Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), known by its legal cite as 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 552, along with Department of Defense (DoD) Publication 5400.7, can be found at Part 286 of Chapter 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which is available in most libraries or online from the U.S. Government Printing Office Access CFR Web site.

What is the FOIA?

The FOIA allows the general public including foreign citizens, military and civilian personnel acting as private citizens, to request records electronically or in writing from the Federal Government. Some records are released to the public under the FOIA, and may therefore reflect deletion of some information in accordance with the FOIA's nine statutory exemptions or two law enforcement record exclusions. A consolidated list of such records is on the DoD and Air Force FOIA sites. Currently the law allows 20 working days to process a FOIA request upon receipt of the request in the FOIA office.

Who can submit a request?

Members of the public, including foreign citizens, military and civilian personnel acting as private citizens, organizations and businesses, and individual members of the Congress for themselves or constituents, may request records in writing. It is important to remember that the Freedom of Information Act applies only to federal agencies. It does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, state or local government agencies, or by private businesses or individuals. Each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records.

How to Submit a Request

The Air National Guard has centralized its FOIA Program. We encourage requestors to make FOIA requests electronically through the AF FOIA Website:
(https://www.efoia.af.mil/palMain.aspx). 
You may also mail, e-mail, or fax your FOIA request for ANG Records (except ANG/IG Records) as follows:

Office of Information and Privacy (NGB/JA-OIP)
Attn: ANG FOIA Requests
111 South George Mason Drive, AH2
Arlington VA 22204-1373
Phone: (571) 256-7838 or (703) 607-5901
Fax: 703-607-3684

The ANG/FOIA Office can be contacted at (703) 607-3195 between 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST.  For more information on the FOIA Program please visit the NGB FOIA Website (http://www.ngb.army.mil/sitelinks/foia.aspx)
Requests for your own records under the Privacy Act must be made directly to the office that holds the records you are seeking. If you have questions about making a request under the Privacy Act, you may contact the Wing Privacy Officer at 865-336-4981.

Please be advised that in accordance with DoD 4525.8-M/AF, Official Mail Manual, the Air Force will not deliver unofficial mass mailings addressed to individuals at their duty address. A mass mailing is defined as 50 or more pieces of mail received on the same day from the same mailer. Soliciting may not be done using military member's duty phone.

Air Force policy is to deny requests for lists of e-mail addresses (both personal and organizational) using FOIA exemption (b)(2)(high). We also rely on FOIA exemption (b)(6) when denying lists of personal e-mail addresses. High (b)(2) protects internal information, the disclosure of which would risk circumvention of a statute or agency regulation. Because Department of Defense e-mail systems are to be used only for official and authorized purposes, the addresses are considered primarily internal. The regulations at issue that could be circumvented include Department of Defense and Air Force regulations that require us to limit use of e-mail to authorized purposes, and to protect the security of your computer and information systems. Exemption (b)(6) protects information that if released would permit a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This does not prohibit an organization from including a single e-mail address on a web page of in correspondence.

More Info

Personnel Records

Service records on former civilian and military members are NOT maintained by the Air National Guard. They are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administrations' National Personnel Records Center. Records request instructions and contact information is listed on their Web site.