Restructuring of the National Intelligence Survey (NIS) Program

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-05597A000100030031-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 1998
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: May 19, 1972
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2001/07/30: CIA-RDP78-05597A000100030i2 tl hment
USIB -D-51. 1/20
19 May 1972
MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
SUBJECT Restructuring of the National Intelligence Survey
(NIS) Program
REFERENCE: USIB-D-51. 1/8, 28 August 1963
1. The NIS Committee recommends that publication of topical
detailed sections be discontinued as part of the NIS Program and that
emphasis and remaining resources be directed toward production of
a restructured General Survey, expanded on a selective basis by
inclusion of some of the more broadly useful material from the
detailed sections.
Rationale
2. Gradual attrition of the detailed sections over the years has
produced a melange of topical coverage (see attachment). Shifting
requirements for basic intelligence, a more realistic appraisal of
what the NIS Program can achieve, and dwindling resources have each
played a role in eroding the original program concept of worldwide,
up-to-date, and well-integrated topical coverage. Discontinuance of
topics was in each case agreed to only after careful consideration of
identifiable user requirements and priorities and a review of the avail-
ability of alternative coverage. It is now evident that the cumulative
effect of the attrition is a program shaped more by the series of
resource cutbacks imposed over the years than by the process of
restructuring the program to better meet changing priorities and
requirements.
3. Budget and manpower reductions for FY 73 require still
deeper cuts in the NIS Program. However, the NIS Committee believes
that what remains can best be made to meet important needs of the
national security community by placing full emphasis on production of
a coordinated, high-quality, and broadly based General Survey. During
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USIB-D-51. 1/20
19 May 1972
early 1972, the proposal submitted in this memorandum was subjected
to extensive field comment, which indicated that loss of detailed
coverage would be felt adversely by a number of specific Army, Navy,
and Air Force commands. On balance, however, the Committee be-
lieves that concentration on the production, structure, and organization
of the new General Survey would utilize the remaining resources better
than the present disparate program and, in addition, would retain the
interagency framework needed to meet any future requirements for an
expanded national basic intelligence effort.
Plan
6. Programmed production of the topical detailed sections would
be discontinued by the end of FY 72.
7. The General Survey, slightly expanded and restructured in a
bound-by-chapter format, would become the body of the program. In
addition to providing greater efficiency and flexibility in maintenance,
the new format will enable the NIS to incorporate into the appropriate
chapters -- or as separate annexes -- some of the more widely useful
data now contained in the detailed sections. This will apply particularly
to DoD-produced information. Production of the General Surveys will
be guided primarily by the priority areas and subjects specified in
DCID 1/2.
8. The Basic Intelligence Factbook would continue to be published
semiannually in both the classified and unclassified versions.
9. The detailed section on oceanography would be continued for
another year pending the completion of an assessment of interagency
requirements in this field.
Impact
10. The plan would reduce the number of production units by
about 25% from FY 72 levels and would reduce significantly resources
required for the overall NIS Program. The expected savings have been
anticipated in the reduction in NIS resources programmed for FY 73.
-2-
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_, s ,Of' USIB-D-51. 1/20
19 May 1972
11. The NIS Committee invites the Board's attention to the
concomitant reduction in departmentally published basic intelligence
formerly available to supplement the NIS. In some cases, the losses
sustained have impinged on the same geographic and subject areas as
those affected by reductions in the NIS Program. The necessary con-
centration of community effort on certain priority areas and topics, as
a direct consequence of manpower and budget cuts, is certain to reduce
community research capabilities and production on areas considered
to be of lower priority, for example, Latin America and Africa south
of the Sahara.
Action Requested
12. The NIS Committee requests that USIB approve the plan to
discontinue production of NIS topical detailed sections by the end of
FY 72 and to integrate on a selective basis broadly useful. material
from those sections, as appropriate, into the new General Survey.
25X1A9a
Chairman, NIS Committee
Attachment:
Attrition of NIS Detailed Sections
18 May 1972
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Introduction
Military Geogr. Regions
Coasts & Landing Beaches
Weather & Climate
Topography
Urban Areas
Introduction
Railroads
Highways
Inland Waterways
Ports & Naval Facilities
Merchant Marine
Civil Air
Telecommunications
Introduction
Population
Character. of the People
Relig., Educ., Pub. Info
Manpower
Health & Sanitation
Welfare
Introduction
Constitutional System
Structure of the Govt
Political Dynamics
Public Order & Safety
National Policies
Intelligence & Security
Subversion & Insurgency
Propaganda
Key Personalities
Introduction
Agr., Fisheries, Forestry
Fuels & Power
Minerals & Metals
Manufacturing & Construction
Trade & Finance
Introduction
Electronics
Air, Ground, Naval Weapons
Atomic Energy
Biological Warfare
Chemical Warfare
Phy. Sci., Math., Medicine
Introduction
Ground Forces
Naval Forces
Air Forces
Ports & Naval Facilities
Coasts & Landing Beaches
Telecommunications
Petroleum
Communism
Marine Climate
Oceanography
Effects of Climate & Ocean
Stra its
ATTRITION OF NIS DETAILED SECTIONS
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RNS 80
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N IX
.Supp. I
:Supp.
:I :Supp.
..::.Pp: I.:;
?Supp. IV
?:;Supp. VI.
~108
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