It's Classified!

When I was a young lad I had had just transferred to St. Cloud State from North Hennepin Junior College, the draft board came a calling. This, in the fall of 1968 I went to Federal Building in St. Cloud and enlisted in the United States Navy with (what existed at the time) a six month delay. In those six months I finished fall quarter, started and completed winter quarter. I goofed off and did horrible in my studies - however, it was a great party. In April of 1969 I raised my hand and became a member of the United States Navy.

From fall of 1968 until I went to San Diego for boot camp in April of 1969, I never wavered from my desire to go to sea and be on an aircraft carrier. In fact, the Navy at one time had "dream sheets" you could fill out listing your vocational choices. You could choose up to five and every one of mine was aviation based. 

In boot camp, we were all subjected to what was known as "battery tests". Fresh from leaving school, I was not in favor of taking more tests. I just wanted to get on a ship and learn my trade. Upon completion of the testing, I was told I did very well on some parts of the tests and I was being considered for something other than aviation. Needless to say, I was not excited about the news at all. However, it gave me the chance to get out of Recruit Training Command and go somewhere else on the base to have an interview for this mystery profession they wanted me to consider.

When I got to the meeting, I was led into a room which was paneled (not painted haze grey) with the seal of the FBI hanging on the wall. He was behind a big wooden desk and told me to sit down. He asked me if I would like to be considered for a program that was very important, very specialized and would require a very high clearance. The downside was if when running my clearance a disqualifier came up, or if I washed out school, it was out to the fleet to be a deck hand. No aviation, no aircraft, just whatever bucket had a seaman billet on it. After thoughtful consideration, I agreed to forgo my hopes and dreams of being on a carrier doing big, important stuff. I signed the papers to go to school in Pensacola and learn to be what was then known as a Communication Technician.

Everybody I was with in Pensacola was in the same boat (so to speak). We were in the basic part of the course, trying learn, trying not to get washed out, and behind the scenes, the DIS (Defense Investigative Service) as well as the FBI was vetting the hell out of our past lives to see if we qualified for a Top Secret SCI (Special Compartmentalized Information) clearance. With all the trials and tribulations I went through with the training, one of my proudest moments came when I was told my clearance was approved and I was to be briefed so I could take the advanced part of the training.

Over my 4 years active and 17 years active reserve time in the Navy, I maintained that level of clearance. People that I worked with that had the same level of clearance took it very seriously. It was an honor and a privilege to have our country show that kind of trust in us so we could guard it's most vital secrets. Many times I was privy to very important events which never made the newspaper. Secrets back then were vital to our national defense just as they are now.

Besides the many benefits of having a high level clearance, there was also the "stick". And the "stick" was what would happen to you if you violated the terms of your clearance and disclosed classified information to someone who was not cleared to receive it. Besides immediately losing your clearance (and most likely never having another one in your life), you could be sentenced under the UCMJ to hard labor in a Federal prison, fined thousands of dollars, or both.

That brings us to today. We have all heard about the constant drip, drip, drip of classified information being leaked to the press from "somewhere" in the Administration. Some of the things I have read about in the paper could cost lives or significantly damage our national security. This is totally unacceptable. My belief is that some who have received a high level clearance (higher than the one I had) do not understand the gravity of what they are doing. They are putting politics before country. As an American, I am outraged! As someone who help guard our nation's vital secrets for over 2 decades, I am perplexed why our Commander in Chief is not doing a thorough investigation, finding the leaker, and punishing to the full extent of the law.

This is why I always say it is important to have the adults in charge. When President Bush (43) had just won the election and the transition teams were working together, President Clinton's team had removed all the "W" keys from the typewriters. It is a young, left leaning group who thought much of what happens in WDC is a game. It is not. Misuse of classified information is also not a game. Classified information is our nation's treasure, our nation's future. If something should no longer be classified, there is a process how to declassify it.
Until that happens, "ITS CLASSIFIED".