Classification
Management Overview
Original classification is the initial determination by an
Original Classification Authority (OCA) that an item of
information could be expected to cause damage to national
security if subjected to unauthorized disclosure.
Damage to the national security means harm to the national
defense or foreign relations of the United States from the
unauthorized disclosure of the information, to include the
sensitivity, value, and utility of that information. It includes
military operations in support of national objectives when those
operations involve information that meets the criteria of
classification.
This decision will be made
only by
persons specifically authorized in writing to do so; have
received training in the exercise of this authority, and have
program or program support responsibility or cognizance over the
information. The decision to originally classify must be made
based on the requirements of AR 380-5, Department of the Army
Information Security Program. Delegations of original
classification authority will be limited to the minimum required
and only to officials who have a demonstrable and continuing
need to exercise it.