Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act 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 FOIA 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 by consulted for access to state and local records.

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 website.

How to make a request

The Air National Guard has centralized its FOIA program. We encourage requestors to make FOIA requests electronically through the AF FOIA Website.

You may also mail, e-mail, or fax your FOIA request for ANG Records to:

Air National Guard FOIA
ATTN: NGB/JA/OIP
111 South George Mason Drive, AH2
Arlington, VA  22204-1373
E-mail: foia@ng.army.mil
Phone: (571)256-7838  or (703) 607-4901
Fax:       (703)-607-3684
(Office hours: 8am-5pm EST)

To inquire on the status of your request, you may contact the NGB FOIA Office at (844) 573-2939 or e-mail ngb.foia@mail.mil.

Please note that the filing of a FOIA or Privacy request is a personal matter. Military personnel and Federal Government Employees may not use government time or equipment to make such requests.

Any customers who have concerns about the service received from the NGB Requestor Service Center may contact the DoD FOIA Public Liaison:
Defense Freedom of Information Policy Office
Attn: Mr. James Hogan
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
(571) 372-0462
OSD.FOIALiaison@mail.mil

More information can be found at https://www.nationalguard.mil/Resources/FOIA/

More Information

To learn more about the FOIA and about how to request information through the FOIA, view the DoD FOIA Handbook.