I am officially giving U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, the ranking Republican member on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, a Beadwindow 05 for giving away the location of friendly personnel on an unsecured communications device.
The post over on Michigan Liberal that Hoekstra revealed a secret congressional trip to Iraq on Twitter brought me back to my Navy days where I spent 12 hours a day talking on radio telephones in the darkened Combat Information Center (CIC). A Beadwindow was a brevity code word for pointing out a breach of security on the radio with what is called Essential Elements of Friendly Information (EEFIs).
Eric over at Michigan Lib may remember this because he also worked in CIC, but he did a different job than I did. When I heard about Hoekstra's bonehead move the term Beadwindow popped into my brain immediately. Although it's been some 14 years since I used that term, I was afraid it might be classified; that is until I Googled it.
It's amazing this guy is on the Intelligence Committee. I remember how many hoops I had to jump through to get a Top Secret security clearance. I wonder how hard it was for him to get one, and, more importantly, will he keep it?
Hoekstra's people are, of course, denying it was classified, but when you signal your intended movement to a hot zone before hand, you're asking for trouble, and it's an obvious breach of security. I would consider saying "Heading to Iraq and Afghanistan weds (sic) night" an obvious breach of security.
This guy wants to be the Governor of Michigan?
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