The DOPSR Dilemma: The Price of Authenticity

Everyone loves authenticity. We inherently crave the “no kidding I was there” levels of truth first-person accounts bring to a book. This is because novels, both fiction and non-fiction, are a portal into the world of that story. We as a society learn from books and grow our experiences vicariously through that interaction.

So, of course, we want the closest you can get to real.

But, as with all things in the publishing world, there is an interesting paradox. Veteran authors are the ones who carry the deepest connection to this verisimilitude, but they are also the most dangerous writers. At least, in the eyes of the federal government.

And it all boils back to our access to SECRET information.

Any servicemember or civilian employee who holds a SECRET or higher security clearance, must sign what is called a Security Form (SF) 312. At the bottom of the page, in really tiny letters and italics is a warning: if you ever wish to publish, you must get our permission first.

And the timeline: forever.

Maybe you signed your SF 312 during basic training. Or at the Academy, like me. Or when you commissioned. 1985. 2005. Doesn't matter. That signature is binding for all time.

Crap. What does that mean? Are service members muzzled? This seems like a violation of our first amendment rights. Well, slow that roll. Don’t get all heated up yet, there is a solution. You’re just not going to like it.

There is a federal agency dedicated to clearing works written by Veterans for public release. Their name is DOPSR.

This post is for my fellow veteran authors navigating this mess. But civilians, stick around. You're about to discover why military authors operate under constraints you never imagined.

Welcome to the DOPSR dilemma.

What the Heck is DOPSR?

Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review.

Every manuscript I write must go to DOPSR first. They read every word. Check every detail. And eventually, they clear me for public release. And despite all the pain it causes, I’m glad they do what they do.

DOPSR exists for legitimate reasons. If you held Secret, Top Secret, or above, you accessed information the public doesn't have. Troop movements. Technical capabilities. Intelligence sources. Operational methods. These are things that our enemies would love to know.

That information doesn't magically declassify when you retire. And here's the problem: memory doesn't come with classification labels. You might not realize something you remember is still protected. Even worse, your expert knowledge might help you connect dots and inadvertently reveal classified information you never directly accessed.

DOPSR is also not the thought police. They don't judge your prose. No gold stars for that lingering description of mist rolling down the foothills of the Hindu Kush. They don't care if you're critical of government policy. They're not censoring your opinions. They're checking only one thing: does this reveal classified information that could harm national security? That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

So DOPSR reviews everything. And not just for the military. It’s for FBI, CIA, and other agencies too.

The process works like this. You submit a complete manuscript. They won't review partial drafts or outlines. It needs to be finished. Then they assign reviewers from relevant agencies. Your old command. CIA. NSA. Whoever has equities in your content.

They review. And then review some more. And, you guessed it, review some more.

They check for classified information. Sensitive but unclassified details. Technical specs. Operational procedures. Anything that could reasonably be expected to harm national security.

Then they respond in one of three ways: Approved; Approved with redactions; Denied.

Official guidance says 30 to 60 days. HA! Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh out loud, but that is some serious fairy dust right there. That’s an ideal timeline. The reality is more along the lines of four to six months.

And if you’re right on the edge, expect longer.

And here's the part that kills your precious timelines: you can't publish until you get clearance. Contract deadlines don't matter. No concern for reader expectations. Marketing windows are your problem, not theirs.

You wait. For fiction. For memoirs. For everything.

The Authenticity Trap

Here's where it gets complicated.

Readers want military fiction written by veterans who've been there. Consumers need someone who knows what a firefight feels like. How decisions get made under fire. How PTSD manifests in the quiet moments nobody talks about.

Your military background is your one great advantage. “Written by a Combat Veteran” sells books. It separates you from the researchers who Googled tactical formations and watched a YouTube video to become a certified expert. If truly dedicated, they may have played Call of Duty.

But true authenticity requires detail. And that specificity triggers scrutiny.

Write too authentically and DOPSR might flag it. Even if the same information appears in a dozen published memoirs. “But Tom Clancy did it…” is not an excuse. Tom Clancy was a civilian and his imagination was not the property of the US Government.

The effect is so predictable. Veteran authors self-censor before submission. Cut details they know might raise questions. Some avoid certain topics entirely. Cyber ops. Special ops. I personally avoid a topic too (not telling you what that is BTW). It’s simply too risky because I don’t need the scrutiny.

This leads to the next trap. You’re smart. It’s a big world. I’ll just publish under a pen name without DOPSR review. They’ll never know…

Famous last words.

The Bin Laden Book

Let me tell you why that's a terrible idea.

In 2012, a former Navy SEAL published No Easy Day under the pseudonym Mark Owen. The book detailed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Firsthand account. Combat details. Operational procedures.

Did he submit it to DOPSR? Nope.

The prevailing thought is he believed the pen name would protect him. That he could publish without clearance if nobody knew who he was. For a guy that spent years in intelligence, this was a serious breach of clear thinking. The Pentagon identified him within days.

It was Matt Bissonnette. The guy’s an amazing American war hero and general all-around badass. But Uncle SAM wasn’t impressed.

DOPSR formally reviewed the book after publication and found he'd disclosed classified and sensitive information. The government then pursued civil and criminal action. In the end, Matt forfeited over $6.8 million in book proceeds. All his royalties. Even the speaking fees.

Matt also lost his security clearance. And to some people, this is a very big deal.

He faced potential criminal prosecution, but fortunately, the government ultimately settled. Matt’s doing just fine now, but he’d be the first one to warn you about DOPSR.

And here's the part that should terrify any veteran author: the government didn't just go after him. They went after his publisher, Penguin Random House. For some reason, everyone involved thought the pen name would protect him. On the contrary, that decision made it worse. Because that made it look like he was deliberately trying to evade the prepublication review requirement.

So, when I say don't bypass the system, I'm not being some hysterical handwringer. I'm looking at a case study where a bestselling author lost millions and nearly faced prison time.

Submit your manuscript. Wait it out. Protect yourself on multiple levels.

Yeah, you can try to dodge DOPSR, but that’s a risky strategy. They found a Navy SEAL. They’ll find you too.

Four Months for a Western

I submitted Arctic Fire to DOPSR thinking I would get it back quickly. Why not? The novel’s fiction. It’s set in Alaska. The whole story was about land conflict, corporate corruption, and a Marine veteran dealing with PTSD.

No classified programs. No tactical secrets about caribou. No intelligence sources. Just a veteran fighting an oil company over disputed land.

It took almost four months to get approved for public release. No redactions. Thank God. Was the review necessary? DOPSR thought so. And now I’m clear.

But four months is a long time to sit with your thoughts. I wondered if I'd inadvertently included something classified and didn't realize it. Wondered if four months would become six. Or eight.

That's the system for veterans. You have to plan your entire writing career around timelines you can't control.

What Eye of the Caldera Required

I’ve submitted Eye of the Caldera for DOPSR review. It’s a historical thriller set in the Philippines in June 1991 during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and Clark Air Base evacuation.

Here's what the submission demanded:

First, the header. Author information. Name, rank, service branch, last unit, contact details. Document information. Title, format, anticipated publication date, venue. Then the formal request for review.

That's before I even get to the actual manuscript.

Then comes documentation. For my current fictional story, I used nine separate sources.

A CIA memoir that went through DOPSR review in 2022. I drew inspiration from a mission described in that book. I have no additional knowledge beyond what was publicly cleared. But I still had to declare it. I also had to make it clear I was not basing a character on a real person.

Operation MIAS. This was a 1990s program where CIA bought back missiles from the Afghan Mujahideen. Reported in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune in 1993. Public information. Documented.

Two official Air Force history books about the Clark evacuation. Both published by Air Force History and Museums Program. Public documents. Cited.

USGS volcanic reports. Over 1,100 pages on Mt. Pinatubo. Public. Documented.

YouTube videos showing MH-53 training modules. Posted by the Marine Corps. Cited.

Defense Technical Information Center documents on helicopter specifications. Publicly available. You get it - cited.

Nine sources. Detailed documentation. For a work of fiction inspired by events described in publicly available materials.

Then I had to certify my own compliance. That's the process as I know it.

What Every Veteran Author Needs to Know

If you held a clearance and you want to write, here's what you're facing.

First, the obligation is lifetime. Doesn't matter if you've been out for two or twenty years. Still binding.

Second, everything requires review. Fiction. Memoirs. Heck, even a cookbook could require it. Though, I do hope they would just clear that without review. This does happen occasionally.

Third, start early. Submit complete manuscripts as soon as you finish them. Don't wait until you have a deadline. The review timeline is the review timeline. Build it into your planning.

Fourth, document your sources thoroughly. If you're using publicly available information, cite it in your submission. It makes the reviewers' job easier and frankly speeds up the process.

Fifth, be patient. Three to four months is normal. Six isn't unusual if you are writing about combat tactics or real-world missions. Don't expect exceptions. Don't expect expedited review because you have a book launch scheduled.

Sixth, don't bypass the system. Publishing without DOPSR clearance is bad planning.

Seventh (and final), if you already published something before learning about DOPSR: don't panic. Take a breath. Review what you published and make a determination. It's likely not as bad as you think. But now that you've bitten into the forbidden fruit of knowledge, you must submit future work. Consider consulting with DOPSR or a military lawyer if you're concerned.

Worth the Wait

So, is it worth it? The delays. The uncertainty. The endless documentation. The knowledge that every word you write might get flagged for reasons you don't fully understand.

Yep. Because readers know the difference between researched and lived military fiction. They can tell when an author has been there.

DOPSR isn't the enemy. They are pleasant and responsive in every interaction I have ever had with them. Their clearance is just the cost of doing business as a veteran author. A toll booth on the road to authentic military storytelling. I pay my two bits then wait in the DMV queue because I love my country and don’t want to aid our real enemies.

Eventually I get my clearance.

Civilian authors don't face this. They research for a while. Then write. A few months of editing. Then they publish. It’s almost too easy.

Who would want the publishing process to be easy? The price of authenticity is time. And I've got plenty of experience in patience – I worked for the government.

Note: This post described publicly available DOPSR prepublication review process based on my personal experience and information from DOPSR's official website. This is not legal advice. Consult DOPSR directly or speak with a military lawyer should you have specific questions. I’m not an expert. I merely play one on TV.