COMPARTMENTATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2009
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: August 23, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

Ml
Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
VIA: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
FROM: John P. Blake
Deputy Director for Administration
SUBJECT: Compartmentation
Y1. Action Requested: None; for your information
only. I have revsew your memorandum on this subject and will
attempt to provide you with a perspective on where we now
appear to stand in the compartmentation arena.
2. Background: Mary Gentile commented, in effect,
that there re too many cooks stirring the compartmentation
pot and that we suffered from a lack of central management and
common standards. He focused on the fact that collectors, with
their own vested interests, were establishing compartments and
writing their own implementation rules. In the past year we
have seen two steps that, hopefully, will take us a long way
toward regularizing that situation. In June 1978 DCID 1/19
established uniform procedures for the handling of Sensitive
Compartmented Information (SCI). Secondly, a proposed DCID on
compartmentation is currently being floated with the NFIB
members. When passed it will, in keeping with your desires,
establish the DCI Security Committee as the "honest broker" who
can recommend to you when compartments should be created, con-
tinued or closed out.
3. 0 Executive Order 12065 decrees that all special
access programs which involve sources and methods must be
approved in writing by you. Benchmarks which must be satisfied
to qualify for compartmentation status include: a) the normal
management and safeguarding procedures are not sufficient to
limit need-to-know or access, b) the number of persons who will
need access will be reasonably small and commensurate with the
objective of providing extra protection for the information
involved, and c) the special access controls balance the need to
Clt-_'a ..
Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
 Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
protect the information against the full spectrum of needs
to use the information. All such programs must be reviewed
regularly and will automatically terminate in five years --
unless fully rejustified. Additionally, all extant special
access programs must be revalidated prior to .1 June 1979.
4. =The DCI Security Committee has an initiative
underway with its current review of the,NRP Compartmentation
Review. This review, just getting off the ground, will, of
course, review the General Tighe concern over use of BYEMANN
project names in the TX world, but will use this exercise as
its first attempt to revalidate BYBMM projects and the system
itself as special access programs, using as a baseline the
standards imposed by the Executive Order.
S. 0 Additionally, the DCI Security Committee has
received recent confirmation from Collection Tasking that they
are ready to start the dialogue on determining what space
project can be decompartmented. As we develop what SIGINT and
COMIREX feel can be taken out from special system protection
we would propose to confer with intelligence consumers to test
the adequacy and completeness of the committees' judgments. We
believe the resultant product of this joint effort will help to
satisfy the balance required of customer needs versus collection
sensitivities, fulfill the charge of Presidential Directive-37
to selectively relax space product controls and, as a bonus,
lay firm foundations for the later revalidation program of the
COMINT and TALENT-KEYHOLE special access programs.
6. You also noted that you hoped that rules would be
established to ensure that you are kept posted of bigot lists.
We are preparing a memorandum on the subject of bigot lists for
you as a result of our review of the DDO "Blue Border" documents.
In it you will find that we argue for compartmentation only for
sensitive activities which involve a relatively greater volume'
of activity and personnel. The point expressed is that, if any
activity is quite small and highly sensitive, it can be provided
better protection through a bigot list than by formally compart-
menting it. In those cases we believe security is better served
if the activity manager, whether it be the DDO, CI Staff, or a
Department of Defense entity, deals directly with you on the
management of the bigot list approach with no centralized system
TIAL
Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
 Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
management or list of cleared personnel being maintained by
the DCI Security Committee or Office of Security/Compartmented
Information Branch. An instruction will be prepared indi-
cating your interest in personally monitoring "bigot list"
activity.
,John F. Blake
Distribution:
Original - DCI
l - DDCI
1 - ER
Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
 Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6
Compartmentation
John F. Blake
Deputy Director for
Administration
7D 24 Hqs
23 August 1978
Deputy Director of
Central Intelligence
7D 6011 Hqs
To 3;.-
Stan:,
Recent events tend to
have overtaken parts of the
Director of Central attached memorandum on
Intelligence "Compartmentation." The
7D 5607 Hqs conversation you and I had on
this issue on Wednesday,
23 August, is one of those
events. I do believe, however,
it is worth your time to read
this document.
John F. Blake
Att:
DDA 73-3216/1
Distribution:
Orig RS - DCI
1 - DDCI
_,,k' - ER
I - DDA
Approved For Release 2009/09/09: CIA-RDP05T00644R000601680026-6