Army Will Restore Access to Online Library Within 2 Weeks

“We fully intend to put the Reimer Digital Library back to where the public can access the unclassified documents,” wrote U.S. Army Major General Tony Cucolo in an email message to Secrecy News.

Public access to the online library of U.S. Army publications has been blocked since February 6, when a system security upgrade was installed. In response, the Federation of American Scientists filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking release of the entire contents of the library for republication on the FAS web site. (Secrecy News, Feb. 13).

“We underestimated the impact of blocking public access,” wrote Col. Michael J. Negard on February 22.

“Our intent was to protect sensitive information, the server itself, and the network from attacks by outside sources, not to deny the public access to publicly releasable information. We absolutely respect and value our freedom of information and the American people’s ‘right to know’,” he wrote.

“TRADOC [U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command] is currently working to restore public access to unclassified and releasable information.”

“We expect this to be completed within two weeks,” Col. Negard indicated.

The Washington Post, whose coverage helped elevate the issue and expedite its resolution, reported the latest developments in “Army Says It Will Restore Public Access to Online Library” by Christopher Lee, February 23.