5-101 CLASSIFICATION DESIGNATIONS
1. General. Information or material which requires protection against
unauthorized disclosure in the interest of national security shall be classified
in one of three designations: “Top Secret,” “Secrett” or “Confidential,”
depending upon its significance to national security. The markings “For
Official Use Only” and “Limited Official Use” shall not be used to identify
classified information. No other term such as “Sensitive,” “Conference,”
or “Agency” shall be used in conjunction with the authorized classification
designations.
2. Top Secret. “Top Secret” is the designation which shall be applied only
to information or material the unauthorized disclosure of which could
reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national
security. Examples of’ exceptionally grave damage” include armed hostilities
against the United States or its allies; disruption of foreign relations vitally
affecting the national security; the compromise of vital national defense plans
or complex cryptologic and communications intelligence systems; the revela-
tion of sensitive intelligence operations; and the disclosure of scientific or
technological developments vital to national security.
3. Secret. “Secret” is the designation which shall be applied only to infor-
mation or material the unauthorized disclosure of which could reasonably
be expected to cause serious damage to the national security. Examples of
“serious damage” include disruption of foreign relations significantly affect-
ing the national security; significant impairment of a program or policy directly
related to the national security; revelation of significant military plans or in-
telligence operations; compromise of significant military plans or intelligence
operations;
and compromise of significant scientific or technological
developments relating to national security.
4. Confidential. “Confidential” is the designation which shall be applied to
information or material the unauthorized disclosure of which could reasonably
be expected to cause identifiable damage to the national security. Examples
of’ “identifiable damage” include the compromise of information which in-
dicates strength of ground, air, and naval forces in the United States and
overseas areas; disclosure of technical information used for training,
maintenance, and inspection of classified munitions of war; revelation of per-
formance characteristics, test data, design, and production data on munitions
of war.
Figure 4-9.—Classification designations from Department of the Navy Information Security Program Regulation
Manual.
vital role in the preparation of nonsexist cor-
respondence by proofreading carefully any cor-
respondence that is generated by the office of the
chaplain. Figure 4-10 was extracted from
SECNAVNOTE 5216 of 24 May 1976 and
provides guidance on the use of neutral language.
The guidelines contained in the Department of the
Navy Correspondence Manual (SECNAVINST
5216.5) will be explained in Chapter 5 of this
module.
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