AAA : Audit of Funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (1999)

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All final reports from A-1999-0506-AMA, "Audit of Funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems," published 23-Jun-99.

Given that this FOIA is submitted in my capacity as a journalist who has covered drones extensively, I request that I be categorized as a media requester for the purpose of fees. Here is a selection of my published articles on drones on MuckRock:

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/jan/12/how-843-lbs-seized-pot-lead-customs-and-border-pro/

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/mar/03/us-marshals-service-conceal-key-details-millions-s/

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/feb/27/while-dodging-direct-question-fbi-commits-obama-st/

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/feb/27/while-dodging-direct-question-fbi-commits-obama-st/

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/feb/12/fbi-and-justice-department-cant-find-drone-privacy/

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/jan/22/air-force-knows-how-many-mq-9-drones-it-wants-cant/

I have also been published in a number of other national media outlets on topics including drones and other matters pertaining to national security and technologies:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-us-spent-360-million-on-border-drones-thanks-to-this-flimsy-report

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-air-force-says-it-needs-precisely-52-new-reaper-drones-cant-explain-why

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/do-the-fbis-drones-invade-your-privacy-sorry-thats-private

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/08/big-brother-better-police-work-new-technology-automatically-runs-license-plates-everyone/1qoAoFfgp31UnXZT2CsFSK/story.html

www.betaboston.com/news/2014/03/05/a-vast-hidden-surveillance-network-runs-across-america-powered-by-the-repo-industry/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/05/nypd-social-media-policy-allows-catfishing-with-the-proper-paperwork.html

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/03/the-pentagon-finally-details-its-weapons-for-cops-giveaway

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/do-the-fbis-drones-invade-your-privacy-sorry-thats-private

https://news.vice.com/article/fbi-agent-who-killed-boston-bombing-suspects-friend-was-twice-accused-of-police-brutality

As the requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com and pertains to a matter of considerable public interest, I further request a full waiver of all fees.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I am willing to pay fees up to $25. I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

Hello -

Please confirm that the below FOIA was received, and provide a tracking number. Please also confirm that I have been classified as a media requester for the purpose of fees.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
Reporter, MuckRock

Mr. Hankins -

You are correct — our FOIA submission system assigns a separate email address for each request to facilitate easier tracking and automated notification to the agency that a particular request is not fulfilled.

I have submitted multiple requests to the Army Audit Agency for various audit reports. The request for which you've resent the memo ( 2015-11) was for A-2000-0025-AMA, "Funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles," 5-Nov-99.

Please refer to my other emails for followups on requests for four other audit reports. This email address is associated with my request for A-1999-0506-AMA, "Audit of Funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems," published 23-Jun-99.

Please let me know if I can provide any further clarification.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

Mr. Hankins -

Please confirm that the above message was received, and whether you need any further clarification from me as to my various FOIA requests to AAA.

Best,
Shawn

Ms. Gramian -

Thank you for looking into this. No, I have not received any acknowledgement letter for the 4 additional requests I submitted to AAA. I have received one response — including responsive documents — but AAA has not provided acknowledgement or responsive documents for the remaining 4 FOIA requests.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

Ms. Gramian -

Thank you for reaching out. Below is a summary of the four requests of mine which remain unfulfilled by the AAA FOIA office. Per our previous conversations, I included explicit indications of willingness to pay fees for each request.

The AAA FOIA office has failed acknowledge three FOIA requests whatsoever:

FOIA #1 : July 27, 2015

Documents requested: All final reports from A-2013-0020-ALA, "Time Sensitive Issue--Audit of Aviation Requirements-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems," published Dec 4, 2012.

(Note that this is a resubmission of one of the ignored FOIA requests that prompted by complaint to OGIS. I resubmitted the request with an explicit indication of willingness to pay fees.)

For correspondence, see: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/audit-of-small-uas-aviation-requirements-10893/

FOIA #2 : July 27, 2015

Documents requested: "All final reports from A-2010-0168-ALR, "Project Managers' Use of the Property Book Unit Supply Enhanced System; PM, Unmanned Aircraft Systems."

For correspondence, see: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/aaa-property-book-unit-supply-enhanced-system-uas-19098/

FOIA #3 : July 27, 2015

Documents requested: "All final reports from A-1999-0389-FFB, "Audit of Mission Critical Weapon Systems--Year 2000; Assessment of Hunter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at Ofc of PEO for Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors," published 17-Aug-99."

For correspondence, see: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/aaa-assessment-of-hunter-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-19099/

The AAA FOIA office has failed to provide an acknowledgement letter for a fourth request:

FOIA #4 :

Documents requested: "All final reports from A-1999-0506-AMA, "Audit of Funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems," published 23-Jun-99."

For correspondence, see: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/aaa-audit-of-funding-for-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-systems-19100/

Thank you again for your help.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Shawn,

We've received a response from the Army about your requests. Here are the tracking numbers and/or current status:

FOIA #1: July 27, 2015; Request for final reports from A-2013-0020-ALA, Time Sensitive Issue Audit of Aviation Requirements-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Published Dec 4, 2012.
Case number: FP-15-030597/FA-15-0029

FOIA #2: July 27, 2015; Request for all final reports from A-2010-0168-ALR, "Project mangers' use of the property book unit supply enhanced system; PM, Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
Case number: FP-15-030599/FA-15-0030

FOIA #3 and #4 (requests for the assessment of hunter unmanned aerial vehicle and audit of funding for unmanned aerial vehicle systems have been processed and are closed.) Army said you should be getting a response from AAA soon of these.

I'm working with two different people- one at Army and one at AAA to try to get the tracking numbers for requests #3 and #4. Have you received correspondence for both #1 and #2?

I'll let you know as soon as I hear.

-Kate

Kate Gastner, Facilitator
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road (OGIS)
College Park, MD 20740-6001
(202)741-5783
toll-free (877)684-6448
mary.gastner@nara.gov
web site: ogis.archives.gov
blog: blogs.archives.gov/foiablog

Freedom of Information Officer
United States Army Audit Agency
6000 6th Street, Bldg 1464/Mail Stop 5585
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an appeal for constructive denial of the request below. The Army Audit Agency has constructively denied my request by refusing to acknowledge it or provide a unique tracking number.

On 07/27/2015, I requested the following records: "All final reports from A-1999-0506-AMA, "Audit of Funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems," published 23-Jun-99."

In an email dated 08/13/2015, Timothy S. Hankins of the U.S. Army Audit Agency sent another version of a memo that was responsive to a previous FOIA request I submitted for a report produced in 2000. While I have attempted to explain to AAA and Mr. Hankins that this is a wholly separate request for a report produced in a separate year, I have been unable to get any acknowledgement, documents, unique tracking number or estimated completion date as the AAA is required to provide under the FOIA.

As such, I respectfully request that you remand this request for a good faith search and provision of responsive documents.

I will continue to note that the Army Audit Agency's processing of FOIA requests overall goes against both the spirit and the letter of federal transparency statutes. I have been vigilant in clarifying questions posed by the AAA, but FOIA officers at that agency have failed to uphold their duty to provide documents upon request. In this vein, I will continue to hold AAA to standards of transparency, both legal and civic.

Respectfully,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Hello -

I have appealed the constructive denial of this request as of September 29, but have not received not to received any acknowledgement of the request nor of the appeal.

Please advise immediately as to the status of both my request and my appeal.

Respectfully,
Shawn Musgrave

Mr. Hankins -

As I have written several times, this request has yet to be acknowledged. Similarly, the AAA FOIA staff has not acknowledged my appeal of constructive denial. I respectfully insist on getting an answer on this point, in light of your office's obligations under FOIA.

Respectfully,
Shawn Musgrave