---
category: U.S. Government
created: 2025-07-22
description: The Operations Security Group (Opsec) was a U.S. Army unit focused on
  protecting sensitive operations from foreign espionage.
location: Fort Meade, Maryland
summary: The Operations Security Group (OPSEC) was a Fort Meade-based U.S. Army unit
  that red-teamed U.S. military and intelligence operations by spying on American
  facilities to identify vulnerabilities exploitable by foreign intelligence services.
tags:
- organization
- military
- intelligence
- USA
title: Operations Security Group
updated: 2025-07-22
---

The [Operations Security Group](/organizations/operations-security-group/) (Opsec) was a [U.S. Army](/organizations/us-army/) unit based at [Fort Meade](/places/fort-meade/), Maryland, whose primary task was to protect sensitive operations from foreign espionage. This involved acting as a "Red-Team," literally spying on U.S. military facilities to identify and correct security lapses.[^1]

[Mel Riley](/people/mel-riley/) was posted to the Opsec Group in 1976, where his specific job was to analyze photographic intelligence on these installations. The Opsec Group later became part of the [Systems Exploitation Detachment](/organizations/systems-exploitation-detachment/) (SED), which in turn was attached to the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ACSI).[^1]

[Skip Atwater](/people/frederick-atwater/) initially proposed the formation of a small remote-viewing team to the head of SED, Colonel [Robert Keenan](/people/robert-keenan/), arguing that remote viewing represented a potential security threat that Opsec teams should study. The early remote viewing activities under [Gondola Wish](/programs/stargate-project/) were initially envisioned to support opsec missions, though the unit later transitioned to an offensive spying role under [Grill Flame](/programs/stargate-project/).[^1]

---

[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.