EDUCATION PROGRAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T00644R000401310008-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2009
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: May 1, 1980
• Content Type: MEMO

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CONFIDENTIAL
1 May 1980
MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR
SUBJECT: Education Program
Kelly as you suggested. We talked
1, I discussed this with Barry
for more than an hour, primarily becauslof his interest. r esproble His reaction
grasped
was positive and enthusiastic. He quicky
as having ideas on how they could be overcome.
2. Specifically, the points he made were:
? The leanness of the Agency, especially in the areas where
the best people are to be found (for faculty as well as
students) mitigates against being able to do this easily.
It should be a basi~hatsth?siwon~tahavertoncomecoutiofshide.
would be raised so
That could be a fatal objection over time.
? This idea must come out or itewilltnottsurvivetyou~utenurenot.
be imposed by S. Turner
How do you do this?
--Convene a special subc~nswering toetheeExCometoolooktat
or a special task force
the idea and make to more.thanv10t14
a clear concept paper to
days to report back.
--If they are for it, they should be able to sell it to the
ExCom.
--Then let the ExCom set the Program up. Key will be selling
it to John McMahon. But, as John and ta heiDO belieferinto
training/education and are be more
get their good people to schools, John may
receptive than the others.
? Directorates should be given a strong voice in the curriculum
as it is developed and afterwards.
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
? CT level needs as much time spent on product as anyone.
Don't assume because they are far removed from the final
product that they don't need to understand it. They must
understand why they are doing what they are doing, therefore,
they must understand the product. Most professionals
understand what they are doing, few at any level understand
war.
? Must tie educational program to career enhancement. There
should be a requirement developed concurrently and phased
in as quickly as possible that before promotion to certain
grade levels, you must attend the course. Before you run
a Class A station, for example, you must have been through
the course to demonstrate you understand the IC, how it works,
and can represent the DCI adequately. This understanding
should not now be assumed because often it does not exist.
? Be sure to include some fundamentals. Every intelligence
professional needs to understand cryptography, weapon systems,
etc., at least to the level of knowing what aspects of them
are important; what aspects are/can be destabilizing, etc.
A building at Langiey
would be best.
? Above all, the institution must see it as something they
want to do. The Deputy Directors must be enthusiastically
in favor of it. The only way that will happen is if it is
an absolutely first-class operation, totally divorced from
the stigma that training/OTR/extant courses now have.
3. Recommend. Attached is a Concept Paper. After Jack, Bob and
I meet Friday, - w 11 have a good general curriculum to append to the
Concept Paper. I recommend that you table it at the next ExCom meeting,
recommend it be looked at by a special committee and that they report
back to the ExCom in 10 days. I'd make Barry Kelly chairman of that
committee and let him pick the other members--I think he'll give it a
fair look and pick a like-minded committee. If it flies, and you want
to take it any further, Barry will have been in on the ground floor.
Attachment:
Concept Paper
2
CONFIDENTIAL
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GT - 30 April 1980
Education
for
Professional Intelligence Officers
I. Proposal. That a program of education be developed which would
provide the professional intelligence officer the opportunity for
substantial intellectual growth at the three major career thresholds
where the scope and nature of responsibilities change: on entering
the intelligence service, at mid-career and on promotion to
supergrade.
II. Discussion. At each of the three major career thresholds, the
intelligence professional faces greater and substantially different
responsibilities. Often these responsibilities demand a comprehensive
understanding of areas and relationships beyond the individual's
personal experience. For example, the new intelligence officer must
learn fundamental skills which are unique to the intelligence
profession. Early years are spent mastering those skills. As one
approaches mid-career, however, understanding how the parts of the
intelligence effort fit together, how to manage larger budgets and
more people, and how to develop as well as carry out requirements
become more important. At supergrade, the professional's responsi-
bilities often span the Agency, or even the entire Community.
Performance and potential for further advancement are largely
functions of how well these career transitions to new and different
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responsibilities are made. It can be left to the individual to
adjust as best he can as he progresses, or we can help him acquire
the understandings and capabilities needed to fully realize his
potential. The latter seems preferable if it can be done well.
Many training courses exist to help the professional. But here
a clear distinction must be made between training, which is
specialized instruction or practice; and education, which is the
growth of knowledge, wisdom, and qualities of the mind or character.
The program being proposed here would educate, not train.
III. Curriculum Concept. The curriculum at all three levels would
consist of the same four building blocks:
*The Product
*Collection
*Analysis
*Management
The course content and emphasis would differ as dictated by need
and sophistication for the CT, the mid-careerist and the supergrade,
but the blocks would be taught in the above sequence for all three.
The advantage of starting instruction by considering the product,
is that all intelligence work has as its ultimate objective, the
product. If the product, and the product's consumer are well
understood first, then collection, analysis and management can be
discussed from that perspective. Once all aspects of the intelligence
process are covered, management can consider their competing require-
ments.
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The contents of each block of study will be developed by the
faculty with the close cooperation of the deputy directors.
See Appendix A for a more detailed curriculum.
IV. Course Philosophy. The program will be rigorous, demanding and
fast-paced. Class time will not be spent for the transfer of
information which can be accomplished more effectively in readings,
research and private study. The onus will be on the student to
master the course materials on his own initiative. The faculty
will guide the student in his research, stimulate him in discussions,
help him to apply what he is learning to new situations, and assess
his progress. There will be no guarantee of successful completion.
However, successful completion will count heavily (degree to be
determined) in future promotion and assignment.
V. The Faculty. The Program will be taught largely by a dedicated,
resident faculty which the Program Director will assemble. Those
selected for the faculty will meet, at a minimum, the following
qualifications:
*recognized by seniors and peers for exceptional professional
competence
*substantial, recent field experience
*potential for considerable future advancement
*ability to inspire and teach.
VI. Students.
A. CT's. All CT's will be enrolled in the Program.
B. Mid-career and Supergrade. Top 20% as rated by promotion
panels/fitness reports.
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VII. Length of Program. Six months.
VIII. Location. Except for tradecraft portions of the CT program, a
campus would be established at Langley adjacent to the Headquarters
Building. Until monies were allocated for a permanent building,
classroom trailers would be aggregated to form a nucleus educational
complex. Locating the school at Langley is especially important to
simplify access to library and other
sources, family, logistics, etc.
IX. Relationship to OTR. Initially, the Director and faculty would
constitute a separate and special entity not coming under the auspices
or direction of OTR. The Career Trainee Program, Mid-Career Course and
Senior Seminar would be absorbed into this Program.
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