FOIA request submitted

[SFCBush]

Last month "homeinvader" posted about the possibility of using the Freedom of Information Act to get Military manuals on the SCAR.

I don't know if he ever did it, but I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea. To that end, I did some research and forwarded three requests, one each to the Army, Navy, and Air Force, asking for the following;

Technical manuals, Operator manuals, Repair manuals, parts lists, and exploded views covering all levels of use (i.e., operator/armorer/direct support/general support/depot), whether they be military, civilian, or vendor in origin, for the following small arms;

rifle, 5.56mm, FN SCAR Mk16 Mod 0/aka SCAR light/ all versions and variations
rifle, 7.62mm, FN SCAR Mk17 Mod 0/aka SCAR heavy/ all versions and variations
rifle, 7.62mm, FN SCAR Mk20 Sniper Support Rifle/ all versions and variations.

Hopefully, by Thanksgiving or so, I'll have something to report.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Kevin Bush

[cjt50]

Thanks for the effort, hopefully it will work

[Monolithman]

Man that would be cool. A for effort!!

[SONYtec]

I wonder, if they send it to you, how much of it gets "blacked out."

[homeinvader]

I too sent out the FOIA requests shortly after I posted here, but did not report back.

We'll see what happens and compare notes...

[Ferris2son]

Way to go! Good Forum citizens hard at work. I love it. :P

[Proveho]

Christmas in November I can hardly wait, good work!

[ShipWreck]

I wonder, if they send it to you, how much of it gets "blacked out."

We'll see

[SFCBush]

I don't think there is really anything to black out on something like this. Its should all be unclassified. No names, SSNs, etc.

There are, per federal law, very few reasons to turn down a FOIA request. The only one that could conceivably be applied to this case is one covering something to the effect of "trade secrets". Lets say the DOD has not issued a normal Technical manual, and is currently relying on FNH supplied civilian manuals. An overzealous individual processing my request could call them "proprietary information" controlled by FNH and turn down the request.

It would be, in my opinion, not possible for the DOD to support such a claim in court, I believe they would not stand a chance in front of a judge, however, can I afford to take this to court, out of pocket? No way!

Since each branch of the DOD processes their FOIA requests separately, I was hoping to increase the chance of success by submitting identical requests to the Army/Navy/USAF.

As for the projected "Thanksgiving" time frame, I was guessing based on what I had read online. There is a requirement for the agency to make an initial reply in 20 days, and I hoped, with something this straight forward and simple, they should be able to complete this in 3 months. It's not like I'm asking for anything that takes research or digging trough dusty archives, it's all off the shelf, normally stocked paperwork issued in quantity to any unit fielding the SCAR series guns.

I'll keep y'all up to date as the process unfolds.

Kevin Bush
SFC, US Army Special Forces (Retired)
NRA-Life/Patron

[SFCBush]

Progress report;

28 July 2010 - Army, Navy, and USAF FOIA requests sent, return receipt requested

1st week August - Army and USAF delivery receipts received

19 Aug 2010 - Initial reply from Navy, they assigned a case# and have forwarded the request to the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane

Kevin Bush