Department of Defense

Freedom of Information Policy


The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was created in 1966 to promote openness in the government. Since then it has been strengthened and amended. To learn more about how the Freedom of Information Act is applied in the Department of Defense (DoD), please see DoD Directive 5400.07, which establishes FOIA Policy for the DoD, and DoD Regulation 5400.7-R which provides procedural guidance on the DoD FOIA Program.

The Transparency Office, Directorate for Oversight & Compliance, is responsible for DoD FOIA Policy. The Honorable John H. Gibson, Chief Management Officer (CMO), Office of the Secretary of Defense, is the DoD Chief FOIA Officer. The Transparency Office, Directorate for Oversight & Compliance is responsible for the formulation and implementation of Freedom of Information Act Policy for the Department of Defense on behalf of the DCMO.

The DoD FOIA program operates under a decentralized approach. No single FOIA Requester Service Center has access to all the DoD records and information. Since the Transparency Office is a policy office, and not a FOIA Requester Service Center, you should not send a FOIA request to us. Before sending a request to a DoD Requester Service Center, check if it's online FOIA library already contains the material you need.

If you have made a FOIA request, but you disagree with the DoD's determination, you have a right to appeal. However, there are other ways to resolve any concerns you have. Please review the Complaint / Resolve a Dispute Section of the FOIA Handbook

You will need Adobe Acrobat®Reader™ to view PDF files located on this site. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat® Reader™,you can download it here for free.

This page was last modified on: 29 April 2015