Operations and Signal Security

Operations Security

By Order of the Secretary of the Army:

RAYMOND T. ODIERNO
General, United States Army
Chief of Staff

GERALD B. O'KEEFE
Administrative Assistant to the
Secretary of the Army

History. This publication is a major revision.

Summary. This regulation fully implements National Security Decision Directive 298, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3213.01D, Joint Publication 3-13.3, and Department of Defense directive 5205.02E and Department of Defense 5205.02-M. This regulation states Army policy on operations security program development, revises terminology, provides details on the operations security planning process, and outlines the operations security review, assessment and survey requirements. The Army operations security program authority is consistent with Joint policy and doctrine in Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3213.01D and Joint Publication 3-13.3. In Joint and Army operations, operations security is an information-related capability integrated

by Information Operations as prescribed in Joint Publication 3-13.

Applicability. This regulation applies to military and civilian personnel of the Active Army, the Army National Guard, the U.S. Army Reserve, and related activities of those organizations. Contractors must comply with contractually imposed operations security requirements. Also, if contractors have access to government information they are required to follow the same requirements for protection of sensitive, unclassified government information per Joint Ethics Regulation and Public Law. This regulation applies from conception of an activity or project and during all phases of operations, including training, readiness, and mobilization.

Proponent and exception authority. The proponent of this regulation is the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7. The proponent has the authority to approve exceptions or waivers to this regulation that are consistent with controlling law and regulations. The proponent may delegate this approval authority, in writing, to a division chief with the proponent agency or its direct reporting unit or field operating agency, in the grade of colonel or the civilian equivalent. Activities may request a waiver to this regulation by providing justification that includes a full analysis of the expected benefits and must include formal review by the activity's senior legal officer. All waiver requests will be endorsed by the commander or senior

leader of the requesting activity and forwarded through higher headquarters to the policy proponent. Refer to AR 25-30 for more information.

Army internal control process. This regulation contains internal control provisions in accordance with AR 11-2 and identifies key internal controls that must be evaluated (see app O).

Supplementation. Supplementation of this regulation and establishment of command and local forms are prohibited without prior approval from Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 (G-39), 400 Army Pentagon, Washington, DC 20310.

Suggested improvements. Users are invited to send comments and suggested improvements on DA FormDA FormDepartment of the Army form 2028 (Recommended Changes to Publications and Blank Forms) directly to the e-mail address at http://usarmy.pentagon.hqda.list.aoc-odci-2@mail.mil.

Distribution. This regulation is available in electronic media only and is intended for command levels B, C, D and E for the Active Army, the Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve.

*This regulation supersedes AR 530-1, dated 17 April 2007.

The OPSECOPSECOperational Security measures in this appendix are only examples to stimulate thought. Do not use them as a checklist. This is not a comprehensive list. Possible OPSECOPSECOperational Security measures are as varied as the specific vulnerabilities they address.