LETTER TO JOHN W. CARLIN FROM GEORGE J. TENET RE DESTROYING OF FILES

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005284221
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: December 21, 2011
• Case Number: F-2008-01459
• Publication Date: October 12, 2001

The Honorable John W. Carlin
Archivist of the United States
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
In accordance with 36 Code of Federal Regulations, Section
1228.104, I am reporting the accidental destruction of 97
official personnel files of former Central Intelligence Agency
.(CIA) employees. These files, approximately 10 cubic feet,
were inadvertently destroyed in October 2000. The files
contained personnel performance reports, awards, personnel
assignments and training records of employees whose active
employment with CIA ended during the period 1995 through 1997.
We have been able to reconstitute the training and personnel
actions for each employee but are unable to restore performance
appraisals and other performance related correspondence or
citations.
Per NC1-263-84-12, approved. April 28, 1986 said files are
to be destroyed:
...75 years after the birth date of employee or 60 years after the
date of the earliest document in the folder if the birth date cannot
be ascertained, provided the employee has been separated or retired
for at least 5 years."
We were not able to ascertain the earliest date of any document
placed in any file; we do know the date of birth for each
employee. None of the files was eligible for destruction.
The Agency's Human Resource Management office is the
custodian of all personnel files, and pursuant to the departure
of an employee, retires the file to the Agency records center
pending destruction. Information about the employee's
retirement benefits is transferred to the Office of Personnel
Management and was not affected by this destruction. Employee
security, medical and cover files are separate record series
and maintained apart from the official personnel file. Those
files remain intact.
APPROVED FOR RELEASE - CIA INFOr1 DATE:
15-Dec-2011
 The destruction of these official personnel files was
discovered in March 2001. An employee's file, requested for
review in conjunction with a proposed award, was found to have
been among 96 other personnel files mistakenly destroyed in
October 2000. Immediately, we began investigating which records
could be recovered or reconstituted, the actions taken by
responsible parties, and remedies to prevent further
unauthorized destruction.
Our investigation found that the records were properly
identified as personnel records and that the appropriate,
authorized disposition (records control schedule item) had
been applied to the retirement job. Either through a computer
mishap or human error, the date for destruction was incorrectly
entered. Our inquiry into the circumstances of the disposition
suggested no willful or purposeful intent to destroy these
Federal records. Rather, the four person sign-off process
(to concur in a destruction) failed to notice the errant
destruction date with respect to the type of records proposed
for destruction. As a result of the destruction, new instruc-
tions have gone out to all component Information Management
Officers (IMO). The individuals who concurred in this
destruction have received a verbal warning and/or a written
reprimand. The software used to calculate destruction dates of
temporary records is being rewritten to prevent dates from being
manually overwritten, and provide the IMO with a better on-line
tool to verify that each retirement job has been assigned the
appropriate records control schedule item. I believe the
appropriate safeguards have been set in place to prevent any
future unauthorized destruction.
If you have questions or require further clarification
regarding this matter, please contact Mr. Chrintophnr J. Olsen,
Chief, Records and Classification Management Group, Information
Management. Mr. Olsen can be reached on (703) 613-1716.
Gorge %.4c,`iet
Director of Central Intelligence