OPSEC In The Movies

19. November 2007 by Revelator.

Does Hollywood do a good job of portraying OPSEC in the movies? Can anyone provide a movie and describe a scene where OPSEC comes into play? Was it good OPSEC or was it poor OPSEC? I don’t really care if it was good or poor acting.

One that comes to mind for me is the movie “MIDWAY” which came out in the summer of 1976 and is available on DVD. It tells the tale about “the most decisive naval battle in U.S. history” which turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.  Directed by Jack Smight, it has an ALL STAR cast: Charlton Heston, James Coburn, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Pat Morita, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Toshiro Mifune, James Shigeta, Christina Kokubo, Edward Albert (the son of Eddie Albert), and - if you look close enough - Tom Selleck (a.k.a. Magnum P.I.).

At the risk of turning this into a movie critic forum or movie trivia challenge, I thought the movie did a pretty good job of historically portraying this watershed event. It was also really fun if you got to see it in theaters enabled with “SENSOR-ROUND!”

Two items of OPSEC significance come to mind:

“AF is Midway”  Does anyone know the movie well enough to know what I am referring to? Some might call this a feedback loop. The scene is where we employ poor OPSEC in a smart manner…in a “Measurement of Effectiveness” sort of way…to use to our advantage.  When we get to this scene, the film establishes that we are “copying the Japanese mail” but the US is not quite sure what their intentions are for Midway. Maybe it would all become clear if they could just figure out what the two letter abbreviation “AF” refers to in the enemy’s message traffic.

Commander Joseph Rochefort, a US Navy Intel officer (a crypie) played by Hal Holbrook, convinces Admiral Nimitz, played by Henry Fonda, to buy off on a little ploy to have the comms center on Midway Island send out a “fake message” in the clear about a degrading fresh water situation on Midway. Admiral Nimitz gives the okay. Ultimately – just a minute or so in movie time, Commander Rochefort and his personnel intercept and de-code a Japanese message that confirms that “AF” is indeed Midway.

Could you consider this a nice OPSEC coup? Maybe a small victory for OPSEC? If nothing else, it clearly demonstrates that the enemy was listening…and something like that could be useful in reinforcing OPSEC awareness; then and now.

“Admiral Nimitz is notified”  What happens next is my favorite OPSEC moment in the film. Just seconds after CDR Rochefort – Hal Holbrook - gets the news confirming “AF” is Midway, he turns to Charlton Heston, playing the fictional character of Captain Matt Garth, and relays the information. Charlton Heston is then sprayed with water from a fire hose and exclaims that the place is a “madhouse!”

Oops, sorry; wrong movie.

Charlton Heston quickly rushes to the nearest telephone…still within easy earshot of the Intel crew who just broke the message traffic…to call Admiral Nimitz.

Can you say “phone’s up” or “this line is not secure”? Well, neither could Mr. Heston or Mr. Fonda; maybe it just wasn’t in the script. Captain Garth tells Admiral Nimitz that Intel has confirmed that “AF is Midway” over the telephone. Was this poor OPSEC? I don’t think so; this was a security violation plain and simple not to mention just poor headwork. Of course CDR Rochefort was too busy celebrating with his shipmates to admonish the good Captain on his security procedures.

Upon hearing the news, Admiral Nimitz requests that Captain Garth assemble the staff at a particular time the next morning to begin planning. Was this critical information? I’d say sure! This part of the scene is an example of poor OPSEC.

Anyway, I doubt Hollywood was thinking about the finer points of good OPSEC when they were striving for historical accuracy combined with dramatic effect. The take-away here is that you can use this 2 – 3 minute scene to improve your own organization’s OPSEC awareness thanks to Hollywood’s literary license.

For those of you who have seen the movie, what do you think? Please share other films and movie scenes that directly or indirectly involve OPSEC.

You can get more details about the “AF is Midway” ploy, by searching Commander Joseph Rochefort on the web.

Don Sidro - The GodFather of OPSEC                 

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