Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Ten Point Program




Ten Point – Ten Step Program – to solving the JFK Assassination to a legal and moral cetrtainty

Forgo arguing or debating conspiracy theories – get the government to do what it is supposed to do – free the files – inquire into strange and suspicious deaths – properly investigate homicides and prosecute those individuals responsible for committing crimes related to the assassination, including the theft and destruction of records, perjury, conspiracy, destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice.

The long held goals of obtaining the release of the US government records on the assassination of President Kennedy, the proper questioning of living witnesses, the investigation and prosecution of those responsible fore committing crimes and the establishing a research center for the study of political assassinations can all still be reached, but must be reached within the next few years. 

These steps must be completed one at a time, as the political will power and ability to achieve all of the goals requires they be done in sequence - with the easiest first. 

First we must convince the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to do their duty, their job and what must be done to enforce and complete the JFK Act. We have started a petition and Facebook pages to advance this effort, which should result in the release of all remaining JFK Assassination Records by 2013, rather than 2017 or never. 

The NARA is having a public hearing on Wednesday, August 29th on the National Declassification initiative, which originally included the JFK records, but has since reneged on that promise, so we hope to convince them to re-evaluate that decision at this public hearing, and if not include the JFK records among the 2013 program, make them a special project that will accelerate the release of the remaining withheld JFK assassinations because of the public interest and requests. 

Friday, October 26th is the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the JFK Act by President Bush, so we are making that the next target date and hope to have a party or a protest on that date, depending on what the response is to NARA public hearing next Wednesday (August. 29) 

Between now and then we will continue our efforts to lobby Congress to hold the required public hearings on the JFK Act, and if they won't do that, we are going to hold our own public hearing - right in Congress, a Congressional Briefing on the JFK Act, which we may be able to get CSPAN to televise and present the best witnesses and special speakers and presentations. We have also started a Facebook paypal site to accept donations that will be used to pay for a full page ad in the Washington Post aimed at convincing Congress to hold the necessary public JFK Act oversight hearings. We may have to embarrass them into doing it. 

We also hope to put together a Mock JFK Grand Jury that would be conducted as a real grand jury to review the evidence available, take new witness testimony and determine if there is enough evidence to present to a real grand jury. 

Once it has been established that there are crimes related to the assassination that have not and are not being properly investigated or prosecuted, such as the destruction of records, perjury, obstruction of justice, related unsolved homicides, we petition the Washington DC Federal Judge and Prosecutor to convene a Special Federal Grand Jury to properly and independent inquire into these crimes to determine if there is enough evidence to indict individuals for such crimes and present that evidence to a jury. 

Perhaps we can convince the NARA to hold a special program on the JFK Assassination for the 50th anniversary, as they have for the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis, and hold a conference on the subject of the records, and if they don't we can do it ourselves. 

The long term goal is to establish in Washington DC a permanent JFK Assassination Research Center for the Study of Political Assassinations, where researchers from all over the country can utilize the library and even stay in dorm facilities made available, to research not only JFK, but all political assassinations, and become the foremost center in the world on that subject. 

There is also a movement to begin a permanent Hidden History Museum, that would include a movie theater, internet cafe, book and magazine store, and document shop, which could be used to help finance the Library and Research Center. 

Lofty goals, and the odds are against any of them ever succeeding, but at least we can try and make the effort. 

1)      NARA – NDX – Wed. August 26th NARA DC
2)      Congressional Oversight Hearings on JFK Act
3)      October 26th – 20th Anniversary of JFK Act
4)      Congressional Briefing of Witnesses
5)      JFK Mock Grand Jury – Questioning of Witnesses
6)      JFK Special Federal Grand Jury – DC
7)      Dallas County Grand Jury inquiry into murder of J.D. Tippit
8)      50th Anniversary Events – October, 2012 – Cuban Missile Crisis/ Nov. Dallas/ May 29JFK Birthday/ Countdown to Nov. 22 –
9)      Establish JFK Research Center for the Study of Political Assassinations
10)  Establish JFK Hidden History Museum – Theater – Café – Document Shop



Press Release August 16, 2012
National Declassification Center Hosts Public Forum   -  August 29 2012
NDC will assess its first two years, progress made

Washington, DC…The National Archives National Declassification Center (NDC) will host its third public forum on Wednesday, August 29, at 10 a.m. in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. This event is free and open to the public. Please enter via the Special Events entrance on Constitution Ave. and 7th St., NW.

The forum’s theme is “NDC challenges at two years: what did we learn, and how are we moving forward?” NDC Director Sheryl Shenberger will update the public on declassification progress toward meeting the President’s goal of eliminating the backlog of unprocessed classified records by December 31, 2013. She will also discuss the fifth Bi-annual Report on Operations of the National Declassification Center [www.archives.gov/declassification/reports].

Two inter-agency panels will address NDC’s progress over the past two years. National Archives staff will update the public on standardized declassification training and changes to declassification policy. The forum will conclude with a question and answer session with members of the public.

For additional information or to submit questions in advance question, contact Don McIlwain[don.mcilwain@nara.gov] or (301) 837-0587.

The National Declassification Center at the National Archives at College Park was established under Executive Order 13526 on December 30, 2009. The NDC’s mission is to align people, processes, and technologies to advance the declassification and public release of historically valuable permanent records while maintaining national security. For more information see the National Declassification Center’s website [www.archives.gov/declassification].

The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent Federal agency that preserves and shares with the public records that trace the story of our nation, government, and the American people. From the Declaration of Independence to accounts of ordinary Americans, the holdings of the National Archives directly touch the lives of millions of people. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and online at www.archives.gov.

For press contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.
Subscribe to the NDC’s Blog: http://blogs.archives.gov/ndc/
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RIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2012

Washington, DC…The National Archives National Declassification Center (NDC) will host its third public forum on Wednesday, August 29, at 10 a.m. in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.  This event is free and open to the public.  Please enter via the Special Events entrance on Constitution Ave. and 7th St., NW.

The forum’s theme is “NDC challenges at two years: what did we learn, and how are we moving forward?”  NDC Director Sheryl Shenberger will update the public on declassification progress toward meeting the President’s goal of eliminating the backlog of unprocessed classified records by December 31, 2013.  She will also discuss the fifth Bi-annual Report on Operations of the National Declassification Center. The report is online at www.archives.gov/declassification/reports.

Two inter-agency panels will address NDC’s progress over the past two years, focusing on inter-agency quality assurance and streamlining declassification processes.  National Archives staff will update the public on standardized declassification training and changes to declassification policy. The forum will conclude with a question and answer session with members of the public.

For additional information or to submit questions in advance question, contact Don McIlwain at don.mcilwain@nara.gov or (301) 837-0587
Bi-annual Report on Operations of the National Declassification Center
Reporting period: January 1, 2011June 30, 2011


This is the third report on the status of the National Declassification Center (NDC). NDC status reports are issued bi-annually, approximately two weeks after the reporting deadlines of June 30 and December 31.

Executive Summary:

In 18 months, the NDC has shown measurable progress. The center also faces certain challenges. The initial collaborative effort between government agency programs begun in late 2009 to draft a new declassification review and release process has developed into a stable and streamlined methodology. The segregation of less-sensitive and newly declassified records from the most sensitive ("Releasing What We Can") as well as the completion of equity review for the more sensitive national security information ("Protecting What We Must") is allowing us to provide records to the public more quickly than with past practices. Because of our new processes, inter-agency cooperation, and data gathering analysis, we have evaluated 30% of the back log, and facilitated prioritized review and release for two special collections. Our challenge for the remaining 70% involves confirming past original agency review for Restricted Data/Formerly Restricted Data (RD/FRD) and/or arranging the review resources that will be necessary for the identification of RD/FRD in records that have been assessed and identified as needing this legally required review. Nearly half of the remaining records within the back log have been confirmed as still needing this review, and that number may grow as we continue our assessment of data continuing to be supplied by the affected agencies. We are working with our agency partners, including the Department of Energy to address the page-level review required for these documents. Inter-agency support for the NDC remains strong, and we remain confident that we will successfully resolve this issue and meet the 2013 deadline in the Presidential Memorandum.

The NDC was established by Executive Order 13526, "Classified National Security Information," under the direction of the Archivist of the United States, to coordinate the timely and appropriate processing of referrals of 25-year old and older classified records of permanent historical value. The December 29, 2009 Presidential Memorandum accompanying E.O. 13526 specified a December 31, 2013 deadline for making available to the public the declassified records within the approximately 400 million pages currently back logged (that is, currently accessioned but not yet fully processed for release to the public) at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and under NDC purview.

In The Strategic Plan of the National Archives and Records Administration, 2006 – 2016 (revised 2009), the Archivist singled out this inter-agency center as reflecting "the ongoing challenge to balance the needs of national security and the right of citizens to have access to the records of their Government."

Each NDC Status Report will contain the following three sections: a narrative highlighting events and activities of the previous six months; a brief description of the interagency cooperation during the previous six months; and a quantitative update that charts cumulative progress on the back log and against the current year"s NDC Civilian and Defense Annual Work Plans, since the January 1, 2010 stand up. These plans are Appendix B and C to the overall Prioritization Plan and may be may be viewed at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/final-prioritization-plan.pdf.

Openness and Public Comment:
We continue to invite public comments and suggestions by way of the NDC Blog and email boxndc@nara.gov. Updated information regarding new releases and other NDC initiatives may also be found on the NDC website: http://archives.gov/declassification/. During the reporting period, we blogged about our processes, special efforts, and certain records we have released.

In February, we held a small meeting at Archives II with several public interest group representatives to discuss our progress and the previous NDC report.

Process Improvement:

Our new Metrics Team, created last autumn, continued its work to provide end-to-end tracking for all NDC operations, and our current numbers reflect their clean up and continuing analysis of our data. The work of this team is allowing us to pinpoint potential chokepoints in our processes, report more accurate production statistics, and work toward streamlining all of our data capture efforts.

Working with other NARA components, we formulated a new policy for more efficiently moving records from classified to declassified stacks in order to speed their availability to the public.

We implemented a new process for interagency declassification review and processing of special media and electronic records, including coordinating and facilitating special media original reviews due December 31, 2011.

With the support of most major agencies, we implemented several new work processes, including digitization, for requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Mandatory Declassification Review provisions of E.O. 13526 for classified Federal records to provide for more timely responses to public requests. In a comparison of similar active second quarters, in Fiscal Year 2010 we closed 53 cases; in Fiscal Year 2011 we closed 77 cases. We expect our case handling efficiency to continue to improve as the new processes are fully implemented and adopted by staff.

Review:

We coordinated and completed the declassification and release of material associated with the Pentagon Papers (40th anniversary) on June 13, 2011. This release marks the first authorized availability of the complete report to the Vietnam taskforce and can be found athttp://www.archives.gov/research/pentagon-papers/. We are currently processing the supporting documentation and will make that available in the near future.

In conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in April, we released the oldest classified documents in the Federal government held at the National Archives. On the use of secret writing, these are available for public use at the National Archives as well as online at http://www.foia.cia.gov/.

We continued our declassification review and processing of information relating to the Berlin Wall construction (50th anniversary). We are planning a seminar, including a panel discussion, related to the opening of the records, for October 27, 2011 at the National Archives building in Washington, DC.

Agencies are continuing to do page-by-page equity review for their referrals in the NDC Interagency Referral Center. During the six-month reporting period (January 1 – June 30, 2011), 779,451 referred pages were completed for equity review. Of those pages, 321,597 were declassified and 457,854 pages were exempted.

The NDC Joint Referral Center (JRC), which coordinates and facilitates the review and referral of the Department of Defense (DOD) subset to the back log, is conducting a 100% quality assurance review of untabbed (non-exempted or referred) DOD records and a final review of DOD referrals to DOD components. The Armed Services, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) are participating. In June, Department of State representatives also began equity review there. During the six-month reporting period, the JRC completed 1,590,311 pages, declassifying 1,555,300 pages. This is triple the amount of pages completed from the previous reporting period. Since January 1, 2010, the JRC has completed 2,224,631 pages, declassifying 2,107,196 pages. These results are reflected in the NDC Status of the Workload and Production numbers after the records have been returned to NARA and have completed final processing.

Through the NDC, the Presidential Libraries prioritized 1,364,471 pages within certain collections of the Truman through Carter Administrations, as well as the China-associated materials within the Kissinger Personal Paper Collection, for completion of referral review through the Remote Archives Capture (RAC) project. As of June 30, 2011, equity-holding agencies had completed review on 736,465 of those pages. RAC-reviewed pages are not reported as part of the Federal accessioned-records back log in the Status of the Workload and Production portion below.

New issues and business processes under development:
To provide declassified historical documents to our customers in a timelier manner, we recognized the need to track all records from accessioning to their final availability in order to facilitate referral review for declassification and release. We continued our work, begun in September 2010, with a contractor to develop the requirements for an IT system that would be responsive to agency needs, including improved NDC processes, improved data collection, and integration.

We stood up an Information Technology Working Group, headed by officers from the MDA and the US Air Force (USAF) Declassification Programs, to encourage inter-agency examination of uses of newer technology, such as context accumulation techniques, the computer generation of standardized metadata, and enhanced information retrieval tools. Although much of this technology will not directly impact our back log processing, it will have applications as we move further into electronic records and digitization.

We are hosting a Declassification Conference, November 7-10, for executive branch declassification professionals. The objectives of the conference are to enhance our community's protection of national security information, promote cohesion and common methodology among declassification professionals and foster greater understanding of our individual and collective responsibility to protect national classified information during the records management lifecycle through purposeful and deliberate declassification guidance.

Interagency Cooperation:
During the six-month reporting period, agency personnel from Army, USAF, OSD, NSA, CIA, DIA, and Department of Energy (DOE) participated in daily Evaluation Team activities, frequently providing staffing for up to three inter-agency teams per day/four days each week. In addition, the following agencies supported Quality Assurance Team and special targeted review activities: Army, Department of State, NSA, DIA, USAF, JCS, CIA, and DOE. DOE continued the expansion of its workforce commitment in order to assess all records in the back log. CIA expanded its capability to assess certain specific record series and to assist in Kyl-Lott reviews of those series.

Many of our records cannot be processed because they lack the required Kyl-Lott review for RD/FRD. Several agencies, such as the Department of State, are addressing these required page-level reviews within their records with the assistance of NARA personnel. In early June, we stood up an interagency team to address Kyl-Lott review issues in Department of the Navy records. 50% of the remaining back log consists of Navy records lacking documented Kyl-Lott review. Although, we are working closely with the Department of the Navy to address this critical issue, the complexity in these records does require careful review for RD/FRD, and they cannot move through the remainder of our process without the required page-level review.

Quarterly NDC Advisory Panel meetings were held with office-level heads from the Intelligence, Defense, Law Enforcement, and Diplomatic Communities in order to keep them apprised of progress and issues. During this six-month reporting period, we also met with office directors and declassification managers for Army, Commerce, CIA, DOE, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USAF, National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), Navy, NSA, Department of State, MDA, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD(I)), OSD, and the US Trade Representative (USTR). Every three months, an on-site agency meeting was held to discuss working level concerns and suggestions for process improvements.
We briefed the Department of State Advisory Committee on Historic Diplomatic Documentation (HAC) on NDC progress in March.

Status of Workload and Production:

Because of the increased maturity of our metrics program, we are better able to report our accomplishments. This expanded capability has of necessity affected all our numbers, from the initial back log reported to the status of the various stages of processing. With that in mind, we are reporting production using a reporting period of January 1, 2010 (establishment of the NDC by E.O.) to June 30, 2011. These production numbers reflect the number of back log pages evaluated in the NDC for referral quality review. A subset of these pages has been declassified and is available for public use. The remaining pages that have completed NDC referral quality evaluation are in the NDC final indexing queue, have been excluded for Department of Energy sensitivities, or have been exempted from automatic declassification by an agency.

Included in the pages released to the public during the January – June 2011 reporting period are documents from record group (RG) 43, International Conferences, Commissions, and Expositions; RG 65, FBI; RG 84, Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State; documents from a number of military services-related record groups; RG 306, U.S. Information Agency; and RG 472, U.S. Forces in SE Asia. Additional information on these and other releases is provided on our website.

Total back log pages as of NDC stand up on January 1, 2010: 386.2 million pages (vice 417.9 million pages reported in the last report). This new number is based on our developed metrics capability to analyze and de-conflict the available data and research the type of containers and records affected.

Total pages evaluated in the NDC referral quality review process (January 1, 2010June 30, 2011): 117,404,134 pages.
Total pages that have completed all processing: 18,038,692 pages. Total pages released to the public (also includes 603,126 pages released in the Interagency Referral Center; January 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011): 16,594,585 pages.
Total back log pages requiring referral quality review processing as of June 30, 2011: 268,795,866 pages.


The National Declassification Center (NDC)
NDC - Releasing All We Can, Protecting What We Must
The NDC released its latest Bi-annual Report:
Bi-annual Report on Operations of the National Declassification Center (January 1, 2012June 30, 2012)   [PDF Format ]

The NDC has released a listing of 237 separate entriesExcel document that have completed declassification processing between May 23 and July 5, 2012 and are now available for researcher request. This release consists primarily of military records.

Highlights include:
Navy records relating to the underwater search for a missing thermonuclear bomb near Palomares Spain,
Department of State Post Files from Australia and France,
Office of the Secretary of Defense records relating to research into medical aspects of atomic warfare,
Office of the Secretary of Defense records relating to the Cuban Missile crisis,
Office of the Secretary of Defense, Advance Research Projects Agency records relating to “Project VELA”,
Army Assistant Chief of Staff records relating to civil disturbances in the 1960s,
Army Command Files for the 4th and 3rd Army, and
Air Force records from Wright-Patterson, Langley, Patrick, and Andrews Air Force Bases.
Requests to access the newly released records or to order copies should be directed to Archives 2 Reference at 301-837-3510 orarchives2reference@nara.gov.
(When making a request, please cite the HMS Entry and Series Title.)

Participate in the NDC Prioritization Plans:
Comment on the Plan: ndc@nara.gov

The National Declassification Center (NDC) was created when President Obama signed the new Executive Order released by the White House on December 29, 2009.

NDC began operations in early January 2010 under the direction of Dr. Michael J. Kurtz, Assistant Archivist for Records Services, Washington.  Initially, the NDC will focus on the following:

-         timely and appropriate processing of referrals between agencies for accessioned Federal records and transferred Presidential Records;
-         -general interagency declassification activities necessary to fulfill the requirements of sections 3.3 and 3.4 of this order;
-         the exchange among agencies of detailed declassification guidance to support equity recognition; the development of effective, transparent, and standard declassification work processes, training, and quality assurance measures;
-         the development of solutions to declassification challenges posed by electronic records, special media, and emerging technologies;
-         the linkage and effective utilization of existing agency databases and the use of new technologies to support declassification activities under the purview of the Center PDF files require the free Adobe Reader.


Frequently Asked Questions about the National Declassification Center (NDC)
NDC – Releasing All We Can, Protecting What We Must

What is the Purpose of the NDC

The NDC will shorten the amount of time that it takes to declassify a document.
Mission

To align people, processes, and technologies to advance the declassification and public release of historically valuable permanent records while maintaining national security.
Vision:

To be the world's preeminent declassification organization, responsive to all customers, committed to the free flow of information and the requirements of national security.
Who Will Benefit from the NDC?

Everyone will benefit:

The research community and the public at large will benefit because the National Archives will be able to make millions of records available more quickly. Therefore citizens will have greater access to their nation's history.

The agencies that create or have information included in classified permanently valuable records will benefit from a more streamlined, efficient declassification process.

Agencies with equity in records created by other agencies will benefit as improved processes, and better training will facilitate better equity recognition.

Who Established the NDC?

The authority for the NDC is section 3.7 of the new Executive order, which was signed by President Obama on December 29, 2009Read the Press Release

What Will the NDC Accomplish? 

As outlined in section 3.7 of the new order, the NDC will:

- streamline declassification processes
- prioritize the declassification of sought after records
- facilitate referral processes and quality assurance measures
implement standard declassification training for records determined to have permanent historical value

Section 3.7 provides seven specific areas of focus for the NDC:
- timely and appropriate processing of referrals in accordance with section 3.3(d)(3) of this order for accessioned Federal records and transferred Presidential Records.
- general interagency declassification activities necessary to fulfill the requirements of sections 3.3 and 3.4 of this order;
- the exchange among agencies of detailed declassification guidance to support equity recognition;
- the development of effective, transparent, and standard declassification work processes, training, and quality assurance measures;
- the development of solutions to declassification challenges posed by electronic records, special media, and emerging technologies;
- the linkage and effective utilization of existing agency databases and the use of new technologies to support declassification activities under the purview of the Center; and
storage and related services, on a reimbursable basis, for Federal records containing - ----- classified national security information.

Who Will Operate the NDC?

The Executive Order instructs the Archivist of the United States to appoint a Center Director in consultation with Secretaries of State, Defense, Energy and Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence.

National Archives employees will staff the NDC and provide support for agency reviewers.

Agency heads will assign personnel to the Center review and exempt or declassify information originated by their agency.

The NDC Director will be advised by an inter-agency Policy Planning Group (PPG) and assisted by an inter-agency Program Management Team (PMT).

Which Agencies Will Participate in the NDC?

All Executive branch agencies who create or are responsible for classified information found in permanently valuable Federal or Presidential records will participate, unless they delegate that authority in writing to another agency.

Where Will the NDC Be Located? 

Initially, the NDC will be located at the National Archives at College Park in existing space. It will assume the functions of the voluntary Quality Assurance Review Team and the Inter-agency Referral Center. In addition, agencies may establish their own facilities for initial declassification review.

Why is the NDC Necessary? 

The current declassification review and release processes have caused a massive and growing backlog of reviewed classified records.

There are currently approximately 409 million pages of reviewed Federal records at the National Archives that require referral and archival processing prior to release to the public. Additionally, there almost three million pages of highly sought after scanned images of Presidential records awaiting processing as part of the Remote Archives Capture project. 

In addition to the backlog, there remains concern about the quality of some (mostly earlier) reviews. These issues center on missed equity due to lack of standardized training. These errors led to the passage of the Kyl-Lott Amendments, which require additional review for nuclear weapons design and related information. 

The NDC will also address the pressing issue of how to streamline the declassification of electronic records. 

What is the Status of the NDC

Realizing the opportunity to fundamentally change how records are declassified, the National Archives has begun taking steps to meet the challenge. The National Archives established:

- a high level inter-agency steering group that will oversee the establishment of the NDC and later serve as a policy planning group for the Center. This group is chaired by Assistant Archivist for Records Services, Washington, Michael Kurtz, who will also serve as the Acting Director of the NDC pending the selection of a permanent director.

-         a Program Management Team, responsible for working level coordination, data collection, and
-         collaboration with the Defense Change Management Organization, which is conducting a study of current declassification processes.

What Future Challenges Will be Addressed by the NDC

The work currently underway may lead to follow-on studies such as improved information technology integration, strategies and implementation of techniques to meet the challenge of "born digital" records, and related changes to processing FOIA and Mandatory declassification review requests. Read a Report on Declassification Challenges

Where Can I Go to Learn More?

You can visit the NDC web site (www.archives.gov/declassification/) to obtain updates and results. The web site will also post information about upcoming open forums and other opportunities to learn more as they become available. Finally, you can send a comment, question or concern to NDC@nara.gov
The National Declassification Center (NDC)
NDC - Releasing All We Can, Protecting What We Must
The NDC released its latest Bi-annual Report:
Bi-annual Report on Operations of the National Declassification Center (January 1, 2012June 30, 2012)   [PDF Format ]

The NDC has released a listing of 237 separate entriesExcel document that have completed declassification processing between May 23 and July 5, 2012 and are now available for researcher request. This release consists primarily of military records.
Highlights include:

Navy records relating to the underwater search for a missing thermonuclear bomb near Palomares Spain,
Department of State Post Files from Australia and France,
Office of the Secretary of Defense records relating to research into medical aspects of atomic warfare,
Office of the Secretary of Defense records relating to the Cuban Missile crisis,
Office of the Secretary of Defense, Advance Research Projects Agency records relating to “Project VELA”,
Army Assistant Chief of Staff records relating to civil disturbances in the 1960s,
Army Command Files for the 4th and 3rd Army, and
Air Force records from Wright-Patterson, Langley, Patrick, and Andrews Air Force Bases.

Requests to access the newly released records or to order copies should be directed to Archives 2 Reference at 301-837-3510 orarchives2reference@nara.gov.
(When making a request, please cite the HMS Entry and Series Title.)

General Information about Restricted Records

Federal records may be restricted by statute, Executive Order, or by the agency that transferred the records to NARA. All agency-specified restrictions must comply with the exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Even if the records are not national-security classified, some records contain information exempt from release under the FOIA. Presidential records are governed by separate access laws, for more information please visit the website for the Office of Presidential Libraries.

The public may request access to all closed records under the Freedom of Information Act, in addition, access to classified records may be requested under the Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) provisions of Executive Order 13526. If your initial access request for archival records is denied, you will be notified of your right to appeal the decision. Please note that EO 13526 provides for alternate appeal methods for Mandatory Review requests if you have not received a response in one year, more information is available on the website for the Information Security Oversight Office.

The National Declassification Center (NDC)
Prioritization Plan
The NDC Prioritization Plan will serve as a roadmap for the NDC to declassify and process for release federal records and presidential materials.
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero served as moderator
Comment on the Plan
Post Comments on the NDC Blog:   http://blogs.archives.gov/ndc
E-mail Us:   ndc@nara.gov
Comment on the Plan Post Comments on the NDC Blog: http://blogs.archives.gov/ndc E-mail Us:ndc@nara.gov
Contact Us
National Declassification Center (NDC)
National Archives and Records Administration, Room 3400
8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

E-mail:ndc@nara.gov 
Phone: 301-837-3110
Fax: 301-837-3633







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