[MilCom] Pentagon New Terrorism Stategy to Affect HobbyMail lists?

[ClayMayrose at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/7/06 7:05:21 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
n5fpw at brmemc.net writes:

Yes  there 
are members of the military 


Cheif,
 
    Thanks for the words of wisdom and level  headedness.  
 
    Folks I am one of those dastardly military  communication operatives who 
regularly monitored this list for both  entertainment and intell.  As I was a 
shift supervisor at the  Global station at Elkhorn, Nebraska for a number of 
years, I used the list to  keep tabs on what the operators were doing while the 
big dog was off the porch.  You provided near real time intell into several 
situations which needed quick  reaction to avoid an embarrassing incident to 
develop.  There were  even a few situations that required operators to stand in 
front of me and  explain why things were done or not done while the microphone 
was hot.  At  no time did I divulge the source of my intell.
 
    For Example, the folks on the list pointed out the  incident where an 
operator at ADW and one at OFF were using the Scope Command  AMD as their own 
personal sex lines completely unaware that the transmissions  were going out over 
HF. There was another incident reported here that involved a  hot mic and 
vulgar language which imitated and not so warm and fuzzy  conversation on Monday 
morning.
 
    During my time at Elkhorn, Larry and I shared many  a lighthearted and 
enlightening conversation from a console at the above  mentioned location.  
While I was stationed there, I provided several  tours to members of the list and 
allowed 2 Amateur Radio special event  stations to be run from consoles at the 
site. These events happened because I  understood that this list doesn't pose 
any threat to national  security. 
 
 .  There seems to be quite a bit of over reaction happening  here. First, 
while all of us enjoy our monitoring at whatever level of  enthusiasm suits us. 
There are those personnel with in the military  establishment who find it odd 
that there are folks who want to monitor "their"  communications. To them we 
are radio geeks or nerds and lump us into a  group similar to the Mathew 
Broderick character in the movie War Games. 
 
    Second, I have seen posts here to the affect  of "when will they learn 
that we are not the enemy". We all know that we are not  the enemy; however, I 
just checked my wallet and somewhere I have misplaced my  USDA certified 
"good-guy" card. I am betting good money that all of you don't  have one either. 
While taking a MILCOMMER on a tour of Offutt AFB,  I  along with the list member 
and his son was jacked up by SF personnel because we  got to close to the E-4B 
on the alert pad. I forgot to put the  "good-guy" sign on my car.  
 
    My point is that those who are concerned with  communication security and 
physical security at your favorite local signal  source do not know you from 
Adam and they are trained to be vigilant against all  threats. Through that 
training anything and anyone is a threat until it or they  are deemed otherwise. 
Although you may have that good-guy card or sign, the bad  guys can make 
counterfeit credentials that are second to none. 
 
    Try for a minute to forget your hobby and see the  world through the eyes 
of security personnel. Then let them do their  job
 
Clay