COURSE REPORT - CHIEFS OF STATION SEMINAR NO. 1 30 NOVEMBER - 18 DECEMBER 1964

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-05795A000400030016-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2001
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: January 8, 1965
• Content Type: MEMO

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8 January 1965
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Training
THROUGH : Chief, Operations School
SUBJECT : Course Report - Chiefs of Station Seminar No. 1
30 November - 18 December 1964
1. The first running of the Chiefs of Station Seminar was given
from 30 Novembe*a w h 18 December 1964, half days except for one
25X1A6b full weekend at and with two days of Open End on 21 and 22
December. The , in Room 1A-07, Headquarters Building, con-
sisted of fourteen officers, nine of whom were scheduled for early
field assi nments: five as COS, three as DCOS, and the other as Chief
25X1A6a of support (see roster, Attachment A). Four had previously
held jobs as either COS or DCOS, and three as COB. Two of the class
25X1A9a had just completed the National
Seminar.
Interdepartmental
2. Since this was the first running, the course was inevitably
a little tentative, not so much in its basic objective (to teach an
outgoing COS what he ought to know) as in the detailed way this objec-
tive should be bodied forth. Most generally, the choice had to be
made between (a) setting up a super Senior Operations Course, and (b)
focusing upon the managerial, policy, coordination, and representa-
tional aspects of the COS job. This is not a matter of inclusion/
exclusion but of emphasis, since neither general range of responsi-
bility can realistically be excluded. In effect, the operational
aspect was the less emphasized and was presented mainly through case
histories, rather than in any effort to propound doctrine or teach
techniques. The detailed course objectives as they appear in the OTR
Bulletin announcement indicate this choice:
a. Formation of U.S. policy and how it affects the Chief
of Station.
b. Problems of relationship among U.S. government agencies
in Washington and in the field.
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c. Support and direction of stations and demands upon
stations from Headquarters desks and staffs.
d. Management of station operations and personnel.
e. The Chief of Station and his handling of station
administration.
f. The Chief of Station as representative of all the
Agency.
g. How the station's product fits into Agency and
intelligence community requirements and patterns of use.
Even with the operational side thus soft-pedaled, what remained was
a very large order for covering in a total period of only some 76 hours.
3. The basic reasoning on the basis of which we decided to
accentuate the policy/administrative and skim over the operational
was as follows: (a) Nobody is likely to become'a COS nowadays
unless he has at least some operational skills, whether these have
accumulated through experience or were originally gained through
training. (b) Operational training, if conducted at all, had better
be conducted intensively, and that meant more time than we could
conceivabl t iven the parameters we inherited from the
predecesso (c) If sen~,gXlA
officers n ourses (and very
likely many of them do), they should get them in other courses more
directly responsive to their particular needs: Either a specific
course in some area of operations, such as covert action or counter-
intelligence, or a general across-the-board refresher such as the
Advanced Operations Seminar due to be run for the first time starting
11 January 1965. (d) A questionnaire we used to find out how COS's
spend their time and what they worried over most disclosed that the
managerial side of things (including management of operations and
processing the product of operations) far outweighed any range of
activities involving personal operational skills.
4. The course was carried on through a combination of individual
speakers and panels of various sizes. The difficulties of maintaining
any sort of rational continuity while relying upon a succession of
invited speakers, all busy men with many overwhelming preoccupations,
were especially formidable in this first running, simply because we
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did not have enough lead-time to let us fiddle around with the schedule
extensively. This should be easier in later runnings, though the prob-
lem of the speaker who suddenly fades out because he has to recruit a
classmate in Timbuktu or brief the President on his very own revolution
can never be altogether resolved, let alone that of the willing and
stable fellow who just gets sick.
5. Participation by leading officers of the Agency was exemplary.
The DD/P gave the course a resounding classified advertisement in his
weekly staff meeting, and he gave the final session of the course. The
ADD/P gave the first day's feature presentation; the DD/I talked for a
fascinating hour and a half; five division and two office chiefs gave
presentations themselves, sometimes sharing the podium with lesser
lights; and at least twenty-two former COS's addressed the group at
one time or another. In addition, we had fine cooperation from outside
the Agency, hearing from Ambassador Sam Berger, now on the faculty of
the National War College; Dr. Charles Burton Marshall, formerly of the
State Department's Policy Planning Staff and now with the Washington
Center for Foreign Policy Research; Mr. Dick Sanger of the State
Department and the National Interdepartmental Seminar; and Mr. George
Carroll of the Defense Department. Finally, Mr. A9a
Deputy Director of Training, monitored practically the entire course,
giving us a ready reservoir of remarkably varied experience to call
upon as necessary during question periods, and especially during the
intensive weekend down at which incidentally was a great
success.
6. Since this was the first running, all participants were
sworn in as Honorary Deputies in the OTR posse and the course had an
elaborate critique system. Daily critiques were submitted, and these
were Xeroxed every day and passed back to be used as refresher material
when the Final Critiques were written. On the basis of these, as well
as discussions with several participants, the course is going to be
revamped in considerable detail as well as in certain aspects of its
basic structure. The course schedule is Attachment B.
7. Members of the course were also adjured to keep their eyes
open for any points of doctrine or any other suggestions for the
Clandestine Services that might emerge from the class discussions.
Several did, and these are listed in Attachment C.
8. Judging from the final critiques, the course was highly
successful for a first running. A few sample remarks will give some
idea: "The course . . . was conceptually sound and of considerable
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benefit to me. I did learn things I had not known before and I feel
better equipped to do a satisfactory job in the field, which, I presume,
meets your principal objectives." ) ". . . with25X1A9a
remarkably few exceptions, all speakers were clear, informative, and
interesting. Virtually all concentrated on the practical aspects of
the job - the type of information most wanted by those attending the
seminar. The happy inspiration of adding Burton Marshall and
Ambassador Berger effectively relieved the emphasized practicality
and viewed the 'ofrom a broader perspective - an important require-
ment.'' "In general, the course was fascinating, the
speakers we c osen, and the objectives . . . fully accomplished."
0
evise some objective method of evaluating the course - as distinguished
from grading the participants - but the job of a COS is so diffuse and
variant that it is difficult to envision any such test. Perhaps the
only one will be how well the course students perform over the years,
in the light of the challenges they come to face.
9. The experience of this first running is already being put to
use as the second running (starting 23 February) and the third (start-
ing 19 April) are in the planning phase. We also plan further experi-
mentation beyond what might be achieved merely by surgery of the less
lively portions of the first session. Especially, we hope to work up
one or two really good illustrative case studies. By the end of that
third session, the COS Seminar should be thoroughly shaken down. One
aspect of this is institutionalizing the course as a regular element
in the processing of senior field personnel. We are inclined to doubt,
however, that this is best accomplished by requiring attendance; and
inclined to think that unless the course compels attendance because
of its interest and its usefulness it had better 9xpire.
1 A9a
Attachments:
A. Student Roster
B. Course Schedule
C. Student Suggestions
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