SIGforum
Without looking it up, do you know what “SCIF” refers to?
February 16, 2020, 12:02 PM
sigfreundWithout looking it up, do you know what “SCIF” refers to?
If you do, you’re ahead of the people like Admiral McRaven, General McChrystal, the guy who wrote the Delta books under the <I>nom de plume</I> of Dalton Fury, and various technothriller authors these days. <BR><BR>Cripes, people, if you feel compelled to impress your readers with the fact you had access to secret squirrel stuff but that it’s necessary to explain what the term means, then don’t spoil the effect by getting it wrong. Either look these things up or find an editor who will.Which is it?secret compartmented intelligence facilitysecret compartmented information facilitysecure compartmented intelligence facilitysecure compartmented information facilitysensitive compartmented intelligence facilitysensitive compartmented information facility
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I can tell at sight a Chassepot rifle from a javelin. February 16, 2020, 12:06 PM
Skins2881Apparently not. I voted wrong.
Jesse
Sic Semper Tyrannis February 16, 2020, 12:19 PM
41I worked in one for about four years and it was cold due to the wrong thermostat being wired to the wrong room.
People were always messing with the thermostat like putting a wet rag over the thermostat to fooling it to being colder than it was. Didn't work.

So I had a friend in maintenance who I told about the situation so he looked into it and solved the problem. The people in the other room must have thought they were in the desert. This had occurred over a period of several years and it probably caused some of the people to get sick.
I could write a book about that place which was one of the most discriminating places I ever worked.
I voted wrong as well.

41
February 16, 2020, 12:36 PM
CPD SIGYup.
41- I think they were all built the same. I've been in a few different ones, and the room just seems to be colder than everything else. I guess someone thinks "Because freezing temps keeps keeps that information secure!"
______________________________________________________________________
"When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"
“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy
February 16, 2020, 12:42 PM
joatmonvI was wrong. I thought I had a good idea of what it referred to.
I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not.
February 16, 2020, 12:46 PM
PHPaulWell, after spending 20 of my 22 years in the Navy working in them, I should...
EDIT: Out of curiosity, I googled it. One of us is wrong. Pretty sure it's not me, unless NAVSECGRU used different terminology than everybody else.
Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
February 16, 2020, 01:24 PM
joel9507Where is the 'I have no idea' choice? Put me down for that one.

February 16, 2020, 01:26 PM
sigfreundIt is of course possible that different organizations used different terms that may have evolved over time. Abbreviations and words get corrupted from their original meanings all the time, sometimes deliberately, sometimes due to the fact that an incorrect meaning gets spread around and in time becomes the only one anyone ever hears. “Assault weapon” is a common current example.
My answer, and which is the most common term when the abbreviation is searched for on the Internet, is the term that I first learned when assigned to an Army military intelligence unit in 1966, and which was used throughout my career.
In the earliest days, though, it was more common to hear references to “behind the green door” rather than “SCIF” or its full meaning. And then that’s another question: Where did that reference come from?

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I can tell at sight a Chassepot rifle from a javelin. February 16, 2020, 02:37 PM
flesheatingvirusYep. I hate spending time in one. Such a PIA.
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-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
February 16, 2020, 02:56 PM
LS1 GTOquote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Yep. I hate spending time in one. Such a PIA.
Try managing the building of one.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers
The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...
February 16, 2020, 02:57 PM
PHPaulI was a happy guy in the mid-80's when they finally developed swipe-able security badges. As a maintenance weenie, it was a pain in the ass to try to hold onto a piece of equipment, poke in a combo and open the SCIF door all at the same time...
Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
February 16, 2020, 03:15 PM
FredwardGlad I didn't. Securing "special weapons" in the Cold War was enough for me.
February 16, 2020, 04:34 PM
mrapteam666The only reason I knew is due to the fact that I have been reading up on the various intelligence jobs for the Army in hopes of trying to help me decide if I want to go that route or go back to Combat Arms.
My only fear going intel is being assigned to a SCIF.
With my current MOS I have been lucky to avoid working in them.
February 16, 2020, 04:55 PM
bald1At a facility I was stationed at in the mid '70s it was referred to as the "vault" given the heavy combo access door and featured a Faraday like copper wire layer on all 6 sides among other things to thwart eavesdropping equipment.
Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club!
USN (RET), COTEP #192
February 16, 2020, 05:26 PM
sigmonkeyquote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:...“behind the green door” ...
Yep, pushed the button, picked up the phone, showed the badge, held up countersign fingers, said the word of the day.
No one under 21 admitted...
"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב! February 16, 2020, 05:35 PM
V-Tailquote:
Originally posted by sigmonkey:
quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:...“behind the green door” ...
Yep, pushed the button, picked up the phone, showed the badge, held up countersign fingers, said the word of the day.
No one under 21 admitted...
Just knock three times and whisper low
That you and I were sent by Joe
הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים February 17, 2020, 08:54 AM
CharlieSWI knew - don't ask me how.
Pragmatism: the relentless pursuit of seeing things as they really are.
February 17, 2020, 03:38 PM
KeystonerI don't know the acronym but this only recently got on my radar with the House impeachment hearings.
Year V February 17, 2020, 05:00 PM
trapper189It's not a type of boat, I take it?
I guessed, then looked it up. It seems I got lucky, but I'm not a NAVSECGURU, so my guess is probably wrong.
February 17, 2020, 07:29 PM
prepsheriffI was a paratrooper, if the light was red, I didn't go through the door, if the light was green,I went through the door...easy.

Airborne ! All the Way!!