A new mandatory training course for all Department of Defense employees and contractors, both military and civilian, characterize journalists and protesters as “adversaries,” according to reporting by Politico.

The material for the course, designed to cut down on leaks and improve “operational security” within the department, is publicly available.  All military and civilian employees of the Department of Defense, as well as all contractors and their employees working on-site Pentagon contracts, are required to finish the course within 60 days. 

The training comes in the wake of a number of incidents in which military officials have contradicted Trump Administration statements.  From Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s dismissal after testifying at Trump’s impeachment hearing, to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs apologizing for participating in a photo op in front of St. John’s Church after federal agents and National Guard cleared the area of peaceful protestors, Trump’s management of the military has drawn flak from current and former members of the military.

As Politico explains, the training describes groups as “adversaries” because they will work to foil the goals of a fictitious military operation:

In one section of the course, trainees are given a fictional scenario in which news of a secret military exercise gets out, and TV cameras and hundreds of “anti-government protesters” show up. The exercise and the protest end up as the lead story on the evening news.

In such a scenario, the course instructs trainees to identify the “adversaries,” who it says are driven to exploit “vulnerabilities” for their own gain. In the particular scenario in the course material, the exercise organizers aimed to keep the event unnoticed, a goal that was contrary to the aims of reporters and protesters, Orland explained.

While the narrator points out the protesters and media are not adversaries because of their political views, they are considered adversaries because it is assumed they would impede mission success.

“I think this administration confuses leaks with stories that are written that they don’t like,” said Price Floyd, who served as acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs in the Obama administration and director of media relations at the State Department in the George W. Bush administration. “Because this administration, of course, gives out information to the press without attribution all the time. In other words, they’re leaking. They want the stories the way they want them.”