Who reports
The covered individual reports events and activities assigned to their category under SEAD 3 and the agency’s implementing policy. Security managers explain the applicable category, designated recipient and approved channel.
Personnel reporting · Government and Service Member
Government and Service Member Reporting
SEAD 3 is the government-wide baseline for covered federal employees and service members. Report through your department or agency’s designated security or personnel-vetting process and follow any additional agency or command rules.
Government / Service Member route
Use SEAD 3 together with your department or agency’s implementing policy. Your department or agency sets its reporting office, approved channel, forms, timelines and any added command or program duties. This page does not replace those local instructions.
Route: identify the applicable SEAD 3 category → report to the designated agency security/personnel-vetting office → make any separate command, law-enforcement, inspector-general or insider-threat report required by agency policy → provide updates when requested.
Event-by-event guide · Government / Service Member
SEAD 3 reportable requirements
Use this chart to identify the subject of a report. Your sponsoring department or agency determines which category applies to your eligibility or sensitive position, the approved recipient and system, and any added timelines or pre-approval. Some categories are limited by eligibility level; this summary does not make every row universal.
| Reportable area | What the requirement covers | Who to notify / important scope note | SEAD 3 reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unofficial foreign travel | Planned personal travel outside the United States: submit the itinerary and obtain required advance approval. Report itinerary deviations and unplanned Canada/Mexico day trips within five business days after return. In emergencies, advise the agency before departure when feasible and complete the report within five business days after return; follow required pre-travel briefing and approval steps. | Covered person → agency security/personnel-vetting office and any agency travel system. Official travel is governed by agency procedures. Use the agency’s emergency process when advance notice is not possible. | §F.1(b); Appendix A.1 |
| Foreign contacts and relationships | Contact with a known or suspected foreign intelligence entity; a continuing relationship with a known foreign national involving bonds of affection, intimate contact, personal obligation or exchange of personal information; and specified foreign-national roommate, marriage, cohabitation or adoption events. | Report through the agency-designated security channel. Casual or limited public interaction alone is not the trigger. Some relationship and living-status items apply only to designated eligibility categories; verify with agency policy. | §D.8; §F.2; Appendix A.2–3, 18 |
| Reportable behavior by another covered person | Known conduct that raises security concerns, such as unwillingness to follow rules; unexplained affluence or excessive debt; alcohol or illegal drug misuse; criminal conduct; concerning behavior affecting safe protection of information; misuse of Government property or systems; or loss, compromise, tampering or unauthorized access. | Any covered person → designated agency security official or other recipient named in agency policy. Report facts; do not investigate or diagnose the person. | §F.3; Appendix A, as applicable |
| Foreign citizenship and affiliation | Applying for or receiving foreign citizenship, passport or identity document; foreign government service or political activity; and other foreign affiliations identified for the person’s category. | Covered person → agency security/personnel-vetting office. Certain foreign activities and voting in a foreign election are eligibility-category specific. | §G.1; §H.1; Appendix A.7, 11 |
| Foreign business and financial interests | Reportable foreign business involvement, foreign accounts or property, financial benefits or support, financial anomalies, or unusual financial gains when the applicable category and agency rule require reporting. | Covered person → agency security channel. Do not assume each financial or foreign-interest item applies to every eligibility level; use the agency’s category-specific criteria. | §G.2(d); §H.1–2; Appendix A.4–6, 16 |
| Attempted elicitation, exploitation or coercion | Attempts to elicit protected information or gain unauthorized access, or to exploit, blackmail, coerce or entice a covered person because of their position or access. | Notify the designated security/counterintelligence channel promptly; use emergency or law-enforcement channels when circumstances require. | §G.1(a); §H.1(d); Appendix A.13 |
| Media contact seeking protected information | Media contact seeking classified information or other information specifically prohibited by law from disclosure, outside an authorized official-duty process. | Covered person → agency security and any communications/public-affairs office identified in agency policy. | §G.2(d); §H.2(b); Appendix A.14 |
| Criminal activity and law-enforcement involvement | Arrest, charge, criminal conduct, detention or other reportable law-enforcement involvement, subject to the applicable rule and any stated minor-traffic exception. | Covered person → agency security channel, plus separate command or law-enforcement notifications required by agency policy. | §G.2(c); §H.2(c); Appendix A.15 |
| Drug, alcohol, treatment or counseling events | Specified illegal drug activity, alcohol-related conduct and treatment/counseling events when the applicable SEAD 3 category requires reporting. Routine care alone is not a universal trigger. | Use the agency’s approved confidential personnel-security channel and the exact category criteria. Do not substitute personal diagnosis or assumptions for the agency’s rule. | §G.2(e); §H.2(h); Appendix A.19 |
| Psychological, emotional-health or behavioral concerns | Defined conditions, orders, treatment or behavior that meet the applicable reporting criteria and bear on the person’s ability to protect classified or other legally protected information. | Report through the agency-designated protected channel. The threshold depends on the applicable policy; seeking routine help is not automatically a reportable security concern. | §G.2(e); §H.2(h); agency implementation |
| Outside employment or activities | Outside employment or activity that creates an actual or apparent conflict with security responsibilities or is otherwise reportable under the person’s agency rules. | Covered person → agency security, ethics or approval office as instructed; obtain advance approval when required. | §G.2(f); §H.2(e) |
| Additional Section H items (TS/Q and Critical/Special Sensitive) | Where the category requires: voting in a foreign election; direct foreign business involvement; foreign bank accounts or property; financial anomalies; cohabitation, marriage/civil union, foreign-national roommate, or adoption of a non-U.S.-citizen child. | Do not apply this set to every covered person. Confirm the category-specific rule and reporting channel with the sponsoring agency. | §H.1, §H.2; Appendix A.3–6, 11–12, 16, 18 |
Primary references: ODNI SEAD 3, especially §§D–H and Appendix A; the NCSC SEAD 3 awareness briefing. Agency implementing policy controls the actual category, channel and timing.
Lane 1 · Federal civilian and military populations
Government employee or service member
SEAD 3 establishes reporting requirements for covered individuals with national-security eligibility or sensitive positions. The department or agency implements the reporting route and may give more specific instructions.
Government route: SEAD 3 is the baseline. You must also follow your own agency’s internal reporting instructions, recipients, channels, pre-approval rules and any separate command, law-enforcement, IG, insider-threat or program reporting requirements.
Where it goes
Use the agency’s designated security or personnel-vetting office and reporting system. Some matters also have a separate route to law enforcement, an inspector general, an insider-threat program or a command authority; use that route when agency policy requires it.
What to report under SEAD 3
As applicable to your category: foreign travel, foreign contacts and affiliations, foreign financial/business interests, foreign citizenship/passport, specified relationship or living-status changes, media contacts seeking protected information, attempted elicitation or exploitation, arrests/criminal conduct, financial anomalies, drug/alcohol matters, defined health or behavioral triggers, outside activity conflicts, and concerns about another covered person. Use the detailed SEAD 3 event checklist; every category does not apply to every person.
Timing and follow-up
SEAD 3 and agency instructions set event-specific timing and pre-approval requirements. Report promptly through the prescribed process, retain required confirmation, and answer security-office follow-up. Do not assume one deadline applies to every report category.
Individual→Agency security / personnel-vetting office→Authorized system and any required specialist route→Review, record update, or investigation/adjudication action
Government reporting process
- Confirm coverage.Ask the agency security/personnel-vetting manager which SEAD 3 category applies: eligibility/access, sensitive-position status, or both. Get the local policy, channel, recipients and required timing in writing or from the official agency instruction.
- Report through the named D/A channel.Self-report the applicable event to the agency-designated security official/system. For unofficial travel or an activity requiring advance approval, submit the required notice before acting; do not wait for a periodic review.
- Make parallel reports where required.Use a separate supervisor/commander, law-enforcement, IG, insider-threat, CI, HR or emergency route when law or agency policy directs it. A report to one office does not automatically satisfy another.
- Respond and close.Provide follow-up through the approved channel. The D/A evaluates the information, may request investigation/adjudication, updates the personnel-vetting record and notifies authorized mission offices as needed. Retain confirmation under agency records instructions.
Who to contact: the person’s designated agency security officer or personnel-vetting office, and the supervisor/commander or specialist official identified by agency instructions. SEAD 3 is government-wide; each D/A establishes the working channel. See SEAD 3 and your agency’s internal policy.