WASHINGTON — Citing an internal misinterpretation of a change in policy, the U.S. Navy is backing away from statements that it would begin to restrict press and public access to sailors' service histories — information that has been freely offered for decades.
“The Navy continues to fulfill service record requests under our longstanding, standard disclosure procedures,” the Navy said in a statement hours after The Associated Press reported a policy change that meant sailor biographies would be off limits to the press.
On Monday, Capt. Candice Tresch, a spokeswoman for the chief of Naval personnel, told the AP that the service would "no longer provide public, on-demand access to Sailor biographies, unless the subject of the request is a public figure or extenuating circumstances exist.” She explained the policy in the wake of the Navy's denial of a request by The Associated Press for a specific sailor's biography.
A Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, said Thursday afternoon that Tresch's statement was the result of a misinterpretation of a recently released Navy policy that has now been resolved.
There was confusion over the meaning of the policy
Last week, the Navy's top spokesman, Rear Admiral John Robinson, released a policy message that mandated the sea service remove all public-facing information about its commanding officers. It was this policy that the Navy official now says was misinterpreted — and that the actual policy of the Navy on disclosing sailor biographies never actually changed.
Tresch said the Navy's personnel office decided to expand the policy to deny access to any currently serving sailor’s service information, in the interest of equality. She said that while they would still confirm whether someone is or previously was a sailor, no other details would be offered until the undefined threat had passed.
Robinson’s office did not respond to emails on both Tuesday and Wednesday with questions about how the Chief of Naval Personnel’s office was interpreting Robinson’s policy. But in a statement posted Thursday on X, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said there had been no change in the Navy’s policy on releasing service records for sailors. He said it merely concerned leadership biographies.
“There has been NO change to the Navy’s policies governing the release of service records,” Parnell wrote. “To enhance the security of our Sailors and their families, Naval Administrative Message (NAVADMIN) 170/26 updated the policy for leadership biographies on public-facing websites — not service records.”
He added: “The Navy continues to review requests for service records on a case-by-case basis. Every single media request has been fulfilled since the NAVADMIN was issued.”
Tresch described the new policy, however, in the wake of the Navy denying a request from The Associated Press for a specific sailor biography. The Navy's latest statement was provided to the AP several hours after Parnell's post.
The data is critical when major things happen to service members
Information about sailors' service history is critical in providing information and context when service members are involved in major news events. It is also information that a constellation of federal laws and Pentagon policies say should be made available on request.
The Pentagon's governing document on its privacy program notes that information like a service member's rank, duty assignments, awards, and service status is categorized as information "that is normally releasable" and "may be disclosed without a clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy." However, according to Tresch, the Navy will now only release these details if the sailor is "a public figure or extenuating circumstances exist."
The Navy cited the new policy last week in denying the AP's request for the biography of a pilot with the Blue Angels, the Navy's demonstration squadron, following a controversial maneuver over a crowded beach. Robinson's office wouldn't provide the pilot's biography despite the fact that his name, photo, and other service details were posted on the official Blue Angels website. Tresch did provide a copy of the biography personally after the AP began inquiring about the policy.
Last month, the military asked Congress for the ability to withhold certain types of unclassified records. The legislative proposal would create a new section of federal law that would allow the defense secretary to exempt certain "controlled unclassified information," or CUI, from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
Transparency advocates, and even the Pentagon's own internal watchdog, have described the term CUI as inconsistently applied and overused. Critics have argued that it is arbitrarily used to keep embarrassing information from being made public.
Last year, the Pentagon attempted to impose restrictions on journalists working inside the Pentagon, which, in turn, led most news outlets to turn in their access badges and walk out. The policy is now being litigated in federal court. This summer, the Pentagon went a step further and declared that its press office was now a classified space.
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This story has been updated to correct the name of the Chief of Naval Personnel spokeswoman, Capt. Candice Tresch, not Thresh.
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Noveck reported from New York.
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