THE ' FLAP HOUSE' SETUP FOR MEETING A CRISIS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400060001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 18, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

By ENDRE MARTON
Aeeocieted Preen etRK Writer -
tacked by secessionists. ?`. , :. ;.;j center to write a top-secret sum- a 'Wherb: thel^~can conce'ntrate' on,.
',,The center, Hoffacker explains mary which is on Rusk's desk the main'' problem,, without being
4. U
ryps ehrly, .every, morning. Every shift diatutbeo by incominj; telephone
Includes an editol', an", official re cailr4 tir#''viattor R'% },5.,- l~~g
CPYRGHT
eflng'a Crisis
lag or potential crises.
Second, when a crisis develops,
it assembles everyone in the ad-
ministration working on the crisis
situation, forming what is gener-
ally termed a "Task Force. " The
center shelters the group as long
as the crisis lasts, feeds it with
every bit of 'information on the
situation, and protects its members
from distractions.
Helps Policy Makers
The center Is not a policy-making
organ, but provides a well-oiled
machanism to help the policy
makers particularly In situations
when speed Is of utmost impor-
tance.
Normally only important mes-
sages come to the center, but in
a crisis, when a task force is
quartered in the center, all mes-
sages related to the crisis are
channelled to the force.
A "flash" message from ad over-
seas post is simultaneously trans-
mitted to the situation room of the
White House, the military com-
mand center of the Pentagon, and
the Central Intelligence Agency.
Vice versa, whenever the Defense
Department or the intelligence
community receives an urgent
message from its sources, that is
automatically relayed to the opera.
tion center.
In addition to machines virtually.
flooding the center with decoded
messages from abroad other ma-
chiges provide Hoffacker and his
staff with news reports.
Writes Daily Report
pnere are several '"secure phones" ''
A the center which ''scrambie"r
. oflyersattons~w.,:t"i`i~rl~"aiq~~ryt:,nr~'`/;
ponsibie for this summary.
There are three extra telephones ., `
n Hoffacker's desk: A white one w COhti
3:30 one morning, the c
, At
phone rang at the bedside di Sec
retary of State Rusk.
The man who called was th
watch officer in charge of the nigh
shift at the State Department'
Operation Center. He informe
Rusk about a military revel
gainst Gen. Nguyen Khanh, the
South Viet Nam's military corn
mander.
The watch officer, who has t
make the delicate decision whethe
to wake up husk, is the hea
of a five-man team which man
'the'center on the seventh floor o
the State Department. Three sue
teams operate around the clock
and one member of each Is fro
the Pentagon, either a colonel o
9 lieutenant colonel.
"Speed Is our Bible." said Lewi
Hoffacker, director of the "Fla
House," as the center is some
times called. Others like to spec
i about the State Department'
"Rumpus Room."
Set Up by Kennedy
After the Bay of Pigs disaste
President Kennedy ordered thi
.new instrument set tip for use a
a time of crisis. Since then,
Viet Nam, in the Congo, In Berli
and, more recently, in the Domin
glean Republic, the now facility ha
been put to good use.
Hoffacker himself Is everythlnl
'.but secretive. The 32-year-old ca
,reer diplomat established his tam
as a consul in Elisabethville in th
'Congo in 1961, when he risked hi
t
PYRGHT ' onnecting him with the White-'1
.Sanitized -". Ap'p'roved For Release, CIA.-RDP75-00149ROO.0400060001-4
There are also pneumatic tubeg
to Rusk's office and other impor-
ant.bureaus at the State Depart.
ment to speed urgent messages.
In one room there is a screen on
undersecretary George W. B?aiI'Gse
this screen to ;"converse" with'{
American envoys abroad, 'An es-
peciallyconvenient and secure way
of conversation In crisis situations.1
when the State Department Is not
satisfied with receiving messages
but has questions to ask end ex=,l
pests immediate replies,
Form Task Force lY
In case of a real crisis which
Is expected to last longer than a
few hours or days, everyone who
has to 'deal with It' moves to the S
center, 'bringing with him all the
background material ndeded--and I
probably does not leave it before
the crisis is over. These men form
the task force. ' ; ,
The advantages are obvious,
Hoffacker explains. All experts,
selected usually from a number!t
of offices, including agencies out=1
side the State Department, are:i
concentrated In one place, mean-
ing: .
? That they get the latest mes-,+
ages immediately, and simultane-
usly.
? That they are together and can,
e.xchonge views without having,
? That they are in a "secure" I
place, divorced from their' regu-
or duties
where nobody can both-
,
er them. and where, they can e( I
their documents be strewn' arnund'F,
C,PY'RGHT
',14