The U.S. Military Classification Scheme
The U.S. military classification scheme relies on a more complex five-level classification scheme as defined in Executive Order 12958. This posting will list the classifications and briefly describe each of them.
The U.S. military classification scheme includes the following classification levels and a description of each: Unclassified, Sensitive But Unclassified, Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.
- Unclassified – Information that may be publically released
- Sensitive but unclassified – Unclassified information that should not be publically released because it may adversely affect national interests, conduct of DoD programs, or privacy of DoD personnel
- Confidential – information that could be reasonably expected to cause damage to national security if disclosed to unauthorized personnel
- Secret – information that could be reasonably expected to cause serious damage to national security if disclosed to unauthorized personnel
- Top Secret – information that could be reasonably expected to cause grave damage to national security if disclosed to unauthorized personnel