Sources of classified materials share blame

Anyone who has had to move from one place to another in a relatively short period of time can relate to the near-impossibility of checking every single item as it is packed. And, with some officeholders, the volume of what needs to be packed and moved can be daunting enough that staff steps in to do most of that grunt work.

Rather than going through this mountain of material page by page, they are likely grabbing handfuls of material and stuffing them into boxes. It is not inconceivable, then, that if there are classified documents in the mix, they would find their way to someone’s storage shed. When found, it causes an understandable stir. Investigations are focused on the individuals possessing these documents, and the media suggests incredulity over these events.

The elephant in the room, though, is: Why hasn’t the source of the classified materials reported them missing long before now?

Having worked as a communications security custodian in the U.S. Army, I was responsible for issuing and recovering classified codes and equipment. A hand receipt was issued that indicated exactly what left the vault, to whom, and, if known, for how long. At the end of a deployment, everything was returned to the vault and the hand receipt was cleared.

I knew exactly what was in the vault and what was outside the vault. It was a rare occasion when I had to track down someone. When I left that position, everything needed to be inventoried and accounted for.

One would assume that this type of control of classified materials would increase as we move up the hierarchy. But what recent events have shown is that it doesn’t.

So while we are vilifying individuals when documents are found in their garages, storage sheds, or desk drawers, we really should be shining the light on intelligence sources and their lack of accountability for the most sensitive information we possess.

Mark Smith Johnsburg