Non-Stop Tankers: Open Source Intelligence & Why It Matters

Over the past 24 hours, open source intelligence (OSINT) accounts on X have been tracking a massive wave of U.S. Air Force tankers — KC-135s, KC-46s — crossing the Atlantic toward the Middle East. One referred to it as “Non stop tankers on the move,” which reminded me of The Jam’s 1977 song “Non-Stop Dancing” and some parallel universe where they were OSINT nerds tracking military operations on FlightRadar24:

Non-stop tankers, truly up in the sky

Non-stop fueling, baby, baby

'Til the fighters scream for more

We don't care if it's east or west

'Cause deployment never rests, when we're flying

Non-stop tankers

— The Jam, perhaps

Randos As Top Secret Analysts

These aren’t state secrets. This is publicly available flight tracking data, and people paying attention can read the tea leaves. A spike in tanker sorties typically signals preparation for a significant operation. Fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance aircraft all depend on tankers to extend their range and time on station.

U.S. AFCENT Chief of Weapons and Tactics, Maj. Claire Randolph, recently complained about “randos” on X having open access to flight tracking data, and said these social media accounts presented an unexpected challenge to operational security (OPSEC) during last year’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer:

“There are a couple of other challenges that kind of snuck up on us I think. The first one I want to mention is OPSEC. We talked just now in the last panel about blue AI capabilities, but we didn’t spend a lot of time talking about adversary AI capabilities, or even civilian AI capabilities. I mean, you’ve got Twitter feeds of randos that are just studying where our airplanes and publishing it, consolidating it. Like, if U.S. analysts did some of that we would consider it secret or maybe even top secret. But that stuff is just allowed on the open internet.”

Let that sink in for a moment. The information these “randos” are gathering from publicly available sources is so valuable that the U.S. military considers it equivalent to top secret intelligence.

Secrets They're Just Giving Away

The question in the worlds of business and public affairs should be if open source intelligence is so valuable to the military that it could be considered top secret, how valuable could it be to your business or your campaign?

Because the same principles apply. OSINT isn’t just for tracking tanker movements or monitoring military operations. It’s the same skillset, just pointed in a different direction.

For Businesses, That Means:

• Monitoring competitors’ hiring patterns, product launches, and strategic moves through public filings, news reports, social media posts, and job listings

• Vetting potential partners, vendors, or acquisition targets before you sign on the dotted line

• Tracking what customers and the public are saying about your brand across social media, review sites, and forums

• Identifying your own reputational threats and potential exposures before they become crises

For Public Affairs, There Are Other Opportunities:

• Tracking legislation, proposed regulations, and voting records to anticipate policy changes

• Mapping stakeholder networks to figure out who’s connected to whom, who funds what, who’s aligned on which issues

• Monitoring opposing groups’ campaigns, messaging strategies, and funding sources through their own websites, tax filings, and social media

• Gauging grassroots sentiment on policy issues before you craft your message

Are You Paying Attention?

Simple things can yield extraordinary intelligence. Job listings tell you where a competitor is investing. Social media activity reveals strategic priorities. Public records and filings show you what organizations are actually doing, not just what they say they’re doing.

The Twitter randos figured this out. The military knows it. The intelligence community has known it for decades.

The question is whether you’re paying attention.

This is what I do. I help businesses, public affairs campaigns, and organizations figure out what's hiding in plain sight. If you're interested in learning more or want to talk about how it could work for you, I'm as easy to find as an Air Force tanker.