Members of the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Escort Flight - Tango Element sort through trash looking for operation security violations in Southwest Asia, on July 2, 2012. Last month alone, Tango Element members, also known as "Dumpster Divers" recovered more than 1,900 OPSEC violations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera)
Members of the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Escort Flight - Tango Element sort through trash looking for operation security violations in Southwest Asia, on July 2, 2012. Last month alone, Tango Element members, also known as "Dumpster Divers" recovered more than 1,900 OPSEC violations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera)
Members of the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Escort Flight - Tango Element sort through trash looking for operation security violations in Southwest Asia, on July 2, 2012. Last month alone, Tango Element members, also known as "Dumpster Divers" recovered more than 1,900 OPSEC violations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera)
by Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
7/13/2012 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- With no one in sight, a trash truck pulls up to one of the many orange dumpsters throughout the base. As the driver and his crew dismount to empty the dumpster, so does a crew of four Airmen. However, before the dumpster can be emptied, these Airmen jump into it and begin a process of what some might describe as a very dirty job.
"I found one" says an Airman. "BINGO!" says the other. "Two more security violations, A boarding pass with all the personal information on it and a customs form complete with his home mailing address."
The 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's Escort Flight Tango Element is led by, Staff Sgt. Willard Hughes during the morning-shift and Staff Sgt. Anthony Espino during the night-shift. These gentlemen lead a team of 18 Airmen, whose primary duties are to dive into dumpsters in search of items containing information that could present a security risk to service members, their families and the base.
Tango Element members, sometimes referred as the "Dumpster Divers", recover an average of 400 operations security violations a week.
"Our mission is to look into the dumpsters looking for OPSEC -- critical information, maps, names, addresses and uniforms," Hughes said. "Once we find these items, they are logged into the system, verified, we notify the unit's first sergeant and create a weekly report which is sent to wing leadership."
In accordance with the Air Force Central 100 percent shred policy, outlined in the Air Force Instruction 10-701, Operations Security (OPSEC), the 379th ECES will oversee and conduct the wing's "dumpster dive" program. In total, the divers continuously inspect more than 150 dumpsters on a daily basis.
"Our job is to ensure the safety and security of not only our Air Force mission, but our coalition partners as well," Espino said. "There are a lot of personal and work-related items found that can potentially lead to credit card fraud, identify theft and impede our mission capabilities."
Master Sgt. Marcus Sidney, the 379th ECES Wing Escort Program manager, validates and categorizes all items recovered by Tango Element.
The three categories are uniforms, rules information and critical information. However, the biggest OPSEC category violation is the rules information that contains privacy act and personal information such as receipts, mailing labels, documents and pictures.
"During rotation season is when we see an influx," said the 18-year veteran. "As a base, there were more than 1,900 OPSEC violations for the month of June."
This year alone, there have been more than 9,000 OPSEC violations. In 2011 there were more than 22,000 total violations.
"We protect everyone from themselves," said Airman 1st Class Othniel Lambert, who is assigned to the 379th ECES Escort Flight. "We're here as a safety net to catch any sensitive items before it goes into the wrong hands."
The job itself can be a very dirty job, but Tango Element members protect everyone by getting inside and inspecting the dumpster every day looking for information that may compromise the security and safety of personnel and the base.
Comments
7/27/2012 12:45:31 PM ET oh yeah and i failed to mention this is done twice daily.. so if you can make a day go from 24 to 40 or more hours, then be my guest to just have 6 airmen do this. but i'd like to see you lead this job with that little manning
Ex dumpster diver, usa
7/27/2012 9:29:27 AM ET @anotherguy 6 people wouldnt be enough. There are at least 5 routes alone that i can remember. each route takes around 4 hours to complete and thats on a fairly smooth running day if the trash trucks dont break down. not counting the time it takes to escort the drivers off base after the route and then go back and log all of the violations. there is just not enough time in a day to complete all dumpsters with 6 people.
Ex-dumpster diver, usa
7/20/2012 11:33:18 AM ET Really? 18 people are doing this? Sounds like we could deploy a few less people if this is what we have them doing as their primary duties. How about a team of 6? Two to provide constant education around the base and the other 4 can dumpster dive. I always hated that deployed location because they are so bored they are focusing on this kind of garbage instead of the war effort. No pun intended. Also, placing more shredders in strategic locations might help.
Another Guy, Over Here
7/18/2012 11:10:38 AM ET Most of the OPSEC violations they are pulling out of the dumpsters is probably from people rotating in and out of theatre. I never really saw a whole lot of recycling/shred bins whenever I rotated through, but even if there were you can bet a lot of the younger Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors who are there for 2-4 days at a time don't really care. They just want to fill out whatever paperwork they need to and find a bunk or grab a beer.
Sean, Arizona
7/18/2012 8:54:56 AM ET I noticed an OPSEC issue. Saying that the individuals are in Southwest Asia and then posting the unit they are with.
JJ, TX
7/18/2012 7:49:48 AM ET Editor's note: This comment was rejected because it did not meet the comment rules. Please review the comment rules, which can be found just above the comment submission form.
Steve, Midwest
7/16/2012 12:24:05 PM ET Why does the military allow paper to go into dumpsters? In the Aviation industry, most have trained their people into shreading all papers or placing the paer in locked containers which are shreaded. The only items that end up in a dumpster is garbage or pop cans, plastic water bottles, which are recycled. After the initial investment of shreaders, the cost is low especially if you have contracts to recycle paper products, it can even bring money back on boad to purchase more paper. Allot of departments use half of the paper they did use with electronic sharing. Electronic shareing is also heavily monitored to prevent losses of information. Bring the Government into the current age of useing less paper.
