ORGANIZATION AND DELINEATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES PROJECT OILSTONE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00326R000300160009-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 28, 2003
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: August 2, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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2 August 1955
1. General direction and control of the Project shall be exercised
jointly by the Director of Central Intelligence and the Chief of Staff, USAF,
subject to guidance from higher authority and coordination with other
departments of the Government as appropriate. They shall furnish policy
guidance to lower echelons, ensure the conformity of operations under
this Project with national policy, and make recommendations to higher
authority on matters transcending their own authority. Further, it shall
be their joint responsibility to resolve differences that may arise at lower
staff and operating levels.
2. The followi ng are the organizational elements which shall be
responsible for the conduct of the Project:
a. There is in existence a Project Headquarters, headed by
a CIA Project Director to which an Air Force Officer will be assigned to
serve as Deputy Project Director. The Project Headquarters will establish
operational units, stationed at bases overseas after the completion of
training in the ZI. These operational units will be manned by USAF and
CIA personnel in numbers, proportions and skills as agreed between the
Project Director and the Air Force Project Officer.
b. All military personnel assigned for full-time duty to the
project for duty under CIA direction on permanent status shall be carried
on the rolls of a newly activated support squadron in accordance with
current procedures. The Air Force Deputy to the CIA Project Director
will command this administrative squadron.
c. There will be established an Air Force Project Staff
headed by a Project Officer who will act in the name of the Chief of Staff,
USAF. The Project Staff will include selected officers designated by
certain of the Deputy Chiefs of Staff to act as points of contact within their
several offices.
USAF review(s)
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d. The Commander, SAC, will form a new subordinate head-
quarters to be manned by him from resources available to him through
which he will participate in the Project. He will also establish a support
unit for each operational unit established by the Project Headquarters.
Support units will be controlled by him through the commander of his
subordinate headquarters and will perform support functions as required
by the Project Headquarters and agreed by Commander, SAC, or the
Chief of Staff, USAF.
3. The functions and responsibilities of these elements will be
as follows:
a. The CIA Project Director and the Air Force Project
Officer shall have primary responsibility for the development and execution
of all activities concerning the Project within their own organizations; the
resolution of differences that may arise at lower echelons; and the reporting
of progress and the making of recommendations to their respective chiefs.
b. The Project Headquarters will be responsible for any
continued research and development, operational planning, and the direction
and control of operations in the final phase of the Project when overflights
are being launched from bases overseas.
c. The Air Force Project Staff shall be responsible for
implementing plans approved by the CIA Project Director and the Air Force
Project Officer and arranging for Air Force support of Project activities
which can appropriately be furnished through staff channels or by commands
other than SAC.
d. Commander, SAC, will be assigned primary responsibility
for providing and coordinating Air Force support of the Project, including
training, through the subordinate headquarters to be formed by him.
Requirements for certain types of personnel and equipment not under his
control will be stated to Headquarters, USAF (the Air Force Project Officer)
and will be met from other resources.
4. Activities under this Project fall into three phases. These
overlap one another in time but may be distinguished on the basis of the
kinds of activities involved in each. The following are the specific authorities
and responsibilities of the several organizational elements in the successive
phases of the Project.
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a. The first phase, now well advanced, is that in which the
major activities are research and development, procurement, the construc-
tion and activation of a test and training base, the testing of equipment, and
operational planning. The Project Director shall have control of these
activities including the planning and recruiting of personnel under his
control. The Air Force will furnish necessary support which will be a
matter for agreement between the Project Director and the Project Officer.
Full and complete coordination of all Air Force elements during this phase
is essential.
b. The second phase will be devoted to training, the shake-
down of equipment, and deployment overseas. These activities will be
carried on mainly at the test and training base. Commander, SAC, through
his subordinate headquarters, will (1) direct and supervise the training of
operational units, (2) provide and coordinate Air Force support of the
Project, and (3) arrange for the deployment of operational units overseas
for the initiation of the final phase. In the light of these responsibilities
Commander, SAC, will be kept fully informed of operational plans, through
his subordinate headquarters. Phase II terminates with the decision that
crews and equipment are operationally ready and in place at overseas bases.
During Phase II the line of command on matters concerning the scale and
character of training, Air Force support, and the mechanics of deployment
shall be from the Chief of Staff, USAF, through the Commander, SAC,
and his subordinate headquarters.
c. The third phase will be that of active operations from
overseas bases. This phase follows the decision as to operational readiness.
In this third phase, the final decision as to execution and timing of actual
overflight missions shall rest with the Project Director, subject to such
guidance as he may receive from higher authority. The line of command
shall be direct between operational units and the Project Director. Each
operational unit will continue to be dependent upon its corresponding SAC
support unit.
APPROVED FOR USAF: APPROVED FOR CIA:
/ s / N. F. Twining / s / Allen W. Dulles
Date: 3 August 1955 Date: 4 August 1955
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