Limit dissemination;
Prevent unnecessary reproduction; and
Determine the office or person normally
responsible for the security of the material.
With Top Secret messages, it is also important to keep
a current record of who has the information and who
has seen it.
Since distinctions are made among the three levels
of classification, distinctions are also made in the
degree of accountability and control. Within each
command, specific control and accountability
procedures are established to ensure that classified
material is properly controlled and that access is limited
only to cleared personnel.
SECURITY PERSONNEL
To control classified information with maximum
efficiency, the commanding officer designates a
security manager, usually an officer. The security
manager is responsible for the command’s overall
security program, which includes the security of
classified information, personnel security, and the
command’s security education program.
In addition, the commanding officer usually
appoints a Top Secret Control Officer (TSCO). The
TSCO is responsible for the receipt, custody,
accounting, and disposition of Top Secret material in
the command. The TSCO is normally subordinate to
the security manager. If a separate person is not
designated as the TSCO, the security manager maybe
designated as TSCO. The duties of the security
manager and the TSCO are outlined in the Security
Manual.
Besides the security manager and the TSCO, every
command involved in processing data in an automated
system must designate an Information System Security
Officer (ISSO). The ISSO is responsible to the security
manager for the protection of classified information
processed in the automated system.
Custody of Classified Material
An individual who has possession of or is charged
with the responsibility for safeguarding and accounting
for classified material or information is the “custodian”
of that material or information. As a Radioman, you are
constantly in possession of classified material,
including messages, publications, and equipment.
Therefore, you are a custodian of classified material as
long as the material is in your possession.
As custodian of classified material, you are
responsible for protecting and accounting for the
material at all times. You must ensure that the material
is protected from disclosure to uncleared personnel,
such as a visitor being escorted through your working
spaces. If working outside of normal communication
spaces, you must ensure that classified material is
locked in an approved security container when the
material is not in use or under direct supervision.
CARE DURING WORKING HOURS.— Every
Radioman must take the necessary precautions to
prevent access to classified information by
unauthorized persons. These precautions include:
When removed from storage for working
purposes, classified documents must be kept
under constant surveillance or face down or
covered when not in use.
Preliminary drafts, carbon sheets, plates,
stencils, notes, work sheets, and all similar items
containing classified information require special
precautions. They must be either destroyed
immediately after they have served their purpose
or given the same classification and safeguarded
in the same manner as the classified material
produced from them.
Typewriter ribbons used in typing classified
material must be protected in the same manner
as the highest level of classification for which
they have been used. Fabric typewriter ribbons
may be considered as unclassified when both the
upper and lower sections have been recycled
through the machine five times in the course of
regular typing. Those ribbons that are classified
must be destroyed as classified waste.
CARE AFTER WORKING HOURS.— At the
close of each watch or working day, all classified
material that is passed from watch to watch must be
properly inventoried. Custody is then transferred to the
relieving watch supervisor. All other classified
material must be locked in an approved security
container. A system of security checks at the close of
each working day is the best method to ensure that all
classified material held is properly protected. Whether
your watch section is being relieved by the oncoming
watch or you are securing an office space, you should
make an inspection to ensure as a minimum that:
All classified material is properly stored.
Burn bags are properly stored or destroyed.
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