AR 380-5 Chapter IX Disposal and Destruction

AR 380-5 9-100. Policy Documentary record information originated or received by a DoD Component in connection with the transaction of public business, and preserved as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, operations, decisions, procedures, or other activities of any U.S. Government department or agency or because of the informational value of the data contained therein, may be disposed of or destroyed only in accordance with DoD Component record management regulations. Nonrecord classified information, and other material of similar temporary nature, shall be destroyed when no longer needed under procedures established by the head of the cognizant DoD Component. These procedures shall incorporate means of verifying the destruction of classified information and material and be consistent with the following requirements. AR 380-5 9-101. Methods of destruction Classified documents and material shall be destroyed by burning or, with the approval of the cognizant DoD Component head or designee, by melting, chemical decomposition, pulping, pulverizing, cross-cut shredding, or mutilation sufficient to preclude recognition or reconstruction of the classified information. In all cases, burning is the preferred method of destroying classified information. Small amounts of classified waste should be destroyed in this manner. (Strip shredders purchased prior to the effective date of this Regulation may continue to be used but only in circumstances where reconstruction of the residue is precluded. Shredding significant amounts of unclassified material together with classified material normally will meet this requirement.) Standards for destruction equipment used by the U.S. Army are in appendix K. All new and modified equipment will meet these standards. Technical assistance and other guidance may be obtained by writing directly to the Chief, Intelligence Materiel Activity, ATTN: AMXIM-PS, Ft. Meade, MD 20755-5313. AR 380-5 9-102. Destruction procedures a. Procedures shall be instituted that ensure all classified information intended for destruction actually is destroyed. Destruction records and imposition of a two-person rule, that is, having two cleared persons involved in the entire destruction process, will satisfy this requirement for Top Secret information. Imposition of a two-person rule, without destruction records, will satisfy this requirement for Secret information, as will use of destruction records without imposition of the two-person rule. Only one cleared person needs to be involved in the destruction process for Confidential information. b. When burn bags are used for the collection of classified material that is to be destroyed at central destruction facilities, such bags shall be controlled in a manner designed to minimize the possibility of their unauthorized removal and the unauthorized removal of their classified contents prior to actual destruction. When filled, burn bags shall be sealed in a manner that will facilitate the detection of any tampering with the bag. c. Procedures to ensure that all classified information intended for destruction actually is destroyed, other than those in paragraphs a. and b., above, shall be submitted to the DoD Component's senior official (subsections 13-301 and 13-302) for approval. Methods other than those prescribed herein will not be used by Army activities unless approved by HQDA. Requests will be forwarded through channels to HQDA (DAMI-CIS) WASH DC 20310-1051, with full justification and a description of the alternate method of ensuring destruction. AR 380-5 9-103. Records of destruction a. Records of destruction are required for Top Secret information. The record shall be dated and signed at the time of destruction by two persons cleared for access to Top Secret information. However, in the case of Top Secret information placed in burn bags for central disposal, the destruction record may be signed by the officials when the information is so placed and the bags are sealed. Top Secret burn bags shall be numbered serially and a record kept of all subsequent handling of the bags until they are destroyed. This record may be in lieu of actual burn bag receipts and shall be maintained for a minimum of 2 years. Completion of the ""Custodian'' or ""Destruction Official'' block and the ""Witnessing Official'' blocks of DA Form 3964 satisfies the two-person witness requirements for Top Secret information. Destruction certificates for Secret material, when only one person is involved in the destruction process, require only one signature. b. Records of destruction of Secret and Confidential information are not required except for NATO Secret and some limited categories of specially controlled Secret information. When records of destruction are used for Secret information, only one cleared person has to sign such records. (DoD Directive 5100.55 (reference (z)) provides guidance on the destruction of NATO classified material.) Unless required by other Army regulations (such as AR 380-40, TB 380-41 (reference (v)), and AR 380-15 (reference (z)) or directives, and only one person is involved in destruction of Secret information, records of destruction are not required for Secret material. 1. The signature of the destruction and witnessing official on the record of destruction indicates one of the following: (a) Actual destruction of the material. (The destruction official must examine the final residue to ensure that the documents are completely destroyed.) (b) The material has been placed in a classified burn bag for later disposal as classified waste by one of the methods authorized in paragraph 9-101, above. Local procedures will include numbering, and protection of classified burn bags equal to the highest level of classified material in the bags until actual destruction takes place. 2. The DA Form 3964 will normally be used as the record of destruction. 3. Forms used for destruction of Top Secret material will be serially numbered in calendar year series. The serial number and date of destruction record will be noted on Top Secret registers to indicate that the material has been destroyed. 4. Accountability records not formatted to contain a destruction certificate may be used as a certificate of destruction if annotated substantially as follows: DESTRUCTION CERTIFICATE (Check appropriate block) Material described here has been: ºDestroyed ºPlaced in a classified burn bag/container Date Destruction/Certifying Official Witnessing Official 5. All accountable documents and enclosures to them will be identified on the destruction certificate. The witnessing official, when used, will initial all alterations. 6. If destruction by the custodian is impractical because of the volume of material, or because only limited facilities for destruction are available, the responsible commander will appoint, in writing, a properly cleared destruction official to destroy or to witness the destruction. c. Records of destruction shall be maintained for 2 years. (Refer to AR 340-2 (reference (mmm)) or AR 340-18-1.) AR 380-5 9-104. Classified waste Waste material, such as handwritten notes, carbon paper, typewriter ribbons, and working papers that contains classified information must be protected to prevent unauthorized disclosure of the information. Classified waste shall be destroyed when no longer needed by a method described in subsection 9-101. Destruction records are not required. AR 380-5 9-105. Classified document retention a. Classified documents that are not permanently valuable records of the government shall not be retained more than 5 years from the date of origin, unless such retention is authorized by and in accordance with DoD Component record disposition schedules. b. Throughout the Department of Defense, the head of each activity shall establish at least one clean-out day each year where a portion of the work performed in every office with classified information stored is devoted to the destruction of unneeded classified holdings. MACOMs and Staff Headquarters elements will report the date(s) during which activitywide annual cleanouts were conducted to HQDA (DAMI-CIS) WASH DC 20310-1051 by the end of each fiscal year. The annual cleanout certification may be forwarded along with the annual SF 311, Information Security Program Data Report (see paragraph 13-400).