The U.S. military produces millions of records each year, ranging from classified intelligence briefings to financial records to court-martial proceedings to personnel records. Most are mundane, some are classified and many are difficult to obtain.
Luckily, there are several routes for obtaining information about the Department of Defense. Here are some of them:
Freedom of Information Act
The federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 USC 552b, is the primary route for obtaining records, reports and other information from the Defense Department.
While many reporters eschew using FOIA when dealing with the military, the recent release of photographs of coffins at Dover Air Force Base through a FOIA request from First Amendment advocate and website operator Russ Kick (www.thememoryhole.org) illustrates the possibilities. How many reporters slapped their foreheads when they saw the pictures?
Reporters can often obtain the information without making a formal FOIA request if a public affairs officer can be convinced the information is readily available and would be releasable under the act. But, that’s a crapshoot.
In recent years, the DOD has tightened down its releases under FOIA by writing restrictive regulations on what information can be released. While September 11 has been part of the impetus, much of the tightening was in place or under consideration more than a year before the terror acts.
The Defense Department has largely exempted the names of service members and civilian employees from release, except for general and flag officers and public affairs personnel, contending such releases are exempt under the personal information or national security exemptions. Initially, the redactions only involved military personnel assigned overseas. Then, the exemption was broadened to include uniformed personnel who could be deployed overseas. And, now, the Pentagon is blacking out virtually everyone’s names. These redactions apparently have been unchallenged in court.
Sometimes the redactions are laughable. While names are blacked out, titles and ranks usually are not. For example, one document had “Donald Rumsfeld” redacted but not his abbreviated title “SECDEF.” Other DOD FOIA officers regularly redact a squadron or battalion commanding officer’s name but not his or her title. A quick check of the unit Web site or a call to a PAO gets the person’s name.
DoD FOIA Web sites
Department of Defense: http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/Army: https://www.rmda.belvoir.army.mil/rmdaxml/rmda/FPHomePage.asp
Navy: http://foia.navy.mil/
Marine Corps: http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/foia/foiaweb.nsf
Air Force: http://www.foia.af.mil/
Coast Guard: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-s/g-si/g-sii/sii-2/foia.htm
DoD FOIA Handbook
Click here for the printable Handbook.
[original url: http://www.militaryreporters.org:80/pdfs/mreDODfoiaGUIDE.pdf]
Internet
In the first years of the Internet, the Web was sometimes a treasury trove of information about the Defense Department.
Military webmasters posted all kinds of interesting, and sometimes militarily sensitive, information. Such things: as a virtual tour of the residence of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Navy’s personnel directory and aerial tanking schedules for military exercises.
A series of crackdowns on Defense website began in 1999 and picked up speed after 9/11. Since then, large parts of the military have reduced or eliminated their public Internet offerings for security reasons.
However, there are many non-government Web sites that are chock-a-block with facts and information about the military.
Some are serviced by think tanks and organizations. Others are labors of love by veterans, military enthusiasts and wannabes. Some are authoritative, others are questionable.
Military sites
Defenselink: The main Department of Defense site has a large amount of basic information and current news about the military — albeit filtered and homogenized for public consumption. Over time, the site has become more difficult to locate information but has a wide range that should be a daily stop for any reporter interesting in military news. Of particular note is the rapid posting of Pentagon news releases, transcripts, contract awards and the daily schedule of events.
Some favorites among the unofficial Web sites are GlobalSecurity.org and Military.com.
These sites, while different in many ways, provide interesting information that isn’t duplicative.
Reference books
While the Internet has eclipsed many longtime reference books, there are still many old, reliable books that every journalist covering the military should have on their bookshelf.
Jane’s Publishing Co. is the premier military reference firm. It keeps track of the world’s warships, aircraft, combat weapons (from small arms to nuclear weapons), trucks and logistics equipment. In addition to its well-known, authoritative and expensive tomes, the company also produces smaller, affordable guidebooks about warships, tactical aircraft, helicopters and armored vehicles, with pictures and basic facts. These could be handy on the road when carrying a 9-pound book would be impractical.
National Military Personnel Center
To locate a former or retired service member, journalists should contact this St. Louis, Mo., federal office, which maintains the Defense Department’s personnel files.
The amount of information available to reporters is limited but can be useful in determining the basics about a person’s military service, including ranks, units, awards, assignments and dates.
Most journalists’ requests are handled within a few days — much faster than most other requests. The more information provided the center’s public affairs officer, the quicker the service. Try to provide name, date of birth and Social Security number.
The Early Bird
The Pentagon’s internal news clipping service, the Current News Briefs, better known as the “Early Bird” or simply, “The Bird,” can be as useful to journalists as it is to the top brass and high-level government officials.
The Bird is a daily compilation, posted at 5 a.m. EST, of news stories and broadcast transcripts about the Pentagon, military and foreign affairs. Until a few years ago, the Early Bird was faxed to hundreds of bases, offices and facilities around the world. Copies were further distributed to thousands of people, including Pentagon journalists. Nowadays, only people with access to computers hooked to military and federal government Internet servers can obtain the Bird off the Internet. Journalists who cover the Pentagon can still get copies through friendly sources.
In recent months, the Bird has been endangered by some factions within the Pentagon who have complained the clipping service puts too many “bad” or unflattering stories about the military into the news briefs and that the Bird is driving debates within the military, Congress and the White House. So far, saner minds, who understand that the Early Bird provides a necessary feedback loop for military and civilian leaders, have kept the clipping service in business. But, the service’s future remains tenuous.
By Admin3 9/1/2008