NORFOLK, Va. — When Alyssa Myatt’s husband served on an aircraft carrier last year, she and other U.S. Navy spouses had to follow strict security protocols that meant driving to the ship’s home port just to learn that its deployment was being extended.
“It was not information that they would send in an email or share over the phone,” Myatt said. “They wouldn’t even stream it. You had to physically come and be present in a location with them to hear the information.”
Now Myatt is among some military spouses and veterans questioning the White House’s own adherence to security safeguards after President Donald Trump’s national security adviser added a journalist to about striking Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“‘Loose lips sink ships’ is a very real saying,” Myatt said of the World War II-era warning. Her husband served on the USS Eisenhower as the Navy shot down Houthi-launched missiles in the Red Sea.
Although Trump has downplayed the security breach as a “glitch,” Myatt found it deeply concerning because it flouted the strict rules that she and others have had to follow while potentially endangering U.S. sailors like her husband.
“To see these individuals who control our military not taking it seriously sets a precedent that is very scary and could result in dangerous situations for our men and women who serve our country,” Myatt said.
Veterans expected more from officials
The breach occurred March 15 when top national security officials texted plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in the , which provides encrypted communications but can be hacked. The group included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic magazine, which reported the incident in a Monday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said no classified information was posted to the chat. Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, later took “full responsibility” for the incident.
But Vietnam veteran Edwin J. Thomas says Trump’s Cabinet officials should have known better.
Thomas, 78, was visiting the U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina, home to Fort Bragg, the nation’s largest Army installation.
Thomas, who carried a heavy machine gun during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, said “everything should be kept confidential, behind closed doors” during military planning. He doesn’t think anyone should be fired, unless they continue to show what he considers poor judgment.
“I think it’s incompetence,” said Thomas, who voted for Trump. “They should have thought about what they were doing at the time when they did it. It’s a mistake. If they correct it, that’s fine. If they continue to use that app, then I think that’s an abuse of power.”
Air Force Reserve veteran David Cameron Wright said it made him angry.
“It makes me think they don’t care about our security,” the former senior airman said as he sat by a fountain at North Carolina Veterans Park in Fayetteville.
“I expect more of our people in that type of authority,” he added.
Like Thomas, though, he thinks the White House officials involved should be given a second chance.
“I mean, nobody’s perfect,” he said. “No president, no civilian. Military, nonmilitary. Nobody’s perfect.”
Staying safe during deployment
The latest against the Houthis began with fighter jets launching off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and dropping bombs in parts of Yemen, a mission similar to the one Myatt’s husband was on last year.
The Eisenhower’s carrier strike group protected merchant vessels and allied warships under fire in a that leads to the Suez Canal. About 7,000 American sailors were waging the since World War II.
The Eisenhower’s home port is the nation’s largest Navy base in Norfolk and its . Families were part of a Facebook group connecting them with sailors that was consistently monitored by the Navy, which deleted posts if they contained sensitive information, such as a sailor’s photo that could give away the ship’s location, Myatt said.
The aircraft carrier had Wi-Fi, enabling sailors to stay in touch with family through texts, WhatsApp and even phone calls. But there were times when the ship went silent.
“If we weren’t getting emails, if we weren’t getting phone calls, it kind of clued us in that something’s happening,” Myatt said. “Because the ship shut down all communications to protect itself.”
Myatt questioned why White House officials couldn’t share the information about the latest strikes in person, possibly in the famed Situation Room depicted in films and television shows.
“What if it was somebody who wanted to take that information and make a whole lot of money off of it?” she said about the accidental inclusion of an outsider in the chat.
“This isn’t a partisan issue,” Myatt added. “Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, that should not matter. This is a situation that affects every single American regardless of how you voted.”
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Breed reported from Fayetteville.
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