The U.S. Navy has announced it will cease releasing information regarding any sailor's service history, a practice that has been standard for decades. This move, cited by officials as a response to heightened security threats and concerns about harassment, is part of a broader trend of restricted press access within the military.
Rear Admiral John Robinson, the Navy's top spokesman, issued a policy last Thursday initially mandating the removal of public-facing information about commanding officers. Captain Candice Thresh, a spokesperson for the Chief of Naval Personnel, stated that the policy was expanded to withhold all sailor service information in the interest of equality. According to Thresh, the Navy will still confirm an individual's status as a sailor if a request is deemed "of high public interest," but no further details will be provided until the perceived threat has diminished.
Information concerning sailors' service histories, including their assigned units and earned awards, has historically been crucial for providing context during significant news events involving service members. Federal laws and Pentagon policies generally classify such details as releasable and not an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
However, the Navy now states these details will only be released if the sailor is a "public figure or extenuating circumstances exist," terms that the Navy itself defines. First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams criticized the policy, calling it an "effort at suppression of speech" that is inconsistent with the First Amendment. Abrams suggested the policy aims to limit potentially unfavorable reporting on administration decisions concerning service members.
The Navy cited the new policy when the Associated Press requested the biography of a Blue Angels pilot after a controversial maneuver over a crowded beach. Despite the pilot's information being publicly available on the Blue Angels website, the Navy initially refused to provide the biography. Thresh later provided a copy of the biography to the AP personally after inquiries about the policy began.
This development follows other recent restrictions on information access. Last month, the military requested congressional authority to withhold certain unclassified records from the public. This proposed legislation would allow the defense secretary to exempt specific "controlled unclassified information" from Freedom of Information Act disclosures. Transparency advocates and the Pentagon's own internal watchdog have raised concerns that the term "controlled unclassified information" is inconsistently applied and often used to prevent the release of embarrassing information.
Last year, the Pentagon's attempt to impose significant restrictions on journalists working within its grounds led many news organizations to withdraw their access badges. That policy is currently under litigation. In a further move this summer, the Pentagon declared its press office a classified space inaccessible to journalists.