Since the death of Osama bin Laden last year, the Navy SEALs have been thrust into the public spotlight more so than ever...giving retired Lt. Gen. James Vaught a bone to pick with the current team.

Navy SEAL Special Operations Commander Adm. Bill McRaven
confronted by retired Lt. Gen. James Vaught.
(Photo Courtesy of abcnews.go.com)

Vaught advised the current SEAL team commander to "get the hell out of the media" or else face the consequences of enemy knowledge. While reporters are not particularly a new problem the military has to deal with, the popularity of social media is. It certainly hasn't helped mitigate the spread of news stories of military stories and strategies among the general population, making it easier for this information to fall into the enemy's hands.

Courtesy of imfrance.wordpress.com

For example, according to the Huffington Post, the Sunday of the bin Laden raid, Keith Urbahn, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff, leaked the news via Twitter almost an hour before President Obama gave an official statement. And, although no specific details were released at that time, news reports did release such details to the public. These details combined with the effects of social media, allow news to travel like wildfire in our high-tech world. 

"If you keep publishing how you do this," warned Vaught, "you're going to fly in and he's going to shoot down every damn helicopter and kill every one of your SEALs...mark my words." Smart words to live by if you're current Special Operations Commander Adm. Bill McRaven.