I am wondering if anyone has requested information from DMDC (Defense Manpower Data Center) for their academic research, and if so how was the process? Did it take a long time to receive the data, and did you get all the data requested? I am asking because I am working on my thesis which is studying the correlation between crime on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) and military unit deployments. I am currently a civilian employee at JBLM and have already requested and received the crime data from the Provost Marshal's office. The crime analyst and Provost Marshal at JBLM were very helpful, but I am having some difficulty getting the unit deployment data from DMDC. When I called their helpdesk, the first person told me that I would have to file a FOIA request for the data, and when I called the FOIA office to get information on how to request the information, I was told to just log in with my CAC and request the information that way. So, I am wondering if anyone else has experience and advice on requesting data from DMDC. Thanks everyone!
Even with a CAC card, you would still need an account at DMDC to access the information. Also, even if you could get in, doesn't necessarily mean you can use that in a thesis. That information might be official use only. I'm pretty sure you would need to do a FOIA request. If he doesn't see this message, you might want to PM Dr Rene on this board. He is faculty at Naval Post Graduate School. He might be able to help.
Thanks for your reply edowave, I appreciate it. I do have an account at DMDC, but I was concerned that some data I retrieved may be FOUO, so I am just going to request the data through the FOIA office just to be on the safe side. Hopefully the data will get here in time to use in my thesis, and if not, I will adjust fire and work with what I have. On a related note, the information I am looking for is the unit deployment schedules for JBLM from 2006-2010, such as the dates they left and arrived back at JBLM. I don’t want any individually identifiable information, just unit name and dates so that I can make some correlations between crime during the time frame. I am sure this is public information, but I don’t know where to find it other than from DMDC. Does anyone know if that data is available anywhere else?
I understand that FOUO documentation refers to the fact it is exempt from the FOIA. I worked a couple of programs where FOUO was on used on every program related document. Such documents were treated the same as confidential documents.
