Dozens of U.S. troops, including some based on the USS Carl Vinson from San Diego, were named on a "hit list" by the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group, according to the Marine Corps Times.
ISIS reportedly posted what it says are the names, photos, U.S. addresses and military positions of 100 men and women and called on its supporters to attack the individuals.
"It is quite extraordinary for us to see a terror group publish addresses, names," said Dipak Gupta, a terrorism expert and a distinguished professor emeritus in political science at San Diego State University.
Gupta said if it turns out ISIS was strategic in compiling the so-called hit list, rather than posting names at random, the threat will reach a new threshold.
"We have never seen that before and it gives us a pause," Gupta said. "It can provoke an attack by a lone wolf, and that’s a real possibility."
A U.S. Defense Department official told Marine Corps Times that the authenticity of the post could not be confirmed. The Marines are investigating the report of a "hit list," as is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to the Marine Corps Times.
Marine spokesman Lt. Col. John Caldwell at the Pentagon said command leaders have been notified if troops assigned to their units were identified in the list.
“It is recommended that Marines and family members check their online/social footprint, ensuring privacy settings are adjusted to limit the amount of available personal information,” Caldwell said.
The Defense Department recently posted guidelines for sharing and protecting information on social media.
The San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson is in the Persian Gulf conducting daily strikes against terror targets in Iraq and Syria. On board the massive aircraft carrier are 5,300 troops and 65 fighter jets.
"We bring an awful lot to the fight," Capt. Karl Thomas, the ship's commanding officer, recently told KPBS.
"The ship's force is there to provide all the services to assure we can project power off the flight deck," Thomas said. "The air wing is the striking arm of our carrier."
In a message posted Monday on Facebook, Thomas said ship authorities were in touch with the Defense Department and Naval Criminal Investigative Service on the matter.
"I ask that if you come across links to this threat, you not share or repost them as that plays into the hands of Internet hoaxers, or those that may wish to harm service members," Thomas wrote.
"Personal safety and operational security must be a consideration as we live our lives in today's Internet and socially connected society," he said. "We continually train our sailors to be smart about how they use social media, and this latest event is a good reminder to guard personal information."
Thomas said there would be some subtle changes to the Vinson's Facebook page in order to strike the right balance between security and providing updates on the deployment, which is reaching its latter stages
The crew’s nine-month deployment is set to wrap up in late spring.
