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DEPARTMENT OF ARMY
18 DAYS TO RESPOND TO ARCHIVE; OUTSTANDING REQUESTS AS
OLD AS 2 YEARS
INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMAND REQUESTS AS OLD AS 14
YEARS
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| Recordkeeping Issues - The Department of Army's initial
response to the FOIA request reported that it maintains no
"centralized index of requests under the FOIA."
The Archive was provided with a list of 54 Initial Denial
Authorities that potentially could have pending FOIA requests
and advised that we would be required to file a FOIA request
with each one in order to obtain the agency's Ten Oldest FOIA
Requests. It was not feasible for the Archive to more than
double the scope of its FOIA Audit by making an additional
53 requests for the Army's Ten Oldest FOIA Requests. Accordingly,
the Archive made a subsequent request to the Administrative
Assistant to the Office of the Army. The Archive later filed
additional requests with the five components of the Army that
receive the greatest number of FOIA requests. |
| Ten Oldest - In order to obtain a representation
of the Army's Ten Oldest FOIA Requests, the Archive refiled
the request with the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary
of the Army. That office is responsible for the administration,
operation, and management of a broad range of support systems
of the Department of the Army, Office of the Secretary, the
Headquarters, Department of the Army and its serviced elements.
It responded within 18 business days and provided requests
dating from October 18, 2001 to May 1, 2002. Of these FOIA
requests, six appear to be commercial requests concerning
awarded contracts or task/delivery orders. The other four
are news media requests: three from American Lawyer Media
and one from the LA Times. The media requests concern
(1) the Office of General Counsel Suspense Report database;
(2) "the backlog of FOIA Administrative appeals in the
Office of General Counsel of the Army"; (3) the report
of the Institute for Creative Technologies summarizing terrorist
scenarios suggested by Hollywood producers and writers; and
(4) the administrative tracking file concerning an administrative
appeal of an Army field manual. These backlogged requests
are not really representative of the Army's backlog, however.
As noted above, the Archive also sought responses from the
five Army components that receive the largest number of FOIA
requests. These also demonstrated backlogs of various lengths:
Corps of Engineers (June 6, 2002-June 27, 2003); Intelligence
and Security (October 5, 1989-October 3, 1999); Criminal Investigation
Command (March 22, 2000-June 26, 2003); Materiel Command (No
response to date); Total Army Personnel (March 5, 2001-February
14, 2002). |
| Workload Statistics - Although Army's FOIA reported
statistics from 1998 through 2002 indicate that the agency
has received a diminishing number of FOIA requests (down 33%
from 36,306 in 1998 to 28,084 in 2002), the number processed
each year also has decreased (down 37% from 37,842 processed
in 1998 to 27,744 processed in 2002). Army's processing rate
per year -- a comparison of the number of requests processed
to the number received -- decreased from 104.23% in 1998 to
98.79% in 2002. |
| Backlog Statistics - The Army's backlog of pending
FOIA requests has increased (from 2,438 FOIA requests pending
at the end of 1998 to 3,652 FOIA requests pending at the end
of 2002). Its backlog as a percentage of FOIA requests processed
each year has increased from 6.44% in 1998 to 13.16% in 2002.
Its backlog rate by year - a comparison of those pending at
the end of the year to those received during that year - has
increased from 6.72% in 1998 to 13% in 2002. |
| Processing Time - Under its two track system, Army
reports a median processing time for simple requests within
the statutory timeframe (20 days in 2002), while complex requests
have ranged from a median of 41 days to 27 days over the 1998-2002
time period, with 33 days reported for 2002. Expedited requests
have a median processing time range of 5-10 days over the
1998-2002 time period. Although none are recorded for 2001
or 2002. The median days that backlogged requests have been
pending is reported as 25 for 2002. As noted above, however,
there are requests pending with the five components of the
Army that receive the greatest number of FOIA requests that
are far older, and even as old as 3500 business days (14 years). |
TEN
OLDEST REQUESTS
Army-Administrative
Assistant to the Secretary
Adm
Asst Secretary Response Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary October 18, 2001 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary November 27, 2001 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary November 28, 2001 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary March 1, 2002 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary March 6, 2002 (Response 1) Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary March 6, 2002 (Response 2) Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary March 7, 2002 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary March 21, 2002 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary March 25, 2002 Letter
Adm
Asst Secretary April 29, 2002 Letter
Army
Corps of Engineers
Engineers
Response Letter
Engineers
June 6, 2002 Letter
Engineers
July 3, 2002, Letter
Engineers
February 26, 2003 Letter
Engineers
March 25, 2003 Letter
Engineers
April 14, 2003 Letter
Engineers
April 16, 2003 Letter
Engineers
April 18, 2003 Letter
Engineers
June 9, 2003 Letter
Engineers
June 16, 2003 Letter
Engineers
June 27, 2003 Letter
Army
Criminal Investigation Command
Criminal
Investigation Response Letter
Criminal
Investigation March 22, 2000 Letter
Criminal
Investigation March 17, 2003 (1) Letter
Criminal
Investigation March 17, 2003 (2) Letter
Criminal
Investigation April 6, 2003 Letter
Criminal
Investigation April 15, 2003 Letter
Criminal
Investigation April 21, 2003 (1) Letter
Criminal
Investigation April 21, 2003 (2) Letter
Criminal
Investigation April 22, 2003 Letter
Criminal
Investigation June 25, 2003 Letter
Criminal
Investigation June 26, 2003 Letter
Intelligence
and Security Command
Intelligence
and Security Response Letter
Intelligence
and Security October 5, 1989 Letter
Intelligence
and Security July 18, 1996 Letter
Intelligence
and Security September 17, 1996 Letter
Intelligence
and Security November 12, 1996 Letter
Intelligence
and Security December 4, 1998 Letter
Intelligence
and Security April 3, 1999 Letter
Intelligence
and Security September 16, 1999 Letter
Intelligence
and Security September 22, 1999 Letter
Intelligence
and Security October 3, 1999 Letter
Intelligence
and Security Undated Letter
Total
Army Personnel Command
Army
Personnel Response Letter
Army
Personnel Response March 5, 2001 Letter
Army
Personnel Response January 16, 2002 Letter
Army
Personnel Response January 18, 2002 Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 4, 2002 Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 10, 2002 Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 11, 2002 Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 14, 2002 (1) Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 14, 2002 (2) Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 21, 2002 (1) Letter
Army
Personnel Response February 21, 2002 (2) Letter
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