The Department of Defense has released a directive establishing policy and providing governance structure for the management of all special access programs, or SAPs, across DOD.
The latest DOD Instruction, which took effect Thursday, outlines the responsibilities of the director of the DOD Special Access Program Central Office—or DOD SAPCO—the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and USD for acquisition and sustainment, among other officials, for the oversight of SAPs.
The directive states that the director of DOD SAPCO should serve as the proponent for developing and implementing policies for SAP execution, management and governance and publish and maintain security classification guides, among other functions.
According to the document, the department will develop and apply SAP security protection to classified national security information in compliance with an executive order and other regulations to protect sensitive classified data related to advanced technologies and capabilities.
Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of DOD and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, approved the latest directive.
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