The FOIA Process: Part 1 – Intro

We deal quite a bit with replies to FOIA inquiries concerning military records here at TAH.  They’re a tool that TAH uses to “out” military phonies and prove them to be damned liars.

But for many the FOIA process is somewhat of a mystery.  So I decided I’d write a short series of articles on the FOIA request process – a brief “how to”, if you like.

Why now and not earlier?  While Jonn was a National Archives employee, as he stated elsewhere he intentionally stayed out of the FOIA business.  He also intentionally remained ignorant of the FOIA process.  That way, no one could accuse him of using nonpublic information, “inside contacts”, or similar unethical conduct.  Posting a FOIA “How To” on the site would have simply been wrong under those conditions.  So prior to a few days ago I’d not written this article and the ones to follow.

That’s no longer the case.  I’ve now got the “green light” from Jonn to post these articles here at TAH.

I’m not saying that what I’m going to describe in these articles is the only or best way to do FOIA requests, or that I’m a expert in the area.  But what I’m going to describe seems to work fairly well for me.

Why?  Simple.  The more people who know how to do a FOIA request relating to military records, the greater chance we have of seeing those who make false claims concerning their military records get “busted”.

That’s a good thing.

What will follow is a series of six articles.  The first follows immediately; the remainder will follow over the next few days.

Intro:  FOIA?  What’s that?

FOIA stands for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  That law, passed in 1967, essentially states that with certain exceptions the public has the right to know information held by the Federal government.  Essentially, if information in the possession of the Federal government isn’t PII and isn’t covered by one of the FOIA’s exceptions or classified, at least in theory that information can be obtained by the public on request.

A substantial amount of information in a person’s military record is considered public record information releasable under the FOIA.  While a veteran’s complete military record can only be released with his or her consent (or, if the vet is deceased, with the consent of their next of kin), that’s not the case regarding the public record information in the file.

The items considered public record information in an individual’s military records may be released on request to literally anyone without the veteran’s consent.  That public record information generally sufficient to prove whether or not a claim concerning military service is true – or is a case of stolen valor.  This release is fully consistent with, and is not a violation of, the Privacy Act of 1974 in any way, shape, form, or fashion.

This page at the National Archives website lists the information from a veteran’s military records may be released to literally anyone on request.  I’ll repeat the items here, for ease of reference:

• Name
• Service/Serial Number (NOT the SSN – this was used prior to and during most of Vietnam)
• Dates of Service
• Branch of Service
• Final Duty Status
• Final Rank
• Salary*
• Assignments and Geographical Locations
• Source of Commission*
• Military Education Level
• Promotion Sequence Number*
• Awards and decorations (eligibility only, not actual medals)
• Photograph
• Transcript of Courts-Martial Trials
• Place of entrance and separation

(Note:  the items marked with an asterisk above are not usually present in military records held on-file in government archives.) 

If the veteran is deceased, the following additional items of information may be released if available:

• Place of birth
• Date and geographical location of death
• Place of burial

As you can see, that’s quite an extensive list of information that may be released to the general public.  That publicly-releasable information is generally sufficient to verify – to a degree of reasonable certainty – claims of receipt of decorations for valor, combat service, special operations qualification, and the like.

Frankly, about the only thing that might be misleading is a military retiree’s retired rank.  The rank released under the FOIA process is the final rank at time of discharge.  Barring a courts-martial or administrative reduction, this is usually the highest rank an individual attained during his/her military service.  But in a few cases (such as a prior-service officer who is reduced during a drawdown and reverts to enlisted status and retires while enlisted), an individual’s retired rank may be different – and higher – than their final rank.

Obtaining this info via the FOIA process is not what I’d call “quick and easy”, but it’s definitely doable and really isn’t terribly difficult.  The next few articles will detail the process of making a request for information releasable under the FOIA concerning a veteran’s military records.  They will cover

• what information is needed to file a FOIA request,
• how to prepare a FOIA request,
• where to send a FOIA request,
• what it may cost,
• what you might get back as a reply,
• the interpretation of results, and
• some administrative information that doesn’t fit neatly elsewhere.

. . .

That’s all for today.  The next article will cover the information needed to file a FOIA request.

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