REF ID:A71843 

[Cm. 01] 

Cmct."LAn} 

No. 91 

WAR DEP'ARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON 2J, D. c., 29 February 19'14. 

SECURITY CLASSIFICATIONS 

1. The Combined Chiefs of Stuff have approved a.n agreement made between the American nnd British services on the definition, classification, 

and lumdllug or matters tC> be safeguarded. I'rocedu1·es, nnmPR, dPfinlttous, 

and handling hereinafter set forth are to l.Je put in effect l.Jy all War D1!partment offices and United States Army heudqunrters on zero zero zero one Z, 

15 March 19JJ. 

2. I11struet1ons to the sallle effect are being issued for the same effective 

elate to the United States Navy and to the Dritisl1 Armed Fo1=cE's. 

3. It is contemplated that a complete re'l"lslon of AR 380-5 emboclyiug the 

details ol the new agreeID<>nt will be printed and d1scributed to the War 

Depnrtment on or about 1 April 1044. 

4. From 15 l\Inrch 1044. to date of receipt •>f the revision of AR 380-3, the 

l>Ollcy hereinnft.!r outlined will be followed by all concerned. No change in 

the clussification of existing dorumPnts is necessital~d by this agreement. 

5. Combined Security Classifications Agreement. 

XEED FOR OL.ASSIFIC.l'l'IOX 

1. To 1mft!guard official rnattt!r, It must be examined ancl graded Into 

c:itesorles so t!un it IDUY be recognized nnd acc·orded proper handling. To 

gt·ade matter accurately and umfo1·mly, the followrng general p1>licy and 

definitions hi.we been ag1·eed upon by the Comlnned Chiefs of Staff to become e:trectlve 15 JJlarch 19JJ. The c1et111lecl lnstl'\lctions busl>d there<m wlll 

be issued by the severul servi<'es concerned not later tlum 1 April 191J. 

DEl'INITIONB 

2. For the purpose of this agrL>elllent, the following definitions apply: 

a. Documents: Any form of l"t!l!orded info1·mation. 

b. llat-¥1·Jel: Any article, substance, 01· ammrntus. 

c. Handling: Care In transmission and cu1:1tody. . 

d. Distribution: E:s:te1u of actunl 01· nuth11rizec1 Issue of &peclfic runtier. 

c. Cryptographic system: Code and/01· ciIJh.:!r und instructions therefor. 

f. R,'g1ste1·E'd IDUtter Cdocnment): Any classified document or dt-vice reglstPred usnully by number uud periodically accounted f,n·. 

g. 01·der of B::tltle: Important dispositions of our forces with the ldeutit11·s of the units und formations composing those forces in or adjacent 

tu 011eru ti on al theu ters. 

h. Muuitions of \\-nr: Any item used for war. 

C'A.TEGORJES 

3. Otlicial matter rt-quiring classification shall be examined ancl graded 

1md1•r one- of the following categories: 

TOP SECTIDT (signal abbreviation, TOP •. }:lC) 

~ECUDT 

COXF.IDENTIAL 

RESTRICTED 

4. The l:niled States regards TOP SECRET as a subdivision of SECRET. 

On the •JtlWr hand, the Bl'itish regard TOP ~E:'RET as a distinct categ,11·y. 

Altlwngh this difference of view is recognized it is immaterial to this agreement under which complete working unlfornuty 1s ol.Jtnined by the a1loptlon 

11f agreed dt::fimtions, exalllpll's and rules of treatment, f11r the handling of 

all classifi~d matte1·. 

5. P1·onding the following definitions ancl rules for hnnclling are m11tu11lly 

urce11tP11 and rigorously Implemented, the difficulties can be overcome. 

::r;·,. ·01 °-H-AGO 2114 

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TOPSEORE'l' 

6. Certain secret documents, Information, and mat~riel, the security aspect 

of which is paramount, and whose unauthorized disclosure would cause 

exceptionally grave damage to the natl.on shall be classified TOP SECRET. 

7. The following are some examples of matter which normally will be 

graded TOP SECRET: 

a. Plans or particulars of future major or special operations. 

b. Particulars of impo.rtant dispositions or impending moves of our forces 

or convoys lll connection with a above. 

c. "'Ile::,· !:=:;)o:::'tr..!1!: :;Jalit!~n.l C!t'~c.:~c~t~ 1.cn!!!!; ~th m::.~:!:: ~3.ttcr!' :.:!: !!Cgo 

tiatlons for alliances and the like. -

a. Information of the methods used or success obtained by our Intelligenee 

ServiC"es and Counter-Intelligence Services or which would imperil secret 

agents. 

I'. Uritical information of new and important munitlons of war, including 

nppro\'ell scientific and technicnl <lcl"clopments. 

-f. Important particulars of cryptography and cryptanalysis. 

liIEORET 

8. Documents, information, or :n11lteriel, the unauthorized disclosure of 

which would endanger national security, cause Sl'rlous Injury to the interests 

or prestige of the nation, or any gO\·ernmental activity thereof, or would be 

of grent advantage to a foreign nation shall be classified SECRET. 

9. 'l'he following are some examples of matter which normally will be 

graded SECRET: 

a. Particulars of operations in progress. 

b. Plans or particulars of operations not included uncler TOP SECRET. 

c. Instructions regarding the emploY111ent of important new munitions of 

war. 

a. Order of Battle information and locations and moves affecting the 

Order of Battle. 

e. Knowledge of enemy materiel and procedure, the value of which depends upon the enemy not knowing that we possess ft. 

f. Vital military fnformution on important defenses. 

g. Certain reports of Opt!rationt1 containing information of vilal lnt1.'l'est 

to the enemy. 

h. Adver1:1e reports on general morale affecting major operations. 

t. Iniportant Improvements to exiRtlng munltlons of war until accepted 

for service use. 

j. Photobrraphs of viilnerable paints or vital installations under our 

control. 

k. Certain development projects. 

Z. Important cryptographic devices unlel:!B assigned to a lower category. 

CONFIDENTIAL 

10. Document1:1, information, or mat~rl.el, the unauthorized disclosnre of 

whkh, while not endangering the national security, would be prejudicial 

to the intere1:1ts or prestige of the nation, any it0vernmental al'til"ity, an 

ind1vi<hml, or would muse aumimstrative embarrassment, or d1.filcnlty, or 

be of advantage to a foreign nation shall be classiil.ed CONFIDENTIAL. 

11. The following are some examples of matter which normally will be 

graded CONFIDENTIAL: 

a. Matters, investigations, and documents of a personal and disclpllnary 

nature, the knowledge of which it ls de1:1irable to safeguard for administrative reasons. 

b. Routine operational and battle reports which do not contain information of vit11l intPrPRt to the enPmy. 

o. Routine intelligence reports. 

AGO 284 

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3 [Cm. 911 

a. General military radio irequency allocations. 

e. l\Iilitar;i. call 11igu11, wile& so collected together that they reveal the 

Order of Battle. 

f. Meteorological information of designated areas. 

o. Unit movements of nonoperational significance in areas within or adjacent to operational theaters. 

h. Certain technical documents and manuals used for training, maintenance and inspection of Important new munitions of war. 

i General tactical 11.>ssons learned as a result of operations. 

J. Aerial t>hotoirranhs of territories under our control in or ll.d.1acent to 

operational theaters. 

RESTRIOTBD 

12. Documents, information, or materiel (other than TOP SECRET, SECRET, or CONFIDENTIAL) which Rhould not be published or communicated 

to anyone except for official purposes shall be classified RESTRICTED. 

13. The following nre some examples of mutter which normally will 

be graued RESTRIC'l'ED : 

a. Information of moves of nonoperational slgnlf.cance In areas remote 

from theaters of war. 

b. Training and technical documents for official use only or not intended 

for relemie to the public. 

c. Certain routine documents relating to 1:1upply and procurement. 

IZ. Aerial photographs of territories under our control remote from operational theaters. 

e. Photographs of enemy, enemy occupied or dominated, areas except those 

which reveal secret sources. 

f. Strenb'1:h returns of umts remote from operational theaters. 

GENERAL PRlNOIPLES 

GRADING 

14. The clesignation of persons responsible for grading and regrading wlll 

be a function of the appropriate authorities. 

15. Each document should be graded according to its own t"Ontent and not 

necessarily accor!ling to its relationship to another document. This also 

applies to extract1:1 from graded documents. 

16. The b>Tllding of a .fl.le or group of physically connect-ed documents shall 

be that of the highest graded document therein. 

REGRADING 

17. l'l' IS THE OBLIGATION 01<' ALL !AU'l'HOIU'l'IES TO K1')EP 

CLA8SIFIED MATTER CONSTANTI,Y UNDER REVIEW AND TO 

DOWNGRADE IT AS SOON :AS CO~"DITIONS PERMI"r. 

TRANRMlSSION BY ELJiJ07'RIOAI, MEANS 

18. Ml•ssages which have been transmitted or are to be transmitted in a 

high-grade cr3ptographic sy1:1tem of one nation will not be relay1>d or tran1:1-

mlttetl by the other nation betwPE.>n point of origin and ll~tinatJon by electrical means in clear language or unapproved "scrambler" system, or Iowgrade cryptoJ:l'raphic system. 

HANDLING (TREATMENT) 

19. No per11on Is entitled solely by virtue of his rank or position to knowledge or possession of claSRilied matte1·. Such matter is entrusted only to 

those indiviUuals who1:1e offi.ciul duties reqmre such knowledge or possession. 

SEORET 

20. SECRET matter will be llandled In accordance with the following 

rules: 

a. '.rhe highest grade cryPtographic systems available will be used for 

the transmisR!on of SECRI!."'T messages. 

AGO 234 
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REF ID:A71843 

4 

b. SECRET documents will be transmitted only by offic>la11y designnted 

cou1·ier in double senled em·elopes, the ln11e1· one bc•ing marked SECRET, 

and will be opeued only hy the atldressec or his authol'izecl rl:'presentatlve. 

Where officially designated courier serricc:> is not amilable, SECUET documents may he trunsmitted by registered mnil servil:e or mall seiTice superior 

to registereu mail SE'rYiee, if the service is complett!ly withm n11tional control. 

o. Tram.mission and custody of these documents nnd mat~rlel wlll normally !Je coYered by a rP<'Pipt system and registered documents or mat~riel 

perfodieally accounted for. It is manc1ato1·y that reglsteretl documents be 

co,·ereu hy n receipt system. 

d. SECUET messages will not be tt·ausmitted by electrical means In tbe 

clear, e:i..•·i>pt over approYc<l circuits nnd providing the rule in paragraph 18 

is not ' ioln tell. 

Nou;:s: 11) An npp10\ed circuit Is: 

A circuit npproYed by the thenter commander Tbe British 

Ser\'iCCS "Defence Tt>leprinter Network" in the l"nited Kingdom. 

(2) This item will not n1•peni In U. S RegulntlonA on cryptographic 

secur1t3. It will be nleu.scd imml!dmtely to i· .. sponsible cum- wanders m S{ll'cial lett"r"' of instructions. 

e. It is tbe responsibility of the c••mmi.,,sioned ofllc('r or (•quiYnlent civilian 

ho!lllng <"Ustody of SECRET documents to insure that all security precautions are rnken to guard such documents at nll times. 

TOP SECRET 

21. 'l'OP SECRET matter will l>e llandled In accord.ance with tile above 

rules, with additional safeguards as follows: 

a. L'"n<lE'r no circumstauces will such matter be transmitted by registered 

mail. 

b. rnrll•1· no circumstan<'es will me.,sages so graded be transrnltted by electri<'nl means in the clear. 

<'. It is manclatory that transmission and custody of such matter be coYered by a r.ecelpt flystem. 

d. TOP SECRE'I documents will be handled only by llt>rS<.)!lS specifically 

designated n11d may not be disclosed to any person solely by Yirtue of his 

rank 01· office. 

CONFIDE~·TIAL 

22. CONFIDI;_:NTIAL mutter will be handled in accorclance with the folluwiug rules: 

a. COKFIDEN'l'IAL documents, exce-pt registered, will be trnusmitted b~ 

appro\"e<l official means. Registered CONFIDE:N'TIAL documents will bE 

lle.ndlecl In the same manner as rcg1stPrecl sgcH.ET docuiucnts 

b. It is the res11011sibility of the commissioned officer or equivalent official 

ho}(lmg custody of CONFIDENTIAL documents to insure thnt appropriate 

security precautions are tukeu nt 1111 times. 

RIJ87'RICTED 

23 RESTRICTED matter will be llandled m ac~ordance with the following 

rule-i:.: 

a H.ES'.rlUCTED documents will be transmitted by sm·h 11p1lrOYed chuunels ns will prol"i•le a reasonable dt•gree of security. • 

b. Reii;istered RESTRICTED documents will be transmitted to and from 

foreign countries in the same manner as registered SECRET documents. 

[ \. n 380.01 (20 Feb 44).1 

DY OllDCB OF THI: SECBI:TABY OF W AB: 

Orncu.L: 

J. A. ULIO, 

.'lfltjor Gcn<>ral, 

T1w Adjutant General. 

G. C. MARSHALL, 

Chief of Staff. 

.\GO 234 U S GOVERhllE.HT PRINTING OFFICE1 1944 

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