The highly unusual move for the NSA, which is not known for having a public face other than one shown in Hollywood movies, sets out to remind military personnel in the post-September 11 era of the importance of maintaining operational security in the face of terrorist threats.
The National Security Agency has been running the ads in Military Times magazines, a subsidiary of USA Today-owning Gannett, which produces the Army Times as well as versions of the Times for the Navy, USAF and US Marines Corps.
The ads, which began running in April, are similar in style and tone to the patriotic style of WWII posters, which featured men and women both in and out of uniform, with headlines such as "Someone blabbed [with a picture of a soldier's arm caught in barbed wire] button your lip".
The ads feature the image of a soldier or sailor looming large over smaller images of jets and tanks with the headlines: "Information security begins with you" and "Don't help America's enemies plan another attack".
Referring to the Islamic fundamentalist threat specifically, the ads read: "Our enemies are unlike any we've encountered before. Don't arm them with information that can harm us."
The ads ask military personnel to ensure that secure communications are used when discussing classified or sensitive information. It also asks that they employ appropriate security when using the internet and to carefully dispose of any handwritten material.
The ad campaign was created by the Baltimore-based Trahan, Burden & Charles, which does not list the NSA as a client.
In a briefing issued by the NSA, it said: "The increased threat of terrorism has intensified the demand for our military personnel to remain vigilant and alert, always on guard protecting information that our enemies could use to undermine our national security and harm the nation."
The NSA describes itself as the US's key cryptologic organisation providing and protecting vital information from the battlefield to the White House. Its job is to protect the security of US signals and information systems and provides intelligence information derived from those of the US's adversaries.
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