U.S. Strategic Command > Contact > Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act

The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requester Service Center complies with DOJ Executive Order 13,392, FOIA Improvement Plan. Any person has the right to submit a FOIA request for Federal agency records, except for those protected from disclosure by any of nine exemptions or three special law enforcement exclusions. The Department of War (DoW) primarily uses exemptions 1 – 7.

Title 5 U.S.C. § 552 The Freedom of Information Act, DoD [sic] Directive 5400.07 DoD [sic] Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program, and SI 900-06 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program govern how FOIA requests are processed within USSTRATCOM. Please see the FOIA Requests tab below for more information.

Multiple requests for the same documents are posted on the FOIA Reading Room tab below. Please search the Reading Room to determine if the information you seek is posted. When documents have been processed, but not posted to the Reading Room, they will be provide to you in the manner in which they were initially processed. Previously partial or total denied documents will not be reassessed unless superseded by a new or updated document.

Please contact the FOIA Requester Service Center at stratcom.offutt.mbx.j0-stratcom-foia@mail.mil.

A single civilian employee manages the USSTRATCOM FOIA program and requests are typically processed in the order they are received. FOIA litigations and litigation consultations are court order driven and take precedence over all other requests. As such, expect delays when litigations are in progress.

Processing Fees: Requesters should submit a fee declaration as follows:

Commercial: Indicate a willingness to pay all search, review and duplication costs.
Educational or Noncommercial Scientific Institution or News Media: Indicate a willingness to pay duplication charges in excess of 100 pages
All Others: Indicate a willingness to pay assessable search and duplication costs when more than two hours of search or more than 100 pages are desired.

Receiving Our Response: Email is the preferred method and eliminates hardcopy duplication fees. However, there is a 10 MB limit when emailing responsive documents. Large documents up to 8.0 GB, will be sent via DOD SAFE (Secure Access File Exchange). SAFE allows securely encrypted unclassified files to be sent through email to requesters who are not able to receive encrypted emails. You will be notified when our response is uploaded to DOD SAFE. You will receive a separate email with the password to open the file.

Should you wish to inquire about mediation services, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration.

FOIA Resources

The Department of War FOIA website and DoW FOIA Handbook provide information about the Department's FOIA program.

FOIA.gov is the U.S. Government's central website for FOIA information.

FOIA Requests
FOIA FAQ
FOIA Reading Room

Making Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

Provide your first and last name (address is optional but encouraged).
Provide a reasonable description of the record(s) requested. Sufficient information allows for efficient searches.
Provide a statement of your fee category and your willingness/unwillingness to pay applicable fees.

Send requests by letter or email to:

USSTRATCOM/J010 (FOIA)
900 SAC BLVD STE N3.101
Offutt AFB, NE 68113-6000

Email: stratcom.offutt.mbx.j0-stratcom-foia@mail.mil

Sample FOIA Request

USSTRATCOM/J010 (FOIA)
900 SAC BLVD STE N3.101
Offutt AFB, NE 68113-6000

Dear FOIA Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), I request a copy of following document(s) be provided to me: [identify the document(s) as specifically as possible].

In order to help you determine my status for the purpose of assessing fees, you should know that I am [insert one of the descriptions below]

a representative of the news media affiliated with the [newspaper, magazine, radio, television station, etc.] and this request is made as part of newsgathering and not for commercial use.
affiliated with an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, and this request is made for a scholarly or scientific purpose and not for commercial use. NOTE: The request must be submitted on the institution’s letterhead, or be submitted via an e-mail address issued by the educational institution. REMEMBER: To claim the education category, the request must be in the furtherance of the institution, not for a student needing the information for the completion of personal education.
affiliated with a private/commercial business seeking information for use in the company's business.
an individual seeking information for personal use and not for commercial use.

If there are any fees for searching, reviewing, or copying the records, please contact me before tasking my request. I am willing to pay fees for this request up to a maximum of $_______ [$0.00 – Max]. If you estimate that the fees will exceed this limit, please inform me first. [optional] I request a waiver of fees for this request because disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest as it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Department of War and is not primarily in my commercial interest. [Include details about how the requested information will be disseminated by you to the general public.]

If you deny all or any part of this request, please cite each specific exemption you think justifies your refusal to release the information and notify me of appeal procedures available under the law.

[optional] I also include my telephone number and/or email address at which I can be contacted if necessary to discuss any aspect of my request.

Sincerely,

Name
Address (optional, but encouraged)
Telephone number [optional]
Email address [optional, but is the preferred method of communication and providing our response]

Fee Categories and Fees

Fee Categories

Educational and Scientific: Any accredited U.S. educational or research institution or instructor/researcher of such an institution using the information in a scholarly or analytical work contributing to public knowledge and disseminated to the public.
Commercial: Increases the commercial interest of the requester -- for example, book publishers and authors.
U.S. News Media: Representatives of U.S. newspapers, television stations, radio stations, and freelancers (if publishing through one of these news organizations) disseminating current events of interest to the general public to enhance its understanding of the operation or activities of the U.S. Government.
All Others: Requests from individuals who do not fit into the previous three categories.

Fees
The FOIA provides for the collection of fees for:

Searches: Time spent in looking for and retrieving material, either paper or electronic files, that may be responsive to the request, including personnel hours (clerical and professional) or computer time.
Reviews: Time spent to determine if the record is releasable under legal guidelines, excluding the resolution of legal or policy issues. This includes blacking out or redaction of text.
Reproduction: Generating a copy of a requested record in the appropriate medium, for example paper or computer disk.

Category	Search Cost	Review Cost	Reproduction Cost
Educational & Scientific	None	None	First 100 pages are free. $.15 cents per page after that
Commercial & All others	Clerical: $24.00 per hr. Professional: $48.00 per hr. Executive: $110.00 per hr.	Clerical: $24.00 per hr. Professional: $48.00 per hr. Executive: $110.00 per hr.	$.15 cents per page
News Media	None	None	First 100 pages are free. $.15 cents per page after that

FOIA Exemptions

Records that meet the FOIA exemption criteria may be withheld from public disclosure and do not have to be published in the Federal Register, made available in a library reading room, or provided in response to a FOIA request. The following types of records may be withheld in whole or in part from public disclosure under the FOIA:

Exemption # 1: Those properly and currently classified in the interest of national defense/security or foreign policy. If the information qualifies as exemption 1, there is no-discretion regarding its release.

Exemption # 2: Those related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Department of War or any of its components.

Exemption # 3: Those concerning matters that a statute specifically exempts from disclosure by terms that permit no discretion on the issue. A few examples of such statues are: Patent secrecy, restricted data, communication intelligence, confidentiality of medical quality, contractor proposals, etc.

Exemption # 4: Those containing trade secrets or commercial or financial information that a DoW component receives from a person or organization outside the government. The disclosure of such records will likely cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the source providing the information.

Exemption # 5: Those containing information considered privileged in litigation, primarily under the deliberative process privilege.

Exemption # 6: Information of personnel and medical files, as well as similar personal information in other files, that would result in a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Exemption # 7: Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes; i.e., civil, criminal, or military law, including the implementation of Executive Orders or regulations issued pursuant to law.

Exemption # 8: Records pertaining to the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.

Exemption # 9: Those records containing geological and geophysical information and data (including maps) concerning wells.

Your Rights:

You have the right to request records under the Freedom of Information Act.
You have the right to appeal any denial of records under the Freedom of Information Act.
You have the right to request a "fee waiver" if you can demonstrate that the requested record(s) is in the public interest and not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.
Under Executive Order 13526, you have the right to request a review of specific documents for declassification and release to the public.

FOIA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. How do I file a FOIA request with USSTRATCOM?

See the tab titled "FOIA Requests" for guidance on submitting a FOIA request to the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) FOIA Requester Service Center.

There is no prescribed format for submitting requests. However, certain information is required as outlined in the information regarding requests.

Q. Does USSTRATCOM maintain or control access to former Strategic Air Command (SAC) records?

No. USSTRATCOM is not a successor to SAC. SAC was an Air Force Command. When SAC stood down in May of 1992, it was part of a larger Air Force reorganization. The disestablishment of Military Airlift Command (MAC) and Tactical Air Command (TAC) was also part of that reorganization. The forces from the three commands were redistributed to two new Air Force Commands, Air Combat Command (ACC) and Air Mobility Command (AMC). The standup of USSTRATCOM was separate from the Air Force organization. Headquarters, United States Air Force, or a subordinate Air Force command, such as Air Force Global Strike Command, should process requests for former SAC records.

Q. Does USSTRATCOM maintain centrally located files?

No. Files are maintained in offices having functional responsibility for the type of record being requested. Consequently, an accurate definition of records requested is very helpful.

Q. May I submit questions as a FOIA request?

Federal Agencies are not required to answer questions, render opinions, or provide subjective evaluations. A record must exist and be in possession and control of the Department of War at the time the FOIA request is received. Federal Agencies are not required to create records in response to a FOIA request.

Q. Who may file a FOIA request?

Any person, including a member of the public (U.S. or foreign citizen/entity), an organization, or a business, but not including a Federal Agency or a fugitive from the law, that either explicitly or implicitly invokes the FOIA, DoD [sic] Directive 5400.07.

Q. As a member of the military (active or reserve) or as a Federal Government Civilian Employee, may I use Government facilities to submit a FOIA request?

No. FOIA requests are a personal matter. As such you may not use Government time, equipment or facilities.

Q. To whom do I address any questions concerning the status of my FOIA Request?

For requests pertaining to USSTRATCOM records, contact or send your inquiry to the USSTRATCOM FOIA Requester Service Center:

U.S. Postal Mailing Address:
USSTRATCOM/J010 (FOIA)
900 SAC BLVD STE N3.101
Offutt AFB, NE 68113-6000

Email: stratcom.offutt.mbx.j0-stratcom-foia@mail.mil

United States Strategic Command FOIA Reading Room

Records Categories and Definitions

In accordance with The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (Public Law No. 114-185) as published on the FOIA.gov Freedom of Information Act Statute page, each agency shall make available for public inspection in an electronic format:

(A) final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases;

(B) those statements of policy and interpretations which have been adopted by the agency and are not published in the Federal Register;

(D) copies of all records, regardless of form or format –

(i) that have been released to any person under paragraph (3); and

(ii) (I) that because of the nature of their subject matter, the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records; or

(II) that have been requested 3 or more times; and

(E) a general index of the records referred to under subparagraph (D);