Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      (U.S. Air Force graphic)AF adopts new dragon
                        
                        
                        (U.S. Air Force graphic)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        (U.S. Air Force graphic)AF adopts new dragon
                        
                        
                        (U.S. Air Force graphic)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

AF adopts new dragonPublished Aug. 20, 2015
                    
                    
                    Air Force Office of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**Lt. Gen. Bill Bender, the Air Force chief information officer, and Maj. Gen. Martin Whelan, the Air Force director of future operations, have partnered to increase awareness of the importance of operations security and cybersecurity to protect the Air Force mission, personnel and their families.
“We are thrilled with this new partnership,” Whelan said. “Cybersecurity is such an integral part to ensuring operations security in our Air Force. We want our Air Force personnel to understand that cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility and that their daily actions can make or break a mission and/or put themselves and their families at risk.”
Bender agreed. “We are hoping that by pairing our OPSEC and new cybersecurity logos together it will remind personnel of the relationship that OPSEC and cybersecurity share in keeping our personnel and our mission safe.”
OPSEC has always been an important factor in the military. The official OPSEC program launched during Vietnam in 1966 with Operation Purple Dragon. “Purple Dragon” was the unclassified nickname, given by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for a study done on the loss of B-52 Stratofortresses in Southeast Asia. National leadership became concerned that there was a security breach since U.S. B-52 bombers were being shot down at a very high rate. It was apparent that the North Vietnamese had been gaining prior knowledge of bombing mission times and locations. Thus, Operation Purple Dragon was born and it was soon discovered that existing procedures allowed flight plans to be received directly by Hanoi.
OPSEC has since become an established process used by military, federal, state and local agencies, as well as private companies. Each year, additional businesses realize the importance of OPSEC in their day-to-day operations to help protect proprietary and sensitive information from disclosure, espionage and exploitation. Even at home, OPSEC can help protect a person’s identity, family and home from those who strive to exploit their information for personal gain.
In today’s world, modern technology instantly enables any individual to share information around the globe. Though people may intentionally share this information with relatives and business partners they could also be unintentionally providing access of this same information to terrorist and criminal organizations. Cybersecurity and OPSEC can help protect personal and critical information. As threats around the world continue to grow, OPSEC will always be there to protect a precious commodity: information.
Today, the OPSEC (Purple) Dragon symbolizes the importance of protecting critical information and observable actions about mission capabilities, limitations and intentions in order to prevent or control exploitation by an adversary. The new Cybersecurity Dragon falls in the same family by symbolizing the importance of cybersecurity to protect and secure our personnel and their mission allowing the Air Force to fly, fight and win in a cyber-contested environment.
The OPSEC Dragon has done a superb job reminding Air Force personnel of the importance of operations security for decades. When partnered with the new Air Force Cybersecurity Dragon, the two act as a powerful reminder to help protect Air Force personnel, their missions and their families.
“Virtually every mission across the range of military operations depends on cybersecurity and every Airman has an important role to play with respect to OPSEC and cybersecurity,” Bender said. “We are much more effective when everyone plays their part.”operational security 



DRAGON 



Purple Dragon 



OPSEC Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander emphasizes five focus areas during AFA Warfare Symposium
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil