Story by David Altom, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
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The brainchild of the Kentucky National Guard J2 shop, the "2012 OPSEC Derby" screensaver was recognized by Headquarters, Department of the Army, as a unique platform for raising operations security awareness. (Photo by David Altom, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs)
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky Army National Guard J2 set new standards when it received an Army-wide award for its unique operations security program.
Issued by Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA), the award was given in the electronic multimedia achievement category. The winning project, titled "2012 OPSEC Derby," is a screensaver program that show a series of traditional Kentucky horse racing photographs accompanied by OPSEC messages reminding users to maintain proper security awareness.
"We're really excited to bring Kentucky to the national spotlight," said Warrant Officer Charlie Harris, State Security Officer for the Kentucky National Guard. "When a National Guard operation gets this kind of recognition from the Army, the award possesses special meaning to us."
This is, in fact, the fourth such award that Kentucky has received in recent years. What sets this award apart is that the screen savers are being used across the Army community.
"We're extremely proud of Kentucky's effort in this area and they have great understanding of how to apply OPSEC and its best practices," said Maj. Pete Elstad, Army National Guard OPSEC Program Manager. "Being recognized for this award is just one more indication that Kentucky has a first rate program."
Harris said the screensaver program was a team effort. "We have a great relationship with our J-6 Visual Information shop, and they helped us put this together. The end result is a professional, eye catching, and exciting series of screensavers."
The Kentucky screensavers were also submitted by NGB for the 2012 Interagency OPSEC Support Staff (IOSS) Annual OPSEC Award in the Multimedia Category. These results will be announced later in the year.