OFFICE OF SECURITY COOPERATION

COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY OFFICE OF SECURITY COOPERATION BAGHDAD, IRAQ 8 May 2004 OSC-J1 MEMORANDUM FOR Commanders, Iraqi Armed Forces SUBJECT: Military Personnel Records System 1. Reference Coalition Provisional Authority; Order Number 22, 7 August 2003. 2. Purpose: This memorandum establishes a military personnel records system for Iraqi Armed Forces (IAF). 3. Applicability: This policy applies to all military service members serving in the IAF and will be used to standardize records for assigned personnel. 4. Responsibilities: Commanders at each level are responsible for establishing procedures to maintain and safeguard records as described in the enclosed operating procedure. 5. General: The purpose of military personnel records is to document the conduct and actions of members for the purpose of retention, promotion, career development and separation. 6. Commanders will use the enclosed procedural guidance for managing records (encl). FOR THE COMMANDER MOHAMMED REDHA MOHAMMED Encl Colonel, IAF as Director, Personnel MILITARY PERSONNEL RECORDS SYSTEM 1.1. System Description. The military personnel records system is the way records are kept to show the military service of each person. It includes setting up new records and keeping of each member’s record at all levels. The records consist of: Enlisted Record Group (ERG) Officer Record Group (ORG) 1.2. System Objectives. The purpose of this system is to: Maintain personnel documents to protect the legal and financial rights of the government and the individual and to record the history of the member’s service. Support personnel managers, commanders, and supervisors as they manage Iraqi Armed Forces personnel. Provide procedures for managing records. 1.3. Creating Officer and Enlisted Records: Officers: Officer records are initially created at the Recruiting Centers (RCs) and shipped to officer induction with the candidates. At officer induction, the J-1 staff processing the officer candidates takes the records and returns them to the headquarters to begin the Officer Record Group (ORG). Enlisted: Enlisted records are initially created at the RCs and shipped as follows: a. Members in the grade of Private through Sergeant First Class, records will be forwarded to the gaining unit and maintained by the S1. b. Members in the grade of Master Sergeant and above, records will be forwarded to the JHQ for maintaining. Installations will maintain a copy of the record for local actions, but the official record will reside at the JHQ. 1.4. Contents of the Personnel Record: Records will contain the following: Original application to join the IAF. Original signed contract. Original performance reports. Original citations and orders for decorations. Copies of punishments, including judicial and non-judicial. Copies of all assignment orders. Copies of emergency data information. Copies of promotion orders. 1.5. Movement of Records: When required, records will be mailed or delivered in a sealed envelope by S1 personnel to the gaining station. The record must be sealed by S-1 personnel in an oversize envelope and taped shut. The clerk will initial across the seal of the enveloped where taped. The front of the enveloped will contain the following instructions written in at least one inch high letters: “official military record, property of the Government of Iraq. To be opened by S-1 personnel or commanding officer of gaining unit. Upon promotion to Wakeel (E6), the records clerk will forward the member’s personnel record to HQ, IAF, Baghdad, Iraq. 1.6 Security of Records: Records must be stored in a lockable filing cabinet or in a separate room that can be secured independent of access to the main room. Only S-1 personnel or commanders may have access to records that are not their own. Member’s are authorized to view their own records but must do so in the presence of S-1 personnel and are not authorized to remove their own record from the reviewing area. S-1 personnel are to establish a small area close to the records where personnel can review their records. At no time will a member be left alone in the room with their own record. Commanders of units may designate trusted clerks to sign-out records for review in their command areas or to conduct special actions such as promotion boards or to review the record prior to imposing punishment, however this designation must be done in writing. A copy of this must be kept at the records section and the identity of the clerk verified each time a record is checked-out. No record shall remain checked-out for more than 7 calendar days at a time. 1.7 Unauthorized Disposal. Records clerks will tell personnel who use military records that the concealment, removal, mutilation, or destruction of records or documents is a criminal offense under CPA Order 23. 1.8. Penalties. Records clerks will tell users that CPA Order 23 provides for criminal penalties against anyone who discloses information to unauthorized persons. Anyone who obtains information about an individual under false pretenses may also be subject to criminal penalties enforceable under CPA Order 23. Records Inventory: Each records section will perform a physical inventory of records quarterly in the months of March, June, September and December. A roster of assigned personnel will be pulled from the database and each record will be physically matched. Missing records will be identified and the S-1 will sign the inventory as a true and accurate review. A quarterly report will be forwarded to the next higher command indicating the inventory has been completed. 1.10 Lost Records: Records that are not present at the time of inventory but which were known to be in the possession of the S-1 staff shall be classified initially as “missing.” The S-1 will make every effort to find the record to include a call to the units to search their administrative areas. The member will also be asked if he knows where the missing record is located. After 30 days the record will be classified as “lost” and a “new” record will be created. 1.10.1. S-1 personnel will pull a records review product from the database to determine what documents need to be recovered. Records clerks will ask the member if he or she has a copy of the source documents listed in the records review. For example. If the records review shows six performance reports and lists the closing dates of the reports, the clerk will ask the member if he or she has a copy of the reports by providing the close-out dates. The member must bring in a copy and the S-1 must certify the document as a “certified true copy.” The document is then entered into the “new” record and becomes the official record. If the official record is found at a later date, then a records clerk will ensure that one complete set of records is certified. At no time will there be two sets of records on any one person.