On February 1, 2012, the National Declassification Center (NDC) began a new tradition by awarding the first Jeanne Schauble Memorial award to Mr. Ed Cachine for outstanding contributions to the NDC and declassification community. The award was created to honor the memory of Jeanne Schauble, long-time Director of the Initial Processing and Declassification Division and … Continue reading Ed Cachine Honored with the First Jeanne Schauble Memorial Award
Recently, there has been some discussion and confusion about steps the National Declassification Center (NDC) is taking to meet the Presidents goal to permit public access to all declassified records from this backlog no later than December 31, 2013. The Fourth Bi-annual Report indicates that of the approximately 400 million pages believed to be in … Continue reading National Declassification Center Processes…Explained
The NDC is pleased to release its Fourth Bi-Annual status report. This report details the progress made since January 2010 in meeting the President’s December 29, 2009 charge to eliminate the approximately 400 million page back log of reviewed, but not publicly available records at NARA. The report specifically focuses on progress made during the … Continue reading National Declassification Center Releases its Fourth Bi-Annual Report
Today's post comes to us from NDC blogger Neil Carmichael. On October 27, 2011, the National Declassification Center held a one-day conference on the Berlin Crisis of 1961. The conference focused on events leading up to and following the Vienna summit between Khrushchev and Kennedy, the height of tension during August with the construction of the wall … Continue reading Berlin Crisis Video on C-Span
The NDC has released a listing of 131 separate entries that have completed declassification processing between October 3 and December 19, 2011 and are now available for researcher request. Highlights include records from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff. Requests to access the newly released records or to order … Continue reading 131 New Entries Released by the NDC
Here is a good article from Sunday's Washington Post that discusses the challenges faced by the NDC and its achievements to date. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/national-archives-needs-to-declassify-a-backlog-of-nearly-400-million-pages/2011/11/29/gIQAMAYmPO_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop
The NDC has released a listing of 157 separate entries that have completed declassification processing between June and September, 2011 and are now available for researcher request. Highlights include records from the Army, Navy, Air Force, United States Information Agency (USIA) and Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State. Requests to access the newly … Continue reading NDC Releases 157 New Entries
Although ISOO does a yeoman's job of administering MDR appeals, the delay in some cases runs years, and the time elapsed from the original MDR request can amount to more than a decade. How can this ISCAP appeal process be streamlined? ISOO Response: The ISOO provides administrative and logistical support to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals … Continue reading Open Forum Question Five
This time, an answer from our colleagues at the Department of Energy (DOE). Would it be possible to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of RD/FRD with a less burdensome review process than that currently required by the Kyl-Lott Amendment? DOE RESPONSE: For electronic and microfilm records, certain agencies are looking into the application of recent advances … Continue reading Fourth Open Forum Question and Answer
When will the Defense Department files (Joint Staff) for issues regarding terrorism in Western Europe; East German military relations with the Arab states, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the states of Syria and Iraq be declassified for the period of the late 1960s to 1981 or so? … Continue reading Third Question and Answer from the Forum
