The Department of Defense is steward to tens of thousands of historic buildings, archeological sites, and Native American sacred sites within the United States, which must be protected as a matter of law.

Outside the United States, protecting historical and cultural sites and monuments while operating in-theater is also required under the laws of nearly every host country in which U.S. forces operate, as well as international laws and treaties to which the United States is a state party.

U.S. Military doctrine requires all personnel who serve in uniform and all contractors who work for DOD to respect and safeguard cultural property while operating on military lands within the U.S. and during operations outside the U.S.

All personnel should be familiar with the following DOD and NATO regulations, directives and instructions:

General Orders:

• For CENTCOM personnel and contractors, General Order 1B (GO-1B) (issued March 13, 2006), All DoD personnel who serve within CENTCOM AOR are required to follow the specific instructions for respecting archaeological, historical and religious sites, monuments and other immoveable and moveable property contained in GO-1B.  
• GO-1B was also issued July 14, 2010 to all United States Air Force personnel assigned or attached for duty to Units within USCENTOM.

DoD Environmental Regulations:

• Regulation 200-2, USCENTCOM Contingency Environmental Guidance  apply within USCENTOM AOR.
• U.S. Army Regulation 200-1; (December 13, 2007) Environmental Protection and Enhancement

DoD Directives, Instructions and Guidelines:

• DOD Law of War Program Directive 2311.01E (9 May 2006);
• DoD Directive 3000.05 (“Stability Operations”) (September 16, 2009) ;
• DoD Instruction 4715.5 (“Management of Environmental Compliance at Overseas Installations”) (April 22, 1996);
• OEBGD: The Overseas Environmental Baseline Guidance Document, (May 1, 2007) issued by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics;
• OCOCUS Compliance Assessment Protocols — OEBGD (Air Force and Marine Corps Version) (June 2010) published by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.
• U.S. Army GTA 41-01-002  (“Civil Affairs Arts, Monuments and Archives Guide”) (August 2009)

For all personnel within the NORTHCOM AOR:

• DOD American Indian and Alaska Native Policy and DOD American Indian and Alaska Native Policy Memo.

For NATO Operations:

• STANAG 7141 (Edition 5) (December 26, 2008): (“Joint NATO Doctrine for environmental protection during NATO-led military activities“); and
• Annex J of AJEPP-2 (August, 2011) “Allied Joint Environmental Protection Publication: Best Environmental Protection Practices for Military Compounds in NATO Operations“) (Annex J: “Cultural and Historical Resource Management”).