(a) A copy of the decisional document prepared in accordance with subpart H of this enclosure shall be made available for public inspection and copying promptly after a notice of final decision is sent to the applicant.
(b) To prevent a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, identifying details of the applicant and other persons will be deleted from documents made available for public inspection and copying.
(1) Names, addresses, social security numbers, and military service numbers must be deleted. Written justification shall be made for all other deletions and shall be available for public inspection.
(2) The NDRB shall ensure that there is a means for relating a decisional document number to the name of the applicant to permit retrieval of the applicant's records when required in processing a complaint.
(c) Any other privileged or classified material contained in or appended to any documents required by this Manual to be furnished the applicant and counsel or representative or made available for public inspection and copying may be deleted only if a written statement on the basis for the deletions is provided the applicant and counsel or representative and made available for public inspection. It is not intended that the statement be so detailed as to reveal the nature of the withheld material.
(d) NDRB documents made available for public inspection and copying shall be located in the Armed Forces Discharge Review/Correction Board Reading Room. The documents shall be indexed in a usable and concise form so as to enable the public, and those who represent applicants before the NDRB, to isolate from all these decisions that are indexed, those cases that may be similar to an applicant's case and that indicate the circumstances under or reasons for (or both) which the NDRB or the Secretary concerned granted or denied relief.
(1) The reading file index shall include, in addition to any other item determined by the NDRB, the case number, the date, character of, reason and authority for the discharge. It shall also include the decisions of the NDRB and reviewing authority, if any, and the issues addressed in the statement of findings, conclusions, and reasons.
(2) The index shall be maintained at selected permanent locations throughout the United States. This ensures reasonable availability to applicants at least 30 days before a traveling panel review. A list of these locations shall be published in the Federal Register by the Department of the Army. The index shall also be made available at sites selected for traveling panels or hearing examinations for such periods as the NDRB is present and in operation. An applicant who has requested a traveling panel review shall be advised, in the notice of such review, of the permanent index locations.
(3) The Armed Forces Discharge Review/Corrections Board Reading Room shall publish indexes quarterly for all DRBs. The NDRB shall be responsible for timely submission to the Reading Room of individual case information required for update of the indexes. In addition, the NDRB shall be responsible for submission of new index categories based upon published changes in policy, procedures, or standards. These indexes shall be available for public inspection or purchase (or both) at the Reading Room. When the NDRB has accepted an application, information concerning the availability of the index shall be provided in the NDRB's response to the application.