Its time to play The Cover Your Ass With Paper Game...

Yesterday I got this in the mail:

• 09MAY12-FOIA-12-0489-Envelope.jpg
• 09MAY12-FOIA-12-0489.jpg

Let me make a few notes about dates and other details associated with this letter:

• The date on the postmark on the envelope is May 14, 2012.

• The date on the letter is May 9, 2012.

• FOIA 12-0489 was assigned to this request no later than May 9, 2012.

• They claim my FOIAR was received on April 18, 2012.

• They claim that their office received my request on April 23, 2012

• They claim my request is being processed in accordance with Title 5 US Code 552.

• Information requested under the purview of the U.S. Army is referred to the proponent agency as per Army Regulation 25-55.

• The request has been forwarded for review and direct response to me to:
  
  U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM)
  Office of the Staff Judge Advocate
  6001 Combat Drive
  Room C3-127
  Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005
  Telephone: (443) 861-5266
  
  Any questions regarding the status of the request should be addressed to the agency listed above.

The following is a quote from AR 25-55:

a. Initial determinations to release or deny a record normally shall be made and the decision reported to the requester within l0 working days after receipt of the request by the official designated to respond. The action office/command holding the records will date and time-stamp each request on receipt. The 10-day limit will start from the date stamped.

If I take the date the letter was written (May 9, 2012) as the date that the Big Army FOIA Office forwarded my request, thus officially covering their ass with paper and simultaneously passing the buck to CECOM, then May 23, 2012 would be 10 working days after the material was received. And as you may have already guessed, nothing yet from CECOM. Interesting to note no mention of the fact that this request was actually submitted on 20JAN12 and that this fact was included in the resubmitted request that they are finally responding to.

Later today I will be placing a call to CECOM to have a friendly conversation with them to determine what the current status of my request is (note full powers of concentration are being used to stay calm...).