USS Arizona, total toss when a Japanese launched a surprise bomb hit her magazine; USS Oklaattack against the U.S. Forces homa, total loss when she capsized stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. and sunk in the harbor; USS CaliBy planning his attack on a Sunday, fornia, sunk at her berth and later the Japanese commander, Admiral raised and repaired; USS West VirChuichi Nagumo, hoped to catch the ginia, sunk at her berth and later entire fleet in port. raised and repaired; USS Nevada, The aircraft carriers and one of the A scene of devastation at Pearl Harbor after the Japanese beached to prevent sinking and battleships were not in port. The USS later repaired; USS Utah (former attacked Dec. 7, 1941. Enterprise was returning from Wake battleship used as a target), sunk. Island, where it had just delivered some Beginning at 6 a.m., the first wave consisted Cruisers aircraft The USS Lexington was ferrying of 183 fighters and torpedo bombers which aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga struck at the fleet in Pearl Harbor and the USS Raleigh, heavily damaged but reand USS Colorado were undergoing repairs airfields in Hickam, Kaneohe and Ewa The paired. in the U.S. second strike, launched at 7:15 am., conDestroyers Despite the latest intelligence reports sisted of 167 aircraft, which again struck at about the missing aircraft carriers (his most the same targets. At 7:53 am., the first wave USS Downes, destroyed; USS Cassin, de- , important targets), Nagumo decided to con- struck airfields and Pearl Harbor and within stroyed; USS Shaw, very heavy damage.;;/ the next hour, the second wave arrived and tinue the attack with his force of six carriAircraft ers and 423 aircraft. At a range of 230 miles continued the attack When it was over, the north of Oahu, he launched the first wave. U.S. losses were: 188 aircraft destroyed |