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Facebook is a great tool for helping military families stay connected but requires sound judgment about what’s shared.
The hardest thing about being deployed is being separated from loved ones. In the last few years, social media has changed everything, allowing military families to stay in touch from halfway around the world. But with all that progress comes the need for restraint and responsibility.
Claire Shackleford’s recent post on OPSEC outlined the “Dos and Don’ts” for protecting critical information and helping to keep our troops safe at home and on the battlefield. But even information that might not be considered critical can still be harmful if not handled through the proper channels. Here’s a truly awful example.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Brown was killed in Afghanistan on April 3 by an insurgent roadside bomb. Shortly after, his wife, Ariell Taylor-Brown, received a Facebook message from a woman in her husband’s platoon telling her to call immediately. She did and was told over the phone that her husband had been killed. Two hours later, official Army representatives arrived at her door, but by then it was too late.
This breach of information security circumvents the long-established method of professionally handling the very sensitive task of delivering news of the death of a loved one. Normally, soldiers are ordered not to release information of this nature until the next of kin can be properly notified. Soldiers who violate this rule could potentially face court-martial.
While the Army is investigating how this latest incident could have happened, senior officials claim that it is still a rare occurrence.
“There have been a few occasions where close friends of the soldier have not abided by the restrictions and have contacted family members of casualties either telephonically or through social media,” Col. Deborah Skillman, chief of the Casualty Mortuary Affairs Branch at Army Human Resources Command, told Army Times via email.
The main concern is the effect that this kind of incident could have on military spouses. Discussing the event, Ariell Taylor-Brown said, “When she first told me, I appreciated it because I wanted to know, but after it was all said and done, it was a horrible way. She didn’t even give me a chance. I could have been driving, anything. I could have harmed myself.”
The military death notification system is structured so that there are no false notices and so that loved ones can be told in a controlled, responsible way. If spouses were to start questioning the reliability of this system, it could create potential for scams such as the fake military death notifications that were circulating Facebook last year.
The Army plans to address the casualty notification policy in the new version of their Social Media Handbook.
Photo courtesy of birgerking
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3 Comments
Why did it take 2 hours for them to come to her door to let her know her husband was dead?
Who knows where she lived. People still have to get through traffic to go and notify in person. There is a system in place for a reason. I would have rather waited the 2 hours than be told something so terrible in the way she was told. The better question is who did this woman think she was to open her mouth in the first place and who was the soldier that obviously leaked this information to his wife.
Supergirl, it takes time to locate family members. She may have been out to eat, or not at home. They try the address on the emergency form every hour on the hour until they locate the person. NOt everyone lives right on the military base. A lot of spouses or parents live in another location, and the casualty officers are spaced out throughout the US.
Mamameghan: The sad thing is, that MANY Army “wives”, or other service member spouses tend to gossip and want to be the first person with the hot news. There is something called a “blackout”, when someone is Killed in Action, or Wounded in Action (My husband is a wounded in action soldier, and we have dealt with many KIA’s in his company last deployment including those of close friends). When there is a WIA, the notification of a phone call goes out to the family members….once everyone is notified, the blackout is taken off. In the case of a KIA, they notify in person, everyone who is listed. This may actually mean several people…such as a spouse, child, parents, etc. It often is more then one KIA at on etime also.
In this case, the person who did this, was probably on the phone or on the internet chatting when it happened….and someone notified her husband. The blackout of all communcation happened right after that probably. SOmetimes there is a delay. Sadly, this spouse should have known better. Unfortunately, I have been both an Army spouse and in the military myself for over 10 years altogether…there are all sorts of women/men and ages and maturity levels. For someone to do this to another spouse is despicable!