USA support to Cameroon military (Army - United States Department of the Army)

Good Afternoon:

Attached is a response to your FOIA Request. A separate response will be sent to you by the receiving office.

Thanks

Tolu A. Olabode
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Army Freedom of Information & Privacy Division Humphrey's Engineer Center
7701 Telegraph Rd
Casey Bldg., Rm 150
Alexandria VA 22315
DL: 703-428-6497
FOIA#: 703-428-6238
FAX#: 703-428-6522

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

Mr. Freudenthal,

This acknowledges receipt of your FOIA request for documents as described
below. Your request is being processed as soon as possible and we estimate
that you may expect a reply (on how long it may take to process the
respondent records) by 21 Aug 18. Requests are processed on a first-in,
first-out basis. The actual processing time will depend on the complexity
of your request. If you wish to modify your request or if you have
questions, please call us at 011-39-044466-1796 or email
usarmy.usag-italy.usaraf.list.foia-officers@mail.mil.

Requested information: "All agreements with Cameroon relating to defense,
support to the Cameroonian military, training and/or weapon sales to them."
Date of Request: 31 Jul 2018
Date Received: 2 Aug 2018

Your FOIA request tracking # is: FP-18-025528.

Respectfully,
Rosemary Kane
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

Mr. Freudenthal,

I have having issues find the records you requested - can you tell me where
you might have heard about these agreements, knowing the source might help
me in locating the correct offices.

V/Rosemary Kane

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

So sorry - I meant to reply and just got tied up.......

Yes this was fine - It's just that I was having an issue finding the correct
office(s) ............. however, I have since located several documents,
which are classified and most are not USARAF documents so they will be
referred to the originators. I'll let you know that results of that.

There is a possibility that there may be other records related to exercises
that USARAF and Cameroon participated in, would these be of interest to
you?

V/R
Rosemary
Rosemary Kane
United States Army Africa/SETAF
G6, Policy & Programs/FOIA/Records Administrator Manager
DSN: 314-637-1796
COMM: +39-0444-66-1796
NIPR: rosemary.kane.civ@mail.mil
SIPR: rosemary.kane.civ@mail.smil.mil

Thank you - What we have are mostly files related to several training
missions conducted with Cameroon military.

I can give you an estimate of when you can expect the files once I am
working on your case (cases are worked on a 1st in 1st out basis).

V/Rosemary

Emmanuel,

The files I've collected for your request are almost finished - so far the
only exemption used was #6 for PII if that remains the case than I will ask
you to reword your request to reflect that you 'ask that all PII (names,
phone number,...) be removed from the records' - that way I can release the
files without sending them to an IDA (initial denial authority) as I only
redacted the information you told me you did not want.

But before we do that I still need the Legal office to review them. I'll let
you know as soon as I can once that review is in-progress.

/Rosemary

Emmanuel,

PII refers to any information that could identify a person... Names, SSN,
Office codes, telephone numbers and email addresses are the most common
(these are covered by exemptions #6 and #3 - Statue 130b (for PII regarding
personnel assigned overseas, (or to sensitive or deployable units).
Though some documents might contain statements where a situation is
described is such detail that the privacy of individuals much be breached,
for your request it was just names and such.

Keep in mind that I still have to review a couple of files on the classified
side - these I have been told are still classified, so what you would
receive are the docs completely redacted, based on exemption 1. If you still
what these (you can try an appeal) than the files will have to go before an
IDA. But let me complete the reviews before we decide on the next step.

V/Rosemary

Emmanuel,

I have referred several doc to the State department - they have authority
over Embassy records, there is one referral remaining and I just need the
POC for the authority for a Stateside unit.. They contracted me today so
that file should be transferred by tomorrow. These files are on the
classified network so there is extra concern when transferring between
commands.

The remaining files that are under USARAF authority have been delivered to
the Legal office for review.

V/Rosemary

Emmanuel,

Due to the handling instructions on some of these files they are being
reviewed by a OPSEC specialist, I expect to get them back soon.

Also several files were referred to the US State Department as they were the
originators, you will receive these from their FOIA office once they are
processed.

V/Rosemary

The file is presently under-going a security review

v/Rosemary

Emmanuel,

Your case has been referred back to legal.

V/Rosemary

Mr. Freudenthal,

The files you requested have been received from the legal office - the
following exemptions were applied to the data where appropriate:

Exemption 4 - funding and cost of services and equipment
Exemption 6 - Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - names, rank, phone
numbers...

The Army process requires that when data is withheld the documents are
required to have a final review with an Initial Denial Authority (IDA)
before release to the requestor. However, If you want to forgo a review by
an initial denial authority (IDA), I would need you to make a change from
your original request - adding the instructions to "remove all Exemption 4
and 6 data, accepting that you would not be able to appeal based on these
redactions." (however, if you did change your mind and want to appeal the
case would be reopened sent to an IDA for review & release. This would
restore your appeal rights).

Please let me know how you want to proceed.

V/Rosemary

Rosemary Kane
United States Army Africa/SETAF
FOIA-Privacy/Records Administrator Manager
DSN: 314-637-1796
COMM: +39-0444-66-1796
NIPR: rosemary.kane.civ@mail.mil
SIPR: rosemary.kane.civ@mail.smil.mil

*** DO NOT FORWARD ***

This is an automated message sent to you by the DoD SAFE service.

KANE.ROSEMARY <rosemary.kane.civ@mail.mil> has dropped off 2 files for you.

IF YOU TRUST THE SENDER, and are expecting to receive a file from them, you may choose to retrieve the drop-off by clicking the following link (or copying and pasting it into your web browser):

https://safe.apps.mil/pickup.php?claimID=QX2wBsUWXZPwekZa&recipCode=hHeZEJ

You have 7 days to retrieve the drop-off; after that the link above will expire. If you wish to contact the sender, just reply to this email.

The sender has left you a note:

Emmanuel,

This file contains the combined files that USARAF has release authority over - any other files were referred to the originating agency for review and release.

V/Rosemary

Full information about the drop-off:

Claim ID: QX2wBsUWXZPwekZa
Recipient Code: hHeZEJ
Claim Passcode: xdv7YVCHcPCRTV6x
Date of Drop-Off: 2019-08-26 08:57:27 UTC

-- Sender --
Name: KANE.ROSEMARY
Organization: USARMY
Email Address: rosemary.kane.civ@mail.mil

-- Files --
Name: FOIA Release Letter-18-025528.pdf
Size: 216.7 KB
SHA-256 Checksum: 6CA6C045A29A7B81D765ABA237E9153BA5B32C28E73AD34177940200B983E27E
Content Type: application/pdf

Name: FP-18-025528-Combined Files-REDACTED.pdf
Size: 12.5 MB
SHA-256 Checksum: A4EBBD7C3947EDD943715251FADCA9871C5AB719D6A4B20BD3F13F28F11EFBFB
Content Type: application/pdf

NOTICE: This e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any reading, dissemination, distribution, copying, or other use of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.

Thank you.

You should be receiving an email directing you to the DoD Safe web site
(https://safe.apps.mil/ to pick up your files.

The files are the release letter and the respondent files found for your
request.

Other files found were not under the authority of USARAF and were referred
back to the originating agency for review and release.

Please let me know if you have any problem with the file or the web site.

V/Rosemary

Did you receive a link? Or were you using the address from my email?

The link will come from NoReplyTo@mail.mil <mailto:NoReplyTo@mail.mil> ....

I can try and send the files - Adobe might corrupt the redacted file. but we
can give it a try.

Rosemary