Army Declassification Program

Executive Order 12958, As Amended Army Declassification Program Presented to the Public Interest Declassification Board Ms. Mindy K. Roberts Chief, Army Declassification Activity 14 July 2006 Roles and Responsibilities  Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army (OAA) Responsible for executing the Army’s EO 12958 Automatic/Systematic Declassification Program (Oct 2005 - Assumed responsibility from Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1) – Records Management and Declassification Agency (RMDA) - Oversees and coordinates agency implementation of Army’s EO Declassification Program for OAA; Planning, Programming & Budgeting responsibility – RMDA/Army Declassification Activity (ADA) - Oversees day-to-day EO declassification review, operations, and management of a TOP SECRET open storage facility; staffing consists of government civilians and contractors  Army Staff Agencies and Army Commands - Conducts declassification review of records under their logistical control; reports status to RMDA/ADA  Deputy Chief of Staff, G2 - Provides information security policy/guidance (AR 380-5) OAA Mission  Administer the Army’s Executive Order (EO) 12958, as Amended Automatic/Systematic Declassification Program (Long Term Planning, Programming, Budgeting, Management, Evaluation, Reporting and Oversight): - Identify, Locate & Retrieve Records - Conduct Declassification Reviews - Meet 31 Dec 2006 Deadline for Textual Records Review - Conduct Training - Maintain Electronic Database of All Records Reviewed - Insure Army Compliance With Kyl/Lott Amendments - Central Control of Army Referrals (Incoming/Outgoing) - Prepare Army Declassification Guide - Prepare Annual Update to Army Declassification Plan - Provide Advice, Assistance and Training to Army Staff Agencies and Commands - Meet “Rolling Requirement” Review Deadlines: -- As Records Become 25 Years Old -- Ten Year Re-Review of Exempted Records - Plan for 2009 (Referrals) & 2011 (Special Media) Deadlines - Represent Army on Interagency Working Groups - Support GWOT IAW White House, SECDEF, & DOJ Guidance -- Identify/Safeguard WMD & CII - Process Mandatory Declassification Reviews Army Declassification Program Status COMPLETED TO DATE as of 1 Jul 2006 Pre-1982 PRODUCTION REMAINING 1.3M Textual (2006) 3.0M Textual Referrals (2009) 184.1M Textual (includes NARA) 240.7M* 1.9M Textual Referrals 49.2M Army Special Media 5.2M Special Media Referrals 21.7M 15.5M Army Special Media (2011) 1.9M Special Media Referrals (2011) + WMD & Kyl/Lott Relooks (57M) MACOMs (6M) +        Rolling Requirement (17M) Estimated Referrals (8.5M) ADA DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW RESULTS Referred 32.3M RD/FRD 27.0M Exempted 18.4M 13% 11% 8% 68% Declassified 163.0M SPECIAL DECLASSIFICATION PROJECT REVIEWS Nazi/Japanese War Crimes JFK Assassination Records Tail Wind Project POW/MIA Records From Korean War Guatemalan Hit Squads Project SHAD Gulf War Declassification Project As of 1 Jul 2006 * Does not include WMD and Kyl/Lott Relooks and MACOMs Army Declassification Review Process   Majority of documents brought to ADA for processing - Reviews also conducted at Army Staff Agencies and Commands 3 Tier Quality Control Review (1 Contractor and 2 Army) - Contractors make recommendations to Army - Army makes final declassification disposition decisions Pass/fail (no redactions); page by page review  Review for declassification only, not for public release  Disposition decisions made at both document and folder level  Disposition decisions: Exclude, Declassify, Exempt, Refer  Dispositions decisions entered into Army Declassification Database  All documents/folders not declassified are tabbed  Army Declassification Workflow Process START INBOUND PROCESSING (CONTRACTOR) Introduce box into the computer database with basic box and folder data: folder number, name, and pages Review Document for EXTERNALS (CONTRACTOR) EXEMPTIONS & EVALUATIONS Can Be Combined for Streamlined Approach PRELIMINARY QA CHECK (CONTRACTOR) Review Document INTERNALS to Declassify/Exempt/Exclude/Refer CHECK folders eliminated by E&E Branch DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW (CONTRACTOR) DECLASS QA (ADA) FINAL QA CHECK CHECK folders completed by Declass Branch (ADA) Ensures complete QA and approves box completion OUTBOUND PROCESSING (CONTRACTOR) FINISH Interagency Cooperation  Support to Declassification Initiatives – – – – – – External Referral Working Group (ERWG) Automation Working Group Classification Management Working Group ISOO’s Referral Standard Working Group NARA’s Interagency Referral Center (IRC) Presidential Libraries Records Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program ERWG Air Force Referral Standardization Lab Conferences Agency to Agency Utilize Document Declassification Support System (DDSS) to Make Referral Notifications  Participate in Equity Recognition Training – – – –  Centralized Database – Challenges   Maintain appropriate level of funding/resources Referral processing: – – – Lack of standards (finding referrals may be difficult) Quantity of referrals from other agencies is still TBD Location where referrals can be reviewed is still TBD • Ability to bring boxes to ADA for processing is still TBD • Space is limited at NARA AVG of 2.8 personnel per month  Contractor turnover: −      Finding all records required for review prior to 31 Dec 2006 Agency equity recognition training Lack of standards for the review of Special Media Newly discovered records Centralized database