Processing Notes for Ft. Hood MEDCEN Malaria Prophylaxis Drug Purchases and Inventory

To Whom It May Concern:

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

A copy of the FOIA request processing notes, and any email or other internal correspondence pertaining to the processing of the FOIA request submitted by Dr. Remington Nevin on October 6, 2014, for "Any and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Hood Army Medical Center (MEDCEN) pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 1st Medical Brigade, the 36th Engineer Brigade and the 85th Civil Affairs Brigade deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak", specifically including any emails or other internal correspondence sent to or generated by Ms. Judy K. Tyler, CRM, Records Management/FOIA/PA/Forms Management Officer, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, during the processing of the request.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,

Remington Nevin

Ms. Judy K. Tyler,

I am in receipt of your letter dated January 16, 2015, in which you denied a FOIA request of mine “under FOIA Exemptions 1 Operational Security and Exemption 3 Protected information exempt for release by statute". This denial did not include any redacted responsive documents, nor did this denial include specific information as to the number of records responsive to my request notwithstanding the claimed exemptions, nor information regarding which portions of the responsive records were claimed exempt from release under these specific exemptions.

As the FOIA contains the requirement that agencies provide FOIA requesters with any reasonably segregable, non-exempt information contained in documents that are responsive to FOIA requests, I have appealed your non-response directly to the Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command, for forwarding as appropriate to the Department of the Army. Further information on this appeal may be found at: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/ft-hood-medcen-malaria-prophylaxis-drug-purchases-and-inventory-13716/.

In support of my appeal, I am now requesting all available documents pertaining to your processing of my request. Please acknowledge receipt of the Freedom of Information Act request filed January 28, 2015, for your notes and correspondence related to this earlier request.

I thank you in advance for your assistance, and will look forward to receiving your response within 20 days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dr. Remington Nevin

Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command
ATTN: Mr. Peterson
Chief, Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Office
2748 Worth Road
Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234-6021
Tel: 210-221-4233

Dear Mr. Peterson,

As may be confirmed at the public website MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/processing-notes-for-ft-hood-medcen-malaria-prophylaxis-drug-purchases-and-inventory-15828/), on January 28, 2015, I filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act with the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, TX, for the following records:

"A copy of the FOIA request processing notes, and any email or other internal correspondence pertaining to the processing of the FOIA request submitted by Dr. Remington Nevin on October 6, 2014, for 'Any and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Hood Army Medical Center (MEDCEN) pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 1st Medical Brigade, the 36th Engineer Brigade and the 85th Civil Affairs Brigade deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak', specifically including any emails or other internal correspondence sent to or generated by Ms. Judy K. Tyler, CRM, Records Management/FOIA/PA/Forms Management Officer, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, during the processing of the request."

In a reply dated January 29, 2015, Ms. Tyler stated she had referred this request to your office for a response.

Please acknowledge receipt of this request and provide an estimated date of completion. I thank you in advance for your assistance. I would appreciate receiving your response no later than March 4, 2015.

Sincerely,

Dr. Remington Nevin

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

The attached FOIA request was forwarded to your office for processing. Confirmation of receipt and an estimated date of completion would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please confirm receipt of this request.

Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

John P Peterson
Chief, Freedom of Information/
Privacy Act Office
HQ, U.S. Army Medical Command
(W) 210-221-4233

john.p.peterson.civ@mail.mil

Dear Mr. Peterson,

I appreciate your office providing me the information on antimalarial purchase, acquisition, and inventory records from Ft. Hood as I originally requested in a request made to Ft. Hood on October 6, 2014. As you know, this request was originally denied by Ft. Hood on the claimed basis of “FOIA Exemptions 1 Operational Security and Exemption 3 Protected information exempt for release by statute". As you know, this denial did not include any redacted responsive documents, nor did this denial include specific information as to the number of records responsive to my request notwithstanding the claimed exemptions, nor information regarding which portions of the responsive records were claimed exempt from release under these specific exemptions.

As your office has provided me with the information that was originally requested, I hereby withdraw my request for the additional information requested in my request of January 28, 2015, to include the processing notes and other correspondence related to the original denial. I consider this request satisfied and I thank you again for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Dr. Remington Nevin