What ongoing practice must contractors implement to manage classified holdings?

• A. Establish procedures to review holdings regularly to reduce inventories to the minimum necessary
• B. Increase storage of classified materials
• C. Archive everything indefinitely
• D. Outsource retention to a third party

Answer: (A)

Ongoing control over classified holdings hinges on actively reviewing what is kept and ensuring only what is necessary remains. Establishing procedures to review holdings on a regular basis creates a disciplined process to identify material that is no longer needed, can be downgraded, destroyed, or moved to less restrictive storage, and therefore keeps the inventory at the minimum level required. This approach reduces the risk of loss, theft, or mishandling, and supports accountability and compliance with need-to-know principles. Regular reviews also enable timely disposition actions, preventing the buildup of outdated or surplus materials.

The other ideas don’t fit this ongoing control concept. Simply increasing storage runs counter to minimizing holdings. Archiving everything indefinitely creates unnecessary risk and administrative burden. Outsourcing retention to a third party can introduce additional risk and reliance on outside controls unless stringent safeguards and oversight are in place, but it does not embody the ongoing practice of routinely curating holdings to the minimum necessary.