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Report | June 17, 2016

Review of the Policies for Prepublication Review of DoD Classified or Sensitive Information to Ensure No DoD Sensitive or Classified Information is Released to the Media

DODIG-2016-101

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.