Local military urged to take caution after ISIL threat

With the threat of attacks against service members looming, military personnel, veterans and their families are being told to exercise caution.

Over the weekend, the FBI warned the military about threats from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL, against service members. The warning urged individuals to guard their social media accounts carefully to avoid attracting attention from extremists.

ISIL's September call for assaults against military, law enforcement and government workers could motivate extremists to carry out attacks in the U.S., the warning said. There have been no direct attacks to date.

"Terrorists like icons," said John Comiskey, director of the Homeland Security program at Monmouth University. "They're targeting methodology is typical and deliberate. Any U.S. service man or woman is a symbol of (American) imperialism."

The U.S. Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck is operating normally, but staff are urging sailors to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings all the time, said Beth Baker, a spokeswoman for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia.

"The Navy, like all services, has an entire operational security support team that works on these types of things," Baker said. "They work to remind sailors and their families to be informed about the risks."

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The team is also tasked with making sure military personnel understand the risks of identity theft and information that's inadvertently or carelessly put out over social media.

"We work closely with local and federal law enforcement to determine if there's anything anyone should be doing differently," she said.

What most civilians don't know is that threats against military personnel are common, especially during active conflicts, Comiskey said.

"If you strike a U.S. military service member, particularly in uniform, you're going to get a lot of people watching," he said. "Terrorists want a lot of blood and they want a lot of people watching."

Such threats from terrorist groups are intended to get media attention, so they can prove to followers and potential members that they're significant, Comiskey said. ISIL needs to demonstrate they're a worthy cause by making people believe they can strike at a powerful military force like the U.S., he said.

Comiskey said many don't realize the power of social media and the data mining capabilities average citizens have. Veterans and military personnel should "scrub" their own and their family members' social media accounts so it's harder for extremists to identify targets.

Military personnel and their families should be careful not to announce events like deployments, relocations or promotions on Facebook and Twitter, Comiskey said. Another counter measure is to simply be aware of your surroundings, such as who may be standing near you, he said.

"We're all really grappling with the power of social media," he said.

A spokeswoman at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Tuesday said she couldn't comment on the FBI's warning without permission from ranking officials.

Kala Kachmar, 732-643-4061 or kkachmar@gannett.com