Declassification Demystified April 8, 2009 Bonnie Klein

Ms. Melissa Walker Army Declassification Activity Ms. Linda Smith Air Force Declassification Office Ms. Mary Anderson Navy Declassification Program Declassification Demystified

Automatic Declassification Defense Technical Information Center 2009 Annual Conference Alexandria VA Defense Technical Information Center 2009 Annual Conference Alexandria VA Melissa S. Walker Chief, Army Declassification Activity Mary Anderson Navy Declassification Program Manager Linda Smith Director, Air Force Declassification Office

Agenda 4  What is a record?  Records Retention  Record Lifecycle  What is Classified Information?  Pre Not a Priority  The Declassification Crisis  Declassification 9/11 & Post 9/11  Agency Review Options  Selected DoD Regulatory Guidelines  Background Information

What is a government “record”? 5  All books, papers, maps, photographs, machine readable or documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristic  Made or received by an agency of the US Government  Under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business  Preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor  As evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the government  Or because of the informational value of the data

Is every record kept forever? 6  When a record is born, it is designated as either Temporary or Permanent  Permanent records have “historical” value and are eventually retired to the National Archives  Temporary records are destroyed after their usefulness to the agency has expired

Lifecycle of a Record 7 PERFORM MISSION CURRENT FILES AREA (CFA) NATIONAL ARCHIVES INSTALLATION RECORDS HOLDING AREA (RHA) FEDERAL RECORDS CENTERS (FRC) CREATE RECORD INFORMATION (OFFICE OF RECORD) Permanent 10% 50% DESTROYED All Records 100% 50% DESTROYED 50% DESTROYED

What does “Classified” mean? 8  Webster definition: – Divided into classes or placed in a class – Withheld from general circulation for reasons of national security  US Government uses three levels of classification: – TOP SECRET, SECRET and CONFIDENTIAL – Levels based upon damage to national security  Terms that do not designate classified information: – For Official Use Only (FOUO) – Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) – Limited Official Use Information (LOU) – Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) – DoD Scientific and Technical Information (STINFO)

Declassification Before 1995 – Not a Priority 9  Presidents since Eisenhower have disseminated Executive Orders relating to National Security Information  Prior to 1995 the concern was always on the front end: CLASSIFICATION - protect it now and worry about it later  The back end: DECLASSIFICATION - was a future problem  Resulted in the accumulation of 1.6 Billion pages of classified records originating between 1940 and 1970 which became a present problem in April 1995

The Declassification Crisis  17 Apr 95 - President Clinton issues Executive Order (EO) “Classified National Security Information” (NSI)  Prescribed a uniform system to all Executive Branch Agencies for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying NSI  First EO to mandate automatic declassification of classified 25 year old or older permanent, historical records  Additional Requirements – Mid 98 the Department of Energy discovers unmarked Restricted Data/Formerly Restricted Data (RD/FRD) in agency records – Oct 98/Aug 99 Congress passed Kyl/Lott Amendment; designed to prevent inadvertent release of sensitive nuclear weapons information

Declassification 9/11 and Post 9/11 11  11 Sep 01 - Terrorists attack US – Mar/May 02 - White House, SECDEF, and Department of Justice issued guidance on safeguarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Critical Infrastructure Information (CII)  25 Mar 03 - Bush issues Executive Order 12958, As Amended – Extends deadline to 31 Dec 06 for remaining backlog of records – Left existing classification/declassification policies largely intact – Maintained the annual rolling requirement to review classified permanent, historical records as they become 25 years old

Agency Review Options 12  Declassify – No longer causes damage to national security – Does not mean public release  Exempt – Classify beyond 25 years – Nine exemption categories such as intelligence sources and methods, war plans, state of the art technology, etc.  Exclude – Restricted Data/Formerly Restricted Data – Information governed by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954  Refer – Other agencies equities to the originator – One agency cannot declassify another agency’s information

Selected DoD Regulatory Guidelines 13  DOD R “Information Security Program” issued Jan 97 by Undersecretary of Defense (Intelligence) implements EO for the Department of Defense – Current EO changes are in “Interim Guidance on Classification, Declassification, and Markings” dated 1 March 2005  G-2 is the proponent for AR 380-5, “Department of the Army Information Security Program” issued 29 Sep 00 – ADA implements Section II, Chapter 3, automatic declassification – ADA publishes the Army Declassification Guide  Air Force - AF Instruction , “Declassification Plan”  CNO(N09N2)/NCIS-24E is the proponent for the DON Declassification Program, as directed by the SECNAV April 97 − I SCAP approved the DON Declassification Guide in 2003 − DON has no exemptions

14  Melissa Walker Chief, Army Declassification Activity  Linda Smith Director, Air Force Declassification Office  Mary Anderson Department of the Navy (DON) Declassification Program Manager Panel Speakers

Background Information Formal definition of “record” 15 All books, papers, maps, photographs, machine-readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the government or because of the informational value of the data in them. Library and museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of reference, and stocks of publications and of processed documents are not included. (44 USC 3301) bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:%2B44USC3301

Background Information Formal definition of “classified” 16 “Classified information" is marked or unmarked classified information, including oral communications; and unclassified information that meets the standards for classification and is in the process of a classification determination, as provided in Sections 1.2 and 1.4(e) of Executive Order or under any other Executive order or statute that requires interim protection for certain information while a classification determination is pending. "Classified information" does not include unclassified information that may be subject to possible classification at some future date, but is not currently in the process of a classification determination.

Background Information Classification Levels 17  The US Government uses three levels of classification: – TOP SECRET: Unauthorized disclosure could cause exceptionally grave damage to national security – SECRET: Unauthorized disclosure could cause serious damage to national security – CONFIDENTIAL: Unauthorized disclosure could cause damage to national security

Background Information Executive Order (EO) Section 3.3(a) 18 On 31 Dec 06, all classified records that (1) are more than 25 years old, and (2) have been determined to have permanent historical value under title 44, United States Code, shall be automatically declassified whether or not the records have been reviewed. Subsequently, all classified records shall be declassified on 31 Dec of the year that is 25 years from the date of its original classification, except as provided in (b) – (e) of this section … 3.pdf

Background Information Kyl/Lott Amendments 19  Required agencies to conduct page-by-page review of records likely to contain unmarked RD/FRD  Required all declassification reviewers to be DOE certified  Lott Amendment required agencies to conduct a page-by-page review of all documents processed prior to Oct 98 the entire bill can be accessed at the entire bill can be accessed at

Background Information Exemptions  The Nine Exemption categories are: – Exemption 1: Intelligence Sources and Methods – Exemption 2: Weapons of Mass Destruction – Exemption 3: Cryptography – Exemption 4: State of the Art Technology – Exemption 5: War Plans – Exemption 6: Foreign Relations – Exemption 7: Protection of the President – Exemption 8: National Security Preparedness Plans – Exemption 9: Statute, Treaty or International Agreement

I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e Air Force Declassification Office (AFDO) “Building a Better Future” Release Secure & Protect

I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e Framework - Why Important? “A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.” *James Madison, 1822 A truism for all democracies, new and old

I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e Framework - Public Interest Increases Impact of Recent Events – Must have accountability Growth of government secrecy circa WW II – exponential increase in secrecy and paper copies – storage costs $$$ Media and public calls for openness – FOIA “firms” New FOIA legislation approved/signed – EO Congressional interests – “special searches” Policies for improvement exist – Executive Order - Executive Order and Records Management principles

I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e classified records CLASSIFICATIONDECLASSIFICATION RECORDS TRANSFER Federal Records Center (Storage) NARA RECORD AFDO USER RECORD Process – Requires Life Cycle Management Point of Origin

I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e Building Blocks to the Future Institutionalization – The seamless integration of life cycle management and training: Records Management – Integrated Process Team underway Credibility – The acceptance of training for the benefits and values it provides – needs Commander emphasis Education and Awareness – Instruction of declassification management program requirements and benefits, and their responsibilities. See Training – The providing of necessary training and skills development to staff at all levels Communications – All of us: security, warfighters, public affairs, historians and records managers are our outreach. Source: Dept of Energy Records Management Program: Aug 95

Letter signed at the Directorate level, Security Officer, or STINFO Officer, and on letterhead to: Defense Technical Information Center DTIC-OQ Attn: Information Security Officer 8725 John J. Kingman Road Fort Belvoir, VA Fax: Letter can be an attachment within an to To Change Document Classification in DTIC Systems

by the Security Officer or STINFO Officer –Provide the DTIC AD accession number, date of report, title, and report number – address: To Cancel or Replace Documents in DTIC Systems

by the Security Officer, or STINFO Officer –Provide the DTIC AD accession number, date of report, title, and report number –Provide information to be corrected – address: To Request Citation Corrections in DTIC Systems

–Lawrence Downing, , dsn , Information Security Officer, –Donna Osborne, , dsn , Information Security Officer, –Laurence Ramserran, , dsn , –Clarence McCloud, , dsn , –Robert Stokes, , dsn , –Anna Kramer, , dsn , DTIC Information Security & Database Maintenance Team

Declassification Demystified Points of Contact Army Declassification Activity –Melissa Walker Chief, Army Declassification Activity Air Force Declassificaton Office –Linda Smith Navy Declassification Program omatic%20and%20DECLAS%20Review%20Action.pdf omatic%20and%20DECLAS%20Review%20Action.pdf –Mary Anderson DON Declassification Program Manager