SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2020, Issue No. 9
June 1, 2020

PIDB URGES MODERNIZATION OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

How can the national security classification and declassification system be fixed?

That depends on how one defines the problem that needs fixing. To the authors of a new report from the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB), the outstanding problem is the difficulty of managing the expanding volume of classified information and declassifying a growing backlog of records.

"There is widespread, bipartisan recognition that the Government classifies too much information and keeps it classified for too long, all at an exorbitant and unacceptable cost to taxpayers," said the PIDB, a presidential advisory board. Meanwhile, "Inadequate declassification contributes to an overall lack of transparency and diminished confidence in the entire security classification system."

The solution to this problem is to employ technology to improve the efficiency of the classification and declassification processes, the PIDB said.

"The time is ripe for envisioning a new approach to classification and declassification, before the accelerating influx of classified electronic information across the Government becomes completely unmanageable," the report said. "The Government needs a paradigm shift, one centered on the adoption of technologies and policies to support an enterprise-level, system-of-systems approach."

See A Vision for the Digital Age: Modernization of the U.S. National Security Classification and Declassification System, Public Interest Declassification Board, May 2020.

The report's diagnosis is not new and neither is its call for employing new technology to improve classification and declassification. The PIDB itself made similar recommendations in a 2007 report.

Recognizing the persistent lack of progress to date, the new report therefore calls for the appointment of an Executive Agent who would have the authority and responsibility for designing and implementing a newly transformed classification system. (The Director of National Intelligence, who is already Security Executive Agent for security clearance policy, would be a likely choice.)

Those who care enough about these issues to read the PIDB report will find lots of interesting commentary along with plenty to doubt or disagree with. For example, in my opinion:

  • The useful idea of appointing an Executive Agent is diminished by making him or her part of an Executive Committee of agency leaders. The whole point of creating a "czar"-like Executive Agent is to reduce the friction of collective decision making and to break through the interagency impasse. An Executive Committee would make that more difficult.

  • The PIDB report would oddly elevate the Archivist of the United States, who is not even an Original Classification Authority, into a central role "in modernizing the systems used across agencies for the management of classified records." That doesn't make much sense. (An official said the intended purpose here was merely to advance the mission of the Archives in preserving historical records.)

  • The report equivocates on the pivotal question of whether or not (or for how long) agencies should retain "equity" in, or ownership of, the records they produce.

  • The report does not address resource issues in a concrete way. How much money should be invested today to develop the recommended technologies in order to reap savings five and ten years from now? It doesn't say. Who should supply the classified connectivity among classifying agencies that the report says is needed? Exactly which agency should request the required funding in next year's budget request? That is not discussed, and so in all likelihood it is not going to happen.

    But the hardest, most stubborn problem in classification policy has nothing to do with efficiency or productivity. What needs updating and correcting, rather, are the criteria for determining what is properly classified and what must be disclosed. And since there is disagreement inside and outside government about many specific classification actions -- e.g., should the number of US troops in Afghanistan be revealed or not? -- a new mechanism is needed to adjudicate such disputes. This fundamental issue is beyond the scope of the PIDB report.

    The Public Interest Declassification Board will hold a virtual public meeting on June 5 at 11 am.

    PENTAGON SEEKS AUTHORITY TO RECALL MORE RETIREES TO DUTY

    The Department of Defense is asking Congress to expand its authority to recall retired members of the military to active duty in the event of a war or national emergency.

    The DoD proposal predates the turmoil that followed the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis last week and the activation of National Guard units in numerous states.

    Current law (10 USC 688a) permits the military to recall no more than 1,000 retirees in order "to alleviate a high-demand, low-density military capability" or when necessary "to meet wartime or peacetime requirements." DoD wants to remove that 1,000 person limit.

    "This proposal . . . would allow the Secretary of a military department to recall more than 1,000 retirees to active duty during a war or national emergency," the Pentagon said in its May 4 request, which is one of numerous legislative proposals for the FY 2021 defense authorization act.

    "Waiving the 1,000 member limitation on this temporary recall authority and the authority's expiration date in time of war or of national emergency will increase the Department of Defense's flexibility and agility in generating forces with the expertise required to respond rapidly and efficiently during such a period."

    "Given the unpredictability of war and national emergencies, such as the COVID 19 pandemic, waiver of the 1,000-member limit will better posture the Department to respond to unpredictable and rapidly evolving situations," DoD said.

    There is no reason to be concerned that such authority would ever be abused, the Pentagon told Congress, because "The Office of the Secretary of Defense will ensure the amount of recalled retirees does not exceed the number warranted by mission requirements."

    Last March, the US Army contacted more than 800,000 retired soldiers to inquire if they would be willing to assist with military's pandemic response, according to a report in Military.com.

    The Congressional Research Service summarized the constitutional and statutory authorities and limitations governing the military role in disaster relief and law enforcement in The Use of Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues, November 5, 2012.

    AIR FORCE CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF NEVADA TEST RANGE

    The US Air Force wants to renew and expand the withdrawal of public land for the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), where it conducts flight testing, classified research and development projects, and weapons tests. A Defense Department proposal to Congress would increase the amount of land currently withdrawn from public use by more than 10 percent.

    The NTTR is already "the largest contiguous air and ground space available for peacetime military operations in the free world," according to a 2017 Air Force fact sheet.

    But it's not big enough to meet future requirements, the Pentagon told Congress in an April 17 legislative proposal.

    "The land withdrawal that makes up the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) expires in 2021. The NTTR is the Air Force’s most vital test and training asset and must be continued," the DoD proposal said. But even more is needed, according to DoD: "Maintaining the status quo by simply extending the current withdrawal will not be sufficient to meet 5th generation requirements."

    "This proposal would expand the current withdrawal, enacted in the FY2000 NDAA and set to expire in 2021, and make that withdrawal for a period of 25 years."

    Approximately 300,000 acres of additional land would be withdrawn under the proposal, for a total of around 3.2 million acres that would be reserved "for use by the Secretary of the Air Force for certain military purposes."

    As of now, "The range occupies 2.9 million acres of land, 5,000 square miles of airspace which is restricted from civilian air traffic over-flight and another 7,000 square miles of Military Operating Area, or MOA, which is shared with civilian aircraft," the 2017 USAF fact sheet said. "The 12,000-square-nautical mile range provides a realistic arena for operational testing and training aircrews to improve combat readiness. A wide variety of live munitions can be employed on targets on the range."

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    Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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