It is DoD policy that:

(a) The U.S. European Command and the U.S. Pacific Command are authorized to publish the Stars and Stripes and provide support to the S&S. The Unified Command component commanders and their public affairs staffs shall provide the Stars and Stripes editorial staffs the same help provided to commercial newspapers, in compliance with the principles governing the release of information to media in 32 CFR part 375.

(b) Editorial policies and practices of the Stars and Stripes shall be in accordance with journalistic standards governing U.S. daily commercial newspapers of the highest quality, with emphasis on matters of interest to the Stars and Stripes readership. Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, the DoD policy for the Stars and Stripes is that there shall be a free flow of news and information to its readership without news management or censorship. The calculated withholding of unfavorable news is prohibited.

(c) The S&S are basically self-sustaining operations. Each S&S shall be administered in accordance with DoD Directive 1015.1 1 as a joint-Service nonappropriated fund (NAF) instrumentality (NAFI) in its Unified Command, except where different procedures are specified in this part. Funding shall be provided through newspaper sales, resale of commercial publications, authorized advertising, job printing, and appropriated fund (APF) support as authorized by this part, DoD Directive 1015.6 2 and DoD Instruction 1330.18 3 . The S&S shall conduct bookstore operations similar to business operations of commercial bookstores in the United States. The Stars and Stripes and the S&S bookstores provide important news and information to U.S. personnel and their families stationed overseas while generating NAF revenues.

(d) The Stars and Stripes personnel procedures shall differ from commercial newspapers only because the S&S are U.S. Government organizations that are required to operate in accordance with the following:

(1) 32 CFR part 40, other Federal laws and DoD Directives that affect all DoD employees, and the Manual for Courts Martial (MCM), 1984 4 , for S&S military personnel on active duty.

(2) National security constraints prescribed by E.O. 12356 (47 FR 14874 and 15557, 3 CFR, 1982 Comp., p. 166).

(3) Overseas status of forces agreements (SOFAs), where applicable.

(e)(1) The only circumstances under which news or information that is not in the public domain may be directed to be withheld from publication in the Stars and Stripes by a Unified Command CINC are when such publication:

(i) Involves disclosure of classified national security information.

(ii) Would adversely affect national security.

(iii) Clearly endangers the lives of U.S. personnel.

(2) Those circumstances in paragraphs (e)(1)(i) through (e)(1)(iii) may not be construed to permit the calculated withholding of news unfavorable to the Department of Defense, the Military Services, or the U.S. Government. Only the Unified Command CINC may authorize withholding of news or information from the Stars and Stripes. When the CINC directs withholding of publication, the Unified Command shall immediately inform the ASD(PA) by telephone and then forward an immediate precedence, appropriately classified, message to the following: SECDEF Washington DC//OATSD-PA, with information copies to the Director, AFIS, and the Special Assistant for Public Affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The CINC may include the appropriate “AMEMBASSY” as an information addressee.

(f) Sensitivities of host-nations shall not be a reason to withhold any story from publication in the Stars and Stripes. The Unified Command theater host-nation sensitivity lists prepared for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) shall not be used to restrict the content of the Stars and Stripes. If representatives of other governments show an interest in, or concern about, the content of the Stars and Stripes, they shall be informed that:

(1) The Stars and Stripes does not represent the official position of the U.S. Government, including the Department of Defense or the Unified Command.

(2) The Stars and Stripes is an unofficial, abstracted collection of commercial news and opinion available to commercial newspapers in the United States, along with Stars and Stripes editorial staff-generated DoD, command, and local news and information. The Stars and Stripes provides this information to the members of the Department of Defense and their family members serving overseas, as do commercial daily newspapers that are published and sold throughout the United States in keeping with the principles of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

(g) The Department of the Army shall be the DoD Executive Agency to provide APF and NAF support to the S&S. APFs shall be provided, when required by adverse conditions or special circumstances as defined in § 246.3, by the Military Services, as agreed on through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) detailing the shared responsibilities, and approved by the OSD and the Unified Commands.