AF Form 2587, the Air Force Security Termination Statement, is the document you sign during a debriefing when your access to classified information ends. You complete it in person with your unit security manager, confirm you’ve returned all classified materials, and acknowledge that the criminal laws against unauthorized disclosure still apply to you after you leave. The fillable PDF is available from the Air Force e-Publishing site at e-publishing.af.mil.
When You Sign It
Air Force Instruction 16-1404 lists four events that trigger the form: retirement, termination of employment, suspension of access to classified information, and administrative withdrawal of security clearance eligibility.1Air Force e-Publishing. USAFAI 16-1404 In practice that covers most exits from a cleared position:
- Active-duty members separating or retiring, including at end of enlistment.
- Government civilians leaving federal employment.
- Contractors finishing a period of performance on a classified program.
- Anyone reassigned to a position that no longer requires the access they held.
- Anyone whose clearance is suspended or revoked.
Base out-processing checklists reflect this. At F.E. Warren, for example, the separations checklist lists AF Form 2587 as a required item, furnished by the unit security manager.2F.E. Warren Air Force Base. Separations Skip it and your out-processing won’t close cleanly, and the gap will surface the next time anyone runs a background investigation on you.
The Debriefing and What Goes on the Form
You don’t fill the form out alone. It’s completed during a face-to-face security termination briefing conducted by your unit security manager or another authorized debriefer. The debriefer verifies your identity, walks through the acknowledgments, witnesses your signature, and then signs to certify the briefing took place. Under AFI 16-1404, the original goes with you to your final out-processing appointment and the unit keeps its copy.1Air Force e-Publishing. USAFAI 16-1404
The fields themselves are straightforward. Make sure everything is legible and matches your official personnel records:
- Full name, current grade, Social Security Number, and organization with office symbol.
- The specific access being terminated. If you held collateral Secret or Top Secret rather than a special program, that level goes here.
- An acknowledgment that all classified documents, electronic media, and secure communications equipment have been returned to the government.
- An acknowledgment that you understand the federal criminal statutes on unauthorized disclosure, specifically 18 U.S.C. 793 and 794, and that those obligations do not expire when your employment ends.
- Signatures and date for both you and the debriefer.
A mismatch between the name, grade, or SSN on the form and your official records creates filing problems and can slow down future reinvestigations. Double-check before you sign.
What You Are Actually Agreeing To
Signing AF Form 2587 does not cancel any prior obligation, and it does not create a new one out of thin air. When you first received your clearance, you signed Standard Form 312, the Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement. That document binds you for life: its obligations apply “during the time I am granted access to classified information, and at all times thereafter.”3General Services Administration. Standard Form 312 – Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement AF Form 2587 records the date your access ended, confirms you handed everything back, and documents that you were reminded of the SF-312 promise on the way out.
The criminal statutes cited on the form are not boilerplate. Under 18 U.S.C. 793, anyone who gathers, transmits, or loses defense information through gross negligence or willful action faces a fine and up to ten years in prison.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 793 – Gathering, Transmitting or Losing Defense Information The penalties under 18 U.S.C. 794 are far more severe. Delivering defense information to a foreign government is punishable by any term of years, life imprisonment, or death.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 794 – Gathering or Delivering Defense Information to Aid Foreign Government
There is a separate risk in the signing itself. If you sign the form while knowingly concealing unreturned classified material, 18 U.S.C. 1001 applies. That statute covers knowingly false written statements to a federal agency and carries up to five years in prison; you do not need to be under oath for it to attach.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
If You Refuse to Sign
Refusing to sign does not preserve your access and does not release you from the SF-312. The Center for Development of Security Excellence advises that when someone declines to participate in a debriefing or sign the acknowledgment, the security manager administratively terminates the person’s access and drafts a Memorandum for the Record documenting the circumstances.7Center for Development of Security Excellence. Termination Briefing Short That memorandum becomes part of your security record and is exactly the kind of derogatory information that surfaces during future background investigations. The underlying legal obligations from your original SF-312 remain in force either way.
SCI Access Uses a Different Form
If you held Sensitive Compartmented Information access, AF Form 2587 alone is not enough. SCI debriefings use DD Form 1848, the SCI Debriefing Memorandum, which records the specific compartmented programs you are being debriefed from.8Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1848 – Sensitive Compartmented Information Debriefing Memorandum If you held both collateral and SCI access, expect to complete AF Form 2587 for the collateral clearance and DD Form 1848 for each SCI program.
Prepublication Review After You Leave
One obligation that catches former members off guard is prepublication review. If you plan to publish a book, article, blog post, thesis, or conference paper that touches on military or national security topics, you must submit it to the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review before it goes public. This applies to all current, former, and retired DoD employees, contractors, and service members who had access to DoD information or signed a nondisclosure agreement.9Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review. Frequently Asked Questions for Department of Defense Prepublication Security and Policy Reviews
The review covers anything related to military matters or national security, including fictional novels and biographical accounts of deployments. DOPSR recommends not signing a publishing contract or providing copies to a publisher until the review is complete. Writings on topics with no connection to your DoD service, such as cooking, gardening, or sports, are exempt, provided there is no association with your former affiliation.
One point worth emphasizing: classified information does not become declassified because someone else leaked it or a news outlet published it. The information stays classified until an official with original classification authority declassifies it. Repeating leaked material in your own writing still counts as unauthorized disclosure.