Objective
Our objective was to review the existing policies that require Department personnel to submit DoD sensitive or classified information for prepublication review to ensure no DoD sensitive or classified information is released to the media.
Finding
We found that DoD Directive (DoDD) 5230.09, “Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release,” August 22, 2008, and DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5230.29, “Security and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release,” August 13, 2014, were not uniformly applied throughout the Department. Specifically, Washington Headquarters Services did not ensure the DoD Componentspecific prepublication policies aligned with the DoD prepublication policies. June 17, 2016
Recommendation
We recommend the Director of Washington Headquarters Services provide a plan of action and milestones to ensure all Defense Component-specific prepublication review policies align with DoD Directive (DoDD) 5230.09, “Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release,” August 22, 2008, and DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5230.29, “Security and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release,” August 13, 2014, with respect to prepublication review of sensitive or classified information.
Management Comments and Our Response
Managementconcurred with our comments to provide a plan of action and milestones to ensure all Defense Component-specific prepublication review policies align with DoD Directive (DoDD) 5230.09, “Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release,” August 22, 2008, and DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5230.29, “Security and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release,” August 13, 2014, with respect to prepublication review of sensitive or classified information. The comments addressed the specifics of the recommendations, and no further comments are required. Please see the recommendations table on the next page.