Judge Katherine Forrest
McKanney served in the Navy from 1978 to 1981. His 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request sought certain records. The National Archives and Records Administration’s National Personnel Records Center informed him that it lacked such records, and that it had given him all personnel documents in his record. The Office of the Secretary of the Navy reported its understanding that the Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General (OJAG) had given McKanney a “No Records” final decision and formally closed its file on his FOIA request. OJAG also contacted the Modern Military Records Branch to determine if it had responsive records. District court denied McKanney review of the Navy’s FOIA request denial. The Navy argued that, after conducting searches calculated to locate records (both before and after McKanney brought suit) it found the records do not exist. McKanney failed to meet the jurisdictional requirements for an FOIA action. The Navy’s exhaustive searches in response to his FOIA request, coupled with its post-complaint review of prior searches, and additional searches from other sources, more than satisfied the “reasonably calculated searches” standard to prevail on a motion for summary judgment.
