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8 June 2015

USAF Used Militant Social Media Postings to Locate ISIS Headquarters for Airstrikes

Brian Everstein 
June 5, 2015 

OPSEC isn’t the Islamic State group’s strong suit. 

Airmen at Hurlburt Field, Florida, used social media posts by the insurgent group to track the location of an Islamic State group headquarters building. Twenty-two hours later, three joint direct attack munitions destroyed the target, said Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, at a June 1 speech in Arlington, Virginia. 

“The [airmen are] combing through social media and they see some moron standing at this command,” Carlisle said at the speech, which was sponsored by the Air Force Association. “And in some social media, open forum, bragging about command and control capabilities for Da'esh, ISIL, And these guys go 'ah, we got an in.’ 

"So they do some work, long story short, about 22 hours later through that very building, three JDAMS take that entire building out. Through social media. It was a post on social media. Bombs on target in 22 hours. 

"It was incredible work, and incredible airmen doing this sort of thing.” 

Carlisle’s comments came two days before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the Islamic State group’s use of social media. The group, experts told Congress, has published 1,700 pictures, videos and other publications, reaching up to 200,000 readers on Twitter and other sites. The media are used by “core propagandists” to recruit and, in the case of the airstrike, attempt to show off their ability. 

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