Navy/"The Invisible War"

Sent via email to: requests@muckrock.com

Inkoo Kang
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 2597
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

SUBJECT: YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT CASE DON 2013F010557

Dear Inkoo Kang:

This acknowledges receipt of your January 29, 2013, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in which you seek the following information, “Any minutes, reports, memoranda, notes, or other documents pertaining to the 2012 documentary "The Invisible War" or its director Kirby Dick."

Your request was received by this office on the same day and assigned case file number DoN2013F010557. Your request has been placed in our queue for processing.

If you have any questions, please contact our service center at (202) 685‐0412.

TO: MuckRock News

ATTN: Inkoo Kang

Boston, MA

Dear Inkoo Kang:

This is an interim response to your January 29, 2013 Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) Request to the Department of the Navy seeking information
regarding the 2012 documentary "The Invisible War." This Office received
your request from the Navy on February 7, 2013 and assigned it FOIA case
number 13-F-0415. We ask that you use that number when referring to your
request.

We will be unable to respond to your request within the FOIA's 20 day
statutory time period as there are unusual circumstances which impact on our
ability to quickly process your request. These unusual circumstances are:
(a) the need to search for and collect records from a facility
geographically separated from this office; (b) the potential volume of
records responsive to your request; and (c) the need for consultation with
one or more other agencies or DoD components having a substantial interest
in either the determination or the subject matter of the records. For these
reasons, your request has been placed in our complex processing queue and
will be worked in the order the request was received. Our current
administrative workload is approximately 1,485 open requests.

As you may not be aware, the FOIA requires all requesters to state a
willingness to pay FOIA fees. In that regard, this office has determined
that your request should be placed in the "other" fee category. Accordingly,
you are entitled to the first two hours of search time at no charge, and the
first 100 pages of duplication free of charge. Subsequent processing will
be assessed at the established DoD fee rates of: professional search time,
$44 per hour; executive search time, $75 per hour; and document reproduction
at $0.15 per page. You have stated in your request that you would like to
be notified of the cost associated with the fulfillment of this request. We
have initiated appropriate search for responsive records and will respond to
your request with a fee estimate when the results are known.

With regard to your request for a waiver of any applicable fees, decisions
to waive or reduce fees are made on a case-by-case basis. These decisions
cannot be made until a search for responsive records has been conducted and
the volume and nature of all responsive records have been determined. As
soon as the results of the search for responsive records are known, and a
review of all releasable records has been completed, we will write to you
again.

If you are not satisfied with this action, you may appeal to the appellate
authority, by writing directly to the Defense Freedom of Information Policy
Office, Attn: Mr. James Hogan, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
20301-1155. Your appeal should be postmarked within 60 calendar days of the
date of this letter, should cite to case number 13-F-0415, and should be
clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

v/r

Adrienne M. Santos, FOIA Analyst

for Suzanne Council on behalf of

Paul Jacobsmeyer, Chief, Freedom of Information Act Division

Office of Freedom of Information/OSD/JS FOIA Office

(571) 372-0414

Dear Inkoo Kang:

Please find attached our official response letter regarding your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request DON2013F010557.

Ms. Kang:

We are in receipt of your Freedom of Information Act request, in which you request "[a]ny minutes, reports, memoranda, notes, or other documents pertaining to the 2012 documentary 'The Invisible War' or its director Kirby Dick." We were forwarded your request from DNS-36 on February 27, 2013 for direct response to you.

To date, we have located and collected several responsive documents, including documents from the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Criminal Law Division (Code 20), U.S. Navy Chief of Information (CHINFO) and the Department of Defense. Before we can release any documents we will need to consult with Code 20, CHINFO and Department of Defense. Because of the need to consult with other agency components, we will be seeking an extension of time to respond to your request. After I contact with these organizations, I will have a better feel of when I can expect to get a response back to you.

If you have any questions concerning this matter, please feel free to contact me either by phone at (703) 614-5360 or by e-mail.

Sincerely,

Delicia Gonzales Zimmerman
LCDR, JAGC, USN
FOIA/Privacy Act Coordinator

Office of the Judge Advocate General
Administrative Law (Code 13)
1000 Navy Pentagon
RM 4D641
Washington, DC 20350-1000
Ph: 703-614-5360 (DSN 224)
Fax: 703-614-9400

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, PRIVACY SENSITIVE. This electronic transmission, and any attachments, may
contain confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above. It may be protected
from disclosure by applicable law, including the Privacy Act, attorney-client privilege, and/or work
product doctrine. Any misuse, distribution, copying, or unauthorized disclosure by another person is
strictly prohibited and may result in both civil and criminal penalties. If you receive

Ms. Kang,

We are still processing your request. I have located all the responsive documents, most are e-mails. The issue that we are having with the emails is there are a lot of duplicates and I have to manually wade through the email chains to find responsive e-mails. However, my goal is to go through them all this week. Hopefully, we will be able to provide you with an interim release by the end of the week. If I cannot meet that goal, I will send you an e-mail.

V/r

Ms. Kang,

Update on FOIA Number DON2013F010557 "FOIA Request: Navy/"The Invisible War". I completed my review of the responsive documents. We had a large number of duplicate e-mails and e-mail chains, as well as, e-mails and documents from different offices. This complicated and slowed the review process. In the next few days, you will receive another e-mail from me regarding the referral of responsive documents to other offices for review and direct response to you. In addition, I hope to get an interim release out to you shortly.

For information purposes, the responsive documents in our files, most of which are e-mails, can be divided into four categories: (1) documents regarding media coverage of "The Invisible War", (2) documents regarding the legal review of a disclaimer used for screenings of "The Invisible War" on Department of Defense (DoD) facilities, (3) documents regarding the scheduling of a meeting of DoD and Service experts to discuss questions/concerns arising out of "The Invisible War", and (4) documents regarding the disposition of Navy and Marine Corps cases discussed in "The Invisible War". As we forward, release, or withhold documents, we will identify which category the documents relate to and in the case of withheld documents, the reason for withholding.

If you have any questions regarding this e-mail or your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.

V/r

Ms. Kang,

Update on FOIA Number DON2013F010557 "FOIA Request: Navy/"The Invisible War". We have located and collected several responsive documents from our files, including a copy of a "Production Assistance Agreement 'Invisible War'" from the United States Air Force. We have forwarded that agreement, which consists of approximately 6 pages of documents, for direct response to you to the Air Force. The following contact information is provided to assist you in your FOIA.

Secretary of the Air Force/AAII (FOIA)
Attn: Ms. JoAnne Collins
1000 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1000
Phone: (703) 693-2735
Fax: (703) 693-5728.
E-mail: haffoia.workflow@pentagon.af.mil

If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact me by phone at (703) 614-5360 or by e-mail.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kang,

Update on FOIA Number DON2013F010557 "FOIA Request: Navy/"The Invisible War". As a sign of our good faith effort to diligently process your request, this office is making an interim release of the attached documents. This interim response provides you with the releaseability determination for 46 pages of responsive records maintained by the Office of the Judge Advocate General (OJAG). Because the releaseability determination for other responsive records maintained by OJAG Headquarters requires further coordination with other offices, we cannot release all responsive documents at this time. However, we will continue to diligently process the remainder of your request and keep you informed of any unexpected delays.

This release has been coordinated with the U.S. Navy Chief of Information (CHINFO) and OJAG, General Military Justice Division (Code 20).

V/r

Ms. Kang,

Update on FOIA Number DON2013F010557 "FOIA Request: Navy/"The Invisible War". The final response to your FOIA is currently under review with the Office of Secretary Defense/Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center. As soon as that review is complete, we will be able to send you our final response. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

V/r

Ms. Kang,

Good morning. I've relieved LCDR Zimmerman as the OJAG FOIA coordinator and I'll be corresponding with you about your pending FOIA request. When I took over last week, I checked the status of your request with the Office of Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center. It is still under review. I will let you know when the review is complete and we can provide our final response. Please let me know if you have any questions. My contact information is below.

Sincerely,

Paul A. Richelmi
LT, JAGC, USN
FOIA/Privacy Act Coordinator

Office of the Judge Advocate General
Code 13, Administrative Law
Pentagon, Room 4D641
Ph: 703.614.5360 (DSN 224)
Fax: 703.614.9400

********************************************
This email may contain privacy sensitive information which is "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY - PRIVACY SENSITIVE:  Any misuse or unauthorized disclosure may result in both civil and criminal penalties."
               
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message and any attachments are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain confidential or privileged material protected by the attorney-client relationship which are protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 USC 552.  Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited.  If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.  If you are the intended recipient, but do not wish to receive communications through this medium, please advise the sender immediately.

Ms. Kang.

Good morning. Please find the final response to your FOIA request, and the released documents, attached to this email.

Sincerely,

Paul A. Richelmi
LT, JAGC, USN
FOIA/Privacy Act Coordinator

Office of the Judge Advocate General
Code 13, Administrative Law
Pentagon, Room 4D641
Ph: 703.614.5360 (DSN 224)
Fax: 703.614.9400

********************************************
This email may contain privacy sensitive information which is "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY - PRIVACY SENSITIVE:  Any misuse or unauthorized disclosure may result in both civil and criminal penalties."
               
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message and any attachments are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain confidential or privileged material protected by the attorney-client relationship which are protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 USC 552.  Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited.  If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.  If you are the intended recipient, but do not wish to receive communications through this medium, please advise the sender immediately.

Good morning Ms. Kang,

I am the current action officer working your FOIA request 13-F-0415, attached. Your request was received on February 7, 2013 from the U.S. Navy. I apologize for the length of time your request has been open without response to you.

The purpose of this correspondence is to ask if you still wish to have our office process your request. Due to the subject matter and the length of time that has elapsed since your request was submitted, I ask that you respond to this email by Friday, September 25, with a willingness to continue processing. If we have not heard from you at that time, we will assume that due to the time that has transpired you are no longer interested in pursuing this FOIA request, and the request will be closed.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or require any additional information.

Thank you,
Megan

Megan Farrell
OSD/JS FOIA Analyst
(571) 372-0409