CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. - The external hard drive containing personal information on over 32,000 current and former Arkansas Guardsmen that was reported missing on February 22 has now been recovered and destroyed.

The drive was reported missing by an Arkansas Soldier who used the device as a personal backup of his work related information.  This included a copy of the Guard's personnel database which contained personal information on all Soldiers who have served in the Arkansas Army National Guard since 1991.

The drive was found at the home of one of the Soldier's family members in Virginia where the Soldier had visited while on temporary duty in the area. Upon confirmation that the device was the actual hard drive in question, it was turned in to the Guard's Directorate of Information Management at Camp Robinson where it was destroyed on Friday, May 15.

This inappropriate handling of our Soldiers' personal information is an isolated incident.  The Arkansas Guard is continually working to prevent access to such sensitive information through heightened security on government systems available for use by Guard personnel.