Distribution Statements A through F, explained

A distribution statement is a marking on a Department of Defense (DoD) technical document that says who may receive it without further approval. A program office, a contractor, or a library that holds marked documents reads the letter, A through F, to learn how far a document may travel. DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5230.24, reissued effective January 10, 2023, says the statements denote the extent to which technical information is available for secondary release and distribution without additional approvals or authorizations.

Category	A	B	C	D	E
Public release
Controlled technical information
Contractor performance evaluation
Critical technology
Direct military support
Export controlled
Foreign government information
International agreements
Operations security
Patents and inventions
Proprietary business information
Small Business Innovation Research
Software documentation
Test and evaluation
Vulnerability information

Source: DoD Instruction 5230.24, January 10, 2023, Table 1.

The six statements

A distribution statement is separate from a security classification. The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Marking Documents page says documents must carry a distribution statement in addition to any classification marking, and that DoDI 5230.24 requires the contributor to assign one to every document sent to DTIC.

Section 4 of the instruction gives the wording of each statement, and DTIC's four-page Guide to Marking Documents repeats it. In substance:

• Statement A. Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
• Statement B. Distribution authorized to U.S. Government agencies.
• Statement C. Distribution authorized to U.S. Government agencies and their contractors.
• Statement D. Distribution authorized to the Department of Defense and U.S. DoD contractors only.
• Statement E. Distribution authorized to DoD Components only.
• Statement F. Further distribution only as directed by the controlling DoD office or higher DoD authority.

The letters are not a ladder from wide to narrow. Statement C adds contractors to the Statement B audience. Statement D narrows to the DoD and its own contractors, and Statement E narrows again to DoD Components.

Statement A carries limits of its own. It may be used only on unclassified information approved for public release by a competent authority, and it will not be used on classified information or on information containing export-controlled technical information.

The instruction cancels the former Distribution Statement X. Information that carried it is now shown with Statement C, with export control as the stated reason.

How a statement is built

The guide says Statements B, C, D, and E are written in a standard format with four components, in this order:

1. The authorized audience, meaning who can access the document.
2. The category, meaning the reason for control.
3. The date of determination.
4. The controlling office or releasing authority.

Each of the four ends by directing all other requests for the document to the controlling DoD office. Statement F is shorter: it names the controlling DoD office and the date of determination, and gives no category. A marked document therefore answers four questions on its face: who may have it, why it is controlled, when that was decided, and whom to ask for anything wider.

Which reasons go with which letters

The guide's table lists fifteen categories and marks the statements each one can be used with.

• Statement A only: public release.
• Any of B, C, D, or E: controlled technical information, critical technology, export controlled, foreign government information, international agreements, software documentation, and vulnerability information.
• B or E only: contractor performance evaluation, operations security, patents and inventions, proprietary business information, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), and test and evaluation.
• E only: direct military support.

The table pairs proprietary business information and SBIR data with Statement B or E only, and not with C or D, the two statements that reach contractors. The same category can appear under different letters, so the letter, not the category, shows how far a document may travel.

B through F mark controlled technical information

The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clause 252.204-7012, in its May 2024 text, defines controlled technical information as technical information with military or space application that is subject to controls on access, use, reproduction, modification, performance, display, release, disclosure, or dissemination. The definition says such information would meet the criteria, if disseminated, for distribution statements B through F under DoDI 5230.24.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) CUI Registry covers the same ground. The Registry's Controlled Technical Information page gives the banner marking CUI//SP-CTI and states that this information is marked with one of distribution statements B through F in accordance with the instruction. Statement A is the exception in both: a document approved for public release falls outside the B through F set.

The DTIC page says the 2023 revision aligns the marking of controlled technical information with DoDI 5200.48, the instruction on Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). On such a document, the guide describes three elements. "CUI" appears in the banner and the footer of every page. The first page or cover carries a CUI designation indicator at the bottom right, with the distribution statement in full directly beneath it and separate from it. Additional markings, such as an export-control warning, are added as required.

Older markings are still in circulation

The January 2023 instruction reissued and cancelled a version dated August 23, 2012, titled "Distribution Statements on Technical Documents." The DFARS clause cites the instruction by that earlier title, and some agency help pages still describe the 2012 version, so a library built up over years holds documents marked under both.

What to check

• Does the document carry a distribution statement in addition to any classification marking?
• Does a B, C, D, or E statement give the audience, category, date of determination, and controlling office?
• Is the full statement directly beneath the CUI designation indicator on the first page or cover?
• Was the document marked under the 2023 instruction or the 2012 version, and does it carry the cancelled Statement X?

Azcuna's TRACE is one offline viewer for S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 XML, and PDF technical manuals. It keeps the source location and the markings of everything it shows and never modifies the source. It was proposed to NAVAIR under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ05-NV078, and the proposal was submitted on September 23, 2026.

Sources

1. 1DoD Instruction 5230.24, Distribution Statements on DoD Technical Information, January 10, 2023 · Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
2. 2Guide to Marking Documents (DoD Instruction 5230.24, January 10, 2023) · Defense Technical Information Center
3. 3Marking Documents · Defense Technical Information Center
4. 4Controlled Technical Information (CUI Registry category) · National Archives and Records Administration
5. 5252.204-7012 Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting · Acquisition.gov (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement)