Disclaimer for teaching, speaking, and writing in a personal capacity related to official duties.
5 C.F.R. § 3601.105
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01An employee who uses or permits the use of his or her military rank or who includes or permits the inclusion of his or her title or position as one of several biographical details given to identify himself or herself in connection with teaching, speaking, or writing, in accordance with 5 CFR 2635.807(b), must make a disclaimer if the subject of the teaching, speaking, or writing deals in significant part with any ongoing or announced policy, program, or operation of the employee's agency, as defined in § 3601.102, and the employee has not been authorized by appropriate agency authority to present that material as the agency's position. The disclaimer must be made as follows:
(a) The required disclaimer must expressly state that the views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.
(b) When a disclaimer is required for an article, book, or other writing, the disclaimer will be printed in a reasonably prominent position in the writing itself.
(c) When a disclaimer is required for a speech or other oral presentation, the disclaimer may be given orally provided it is given at the beginning of the oral presentation.
Example 1 to § 3601.105 [Disclaimer Required]: An employee is asked to provide unpaid personal remarks at a local university on a DoD matter she handled in the past year. As part of her introduction, the university facilitator identifies the employee by her official title. Since the subject matter of her speech is related to her official duties, and her official title is used, she must provide a reasonably prominent disclaimer at the beginning of her remarks.
Example 2 to § 3601.105 [Disclaimer Not Required]: An employee is invited in his personal capacity to speak at his alma mater on Career Day about his personal experiences as a Government employee, but will not discuss the ongoing or announced policy, program, or operation of his agency. The introduction to his talk only mentions that he is a graduate of the school and currently a “DoD employee,” but does not use his official title, rank, or position. No disclaimer would be necessary because the introduction to the employee's speech did not include his official title or position and the subject of the speech does not deal in significant part with any ongoing or announced policy, program or operation of the relevant DoD agency.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-5.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026