This could generate some interesting thoughts
 

A penny for your thoughts on the latest "leak" of classified intelligence information that effects our allies as well as us ! What do you think of the explanation that's it's actually a low ranking air force reserve member, more focused on on line gaming with teens than with his heavy responsibility by having access to our most sensitive intel ? A paid spy ? An immature air force member with "over his head" responsibilities ? A low lying fruit scapegoat for something even more complicated and covert than we can imagine ?

Too much information is classified, and too many people have access to it. It has been that way for more than 50 years, and I don't know of any serious efforts to change the system. I had a SECRET clearance for 35 years, but I never really needed it. They just gave it to me automatically. Don't expect any changes to occur.

Only speculation from news reports from various sources and interviews with fellow DISCORD identified as user 1 who allerted FBI of his identity.

Hmm, let’s see:

White Christian male?

Into guns?

Lives with mom?

Hints of narcissism?

Idealized violence?

Nope, nothing to see here.

A low lying fruit scapegoat for something even more complicated and covert than we can imagine ?

Having been a unit that dealt with classified info for many years I find the current explanation almost incomprehensible. One of the fundamentals of handling classified info is "need to know". I was in an aviation test unit. If I were to try to access information on a submarine - for instance - I would be denied access because I had no need to know.

How this very low level airman could have access to the items that were leaked without some cooperation at a much higher level escapes me.

Interesting coincidence
 

And now, this:
Authorities recently arrested a Tennessee Air National Guard service member after he reportedly sought work as a hitman on a fake website known to lure would-be criminals.

FBI agents earlier this month arrested Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 21, who allegedly attempted to become a hired killer with the parody website rentahitman.com, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Tennessee district court.

It is not so much the details of the leak but the actual true information revealed. It reveals the Defense Secretary, General Miley and the Pentagon Spokesman are blatant liars. We cannot trust anything that comes out of their mouths.

Interesting that he is not being Court Marshalled, but going fhrough the civilian court system.

What is true in the leak?
Even the Russians regard it with skepticism.
What would you expect them to disclose?
Latest intelligence, battle plans, nuclear submarine locations etc. etc.

Probably both.

Assuming he truly did leak classified info, he did so on an unsecured resource. Anyone can access even private Discord servers with an invite, and since most gamers don't use their real names, it takes little effort to get that invite. Once it's posted, people showing up after the fact can access the scroll-back.

Innocent til proven guilty and all that. But the crime, whether he did it or not, is deserving of punishment. It doesn't matter what classified docs were leaked. It doesn't matter that they weren't really a big deal and probably shouldn't have been classified. There is such a thing as the "rule of law." There is also such a thing as "National Security."

If you start saying "well he was only a kid" or "it's just a gamer chat room" or "it's only random info that shouldn't be classified" then you disrespect everything the military stands for. Their JOB is to protect our country. That includes its secrets, whether they're "big" secrets or "no one cares" secrets. If they refuse to do even that one thing, then they need to be punished.

IF he did it, he should get jail time. And a dishonorable discharge. And banned from using the internet until such time as the judge can determine he's learned his lesson in the topic of "privileged information."

Whether he faces a federal court or a military court marshal depends on where and when he obtain the information. I believe he is a low level government employee but no mention of his specialty in the Air National Guard. If it was through his government job that he obtained and released the classified documents then the Air Guard would not have jurisdiction. If he obtained the information while doing his monthly or summer training sessions then the Air Guard would have authority.
If he is convicted by a federal court, then he will be discharged from military through administrative actions or a court martial.

I would like to know how he accessed this kind of information. When I was in the Army I worked as a classified document clerk during my first enlistment. Initially I held a Secret security clearance but later I had to undergo a background investigation for a Top Secret clearance. The reason was that the Army command I worked in used Top Secret crypto material and I had to control accountability, dissemination and destruction of it when required. However, I didn't have and wasn't authorized access to all Top Secret material because I didn't have a Need To Know. I was only 19 years old when I got the Top Secret clearance.
I would like to know how he was able to have access to the information that was released.
When classified information is released illegally it can result in the disclosure of where and from whom the information was obtained. If a certain piece of information is only known to limited number of people then the search for the informant is narrowed drastically. There have been instances where everyone who was knowledgeable of the classified information leaked was executed to ensure they got the guilty person.

From what I can research seems you are spot on. Apparently (and giving consideration to the differences in size and population) no other country comes close to ours in issuing secret, top secret, etc. privileges. An FBI agent on the news said same as you experienced, had highest classification which was top secret plus (some additional letters I don't remember) and said retired without even once needing the designation !

Interesting, missed all of those, maybe more forth coming on nightly news today. Only info I could find seemed to be he lives with both parents, not just his mother, but more important, I wonder if the Air Force is aware of all this, that he is taken with violence, narcissistic, he's obviously white, could see that at arraignment today, but most of all wonder if Air Force administrative levels knew of his fascination with teen on line groups like DISCORD ? What a mess is in my thoughts !

Well, having been in research for a portion of my career, I am always examining such explanations, that was one of my "theories", and you added some "meat" to that bone ! It just seemed TOO SIMPLISTIC to me, just some "kids", and an "immature" adult who was just careless... hummmmm:shocked:

What kind of work did you do? Many people in the military are given security clearances because of the nature of their work may put them in the position where they will have to safeguard classified information or equipment. There are classified communications codes that are used at the squad level in military units that a number of people will need to perform the mission. Therefor a security clearance is required to possess and use those codes.

I worked with a private security company that provided armed and unarmed guards to the government. I put the bid together for the contract and oversaw our on site manager. One of the contracts was providing security for classified work at a research facility. Even the though guards and supervisors never had access to the material, they still had to have a clearance in the chance they had to enter the classified area of facility due to an emergency or unauthorized intrusion. I worked a few hundred miles away from the site at the home office, but because I did on site performance inspections of our guard personnel, I was required to have a valid security clearance. If I remember correctly, it was a Top Secret clearance. Even though I had a clearance I didn't have a Need To Know for access to it.

Good grief, what's next on the platter ? Many locations are having such great difficulty hiring police, will we finally get to the point where we intentionally discontinue background checks so we can freely hire ex-convicts ? That's so "far out", and yet, I wonder what people will do next ?

Sadly have to agree, I think we had PLENTY of hints that both are (perhaps even pathological ?) liars, or maybe just very weak men with no actual moral grounding ? What is called in philosophy, logic, and analysis classes as "situational ethics", their "ethics" rest on a foundation of what is best given the situation a the time ( meaning best FOR THEM) at any one point in time ?

Isn't it possible that could still be ahead at some future point ?

What does the future hold
 

It would be interesting to go into the future and see where this period in history has taken us. A lot of people would probably have acted differently now. Past history defines the future.

That was my thought, that it might be in the future. Going to be quite a circus, and probably never know the "rest of the story" ! At first glance, he seems a kind of Oswald type figure, a bit immature, a bit confused, kind of "blows in the wind" type that makes a perfect, uncomplicated, explanation so people just "move on" to the next sound bank ? I'm getting to be way too curious perhaps, will get the label "conspiracy nut" I'm sure !

Yes, a few news reports have expressed that same worry, so very dangerous to the lives of those who provide the intel. Others say, nothing really that important in the leaked/posted materials.

Who is Jack Teixeira, who allegedly disclosed classified information for months? : NPR

They should be a whole lot more careful about whom they let around classified materials. And put in a lot more checks-and-balances.

Discord isn't a "teen on line group." It's a chat network for gamers, though some businesses, politicians, religious organizations, and journalists use it as well. I'm a member of one of the game servers, because I've been playing that game for 20 years. You don't need to be a teen to play video games.

The Discord server he was on, was one of the hundreds of game servers available.

do you ever remembering a stupid college age kid? I do, and did some stupid things which may have gotten me killed, or other poor outcomes. . . at 21 you aren't much more than a big teenager, and in today's world, big teenagers still have small brains. . and big egos. . . . and issues of independence acceptance, etc. .

Its more about who has clearance and vetting process and proper network/system access. . I blame mgmt not the big teenager. .

starting July as a former finance guy

Thinking that both the kid and whoever runs this system deserve the blame. We make way to much top secret so the meaning of top secret does not mean what it used to.

IMHO top secret is a way to hide lots of things from us.

There is no excuse for the "big teenager's" actions, he knew what he was doing was illegal. It is explained very clearly to you when you are granted a security clearance what your responsibilities are towards safeguarding information and the ramifications if you don't.
We have had 19 and 20 year olds making life and death decision in the middle east for a few decades now so he has no excuse for his actions.
The vetting process for a security clearance consists of police record checks, birth records, interviews with people that know the person being investigated and the person being investigated. If there is no criminal record, use of drugs, heavy financial indebtedness, mental health issues or other problems usually a security clearance is granted. What more is there to check? Maybe consulting with a fortune teller?

There are many levels of employees getting access to classified secret data. Some may type the data, store the data etc. All who have access should have been vetted and trained as to how to handle the data. Further, they should be fully trained as to the penalties associated with mishandling such data.

Hopefully, the last subject was not ignored. I had no doubt that if I mishandled such data that the penalties were severe

The information revealed is definitely a serious concern. However, a bigger concern may be the sources and methods revealed by that information.

I agree and since i work in mgmt, and actually assign data and documents permission as part of my job on two different platforms, i see the flaws in document permissioning system. On the documents platform, there are 40 different permission settings possible. A bit overengineered, yes, but the additional complexity requires a dedicated librarian to avoid the chaos created by individuals filing documents from their point of view, versus a standardized and constantly monitored system. That's why physical libraries have librarians doing the same job, but the electronic world requires much more complex monitoring and permissioning

So that's where i lay the blame, as you can train humans but human behavior is much more creative and not bounded by any laws of nature, so good training gets you 95+% of the way to your goal. The final 5% is the document management, proper document permissioning, and constant monitoring and logging of all activity against the permissions.

I see cases where libraries get chaotic without a librarian, without constant monitoring and cleanup, and that makes the permissioning a spaghetti nightmare. . that's where the mgmt blame lies. . They assigned me a librarian job as well, and i said no way, that's a full time job, and our document library is already out of control. . . that's where the tediocrity comes in.

You can't always default to everyone follows the training, because there are humans involved. . .

I have no idea what you are talking about so you can keep your penny.

When you enter the Military you sign your life away when taking pledge
Simply put “ a note from mommy can't help you any longer”
The Oath of Enlistment (for enlisted):
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
The UCMJ is made up of 146 articles that cover a wide range of offenses and punishments. Some of the more common offenses covered by the UCMJ include adultery, assault, disobeying orders, and desertion. A number of articles also deal with specific offenses such as espionage and treason. Each violation has a corresponding punishment, ranging from a minor reprimand to more serious consequences. UCMJ is posted at every military base and is read and explained during boot camp orientation! I remember thinking auh Sh#t what did I get myself into.

The 10 commandments don't even come close.

Believe the FBI , THE NEWS MEDIA, our government?

I can't go along with that line of thinking. He signed an agreement for his top-secret clearance designation acknowledging that any divulgence of secret information could result in severe consequences. He may be young and immature, but that doesn't excuse his actions. In WWII there was a saying that was posted at just about every location, and I mean every location - buildings, telephone poles, you name it "Loose Lips Sink Ships" We don't have a clue what damage has been done by his "immaturity" but our credibility with other countries has been severely damaged.

The secrets, no matter what level, should be protected at the source. Our government seems to have a problem knowing where our secret documents are and who is reading them!

Let's add some clarity. This gentleman was in the Massachusetts Air National Guard. That means he was actually on military duty only one weekend a month +2 weeks during the summer. However, he was also a civilian employee of the National Guard. His specialty was cyber security. Back when I was in the guard, it was standard for you to wear your military uniform during the week even though technically you were a civilian. If you committed any violation of law during this time you were subject to civilian law, not the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice).

Chaos theory at work
 

so a fun loving gamer lights the match and the political fire storm will end the careers of many air force officers and ultimately the secretary of defense. The congressional committees, investigations, media will be out for blood. This fun loving gamer exposed our surveillance capabilities for our adversaries to counter and evade. Putin can now pound the table with proof that we have american assets inside ukraine and threathen us some more with his nuclear weaponry.
The gamer will get his day in court. If convicted he is a traitor.

What did President Kennedy say about secrets , getting rid of the. CIA and dark forces in our government ( deep state , “ secrets in an open and free society are repugnant “

His specialty was military intelligence!

Too much is classified and too many have access to classified items. Still, mishandling of classified items is criminal, and the Bozo should be vigorously prosecuted and punished.