TWO-YEAR FORMAL TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CAREER TRAINEES ASSIGNED TO THE DDP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-06096A000400030002-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 11, 2000
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: July 29, 1965
• Content Type: MF

MEMO
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29 JUL 1965
FOR: Executive Secretary. Clandestine Services
Training Board
SUBJECT
NCE
Two-yoar Formal Tralning Prog
Trainees Assigned to the XDP
er
(a) Memo did 3 Doc 64 to Exec Secy. CS "
ft ADDP, auk): 'Proposal for a Two-year
JOT Training Program"
(b) Memo dtd 15 Mar 65 to DDP/TRO through
CiTSD ft CiTSD/Training. subj: "Proposed
TSD Trairdng of JOT. Assigned to the DDP"
1. I wolcome this opportunity to respond to
proposal for a two-year formal training program for C,Ireer Trainees
assigned to the DDP. I believe that the concept ropresents a zilinificant
step forward and I hope that with certain modifications it will eventually
be adopted. The purpose of this memorandum is to enlargs upon that pro-
posal from the point of view of the Office of Training and to outline its
principal implications with respect to manpower, training facilities and
costs.
Philosophy or Approach
2. Perhape it would be helpful at the outset to dwell briefly on general
philosophy or on an approach to the problem. As I expressed it at au
earlier mooting of the Training Board, I am strongly in favor of a training
program that combines formal courses of instruction with on-the-job
Instruction, as differentiated from one of twenty-four months of continuous
formal instruction. This approach is much sounder from the pedagogical
viewpoint -- the trainee will absorb more of the instruction and will retain
ft. This approach also takes into consideration the human element ? the
average Career Trainee (CT) is 27 years old. has spent most of his life
lat school, including college and post-graduato study and the military.
Moreover. about 60% of them are married, and of that number about ball
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have at least one child. Thus, they arrive at the Agency psychologically
ready to get down to work at the job, ready to sink their teeth into -ornething.
3 My fifteen years of experience leads me to believe t two years
mucus formal training would be counter-productive to the Clandestine
e. U told at recruitment that they would be put into two-year
program before being given their first assignment, I believe the
majority would decline employment with the Agency. We would lose those
who are eager and aggressive and who have initiative; we would retain
those who are content with being run-of-the-mill types. Thi* brings me
to my next point -- rather than call the program a two-year trainins
program. I believe that there would be some advantages in calling it a
two-year &vela ental program. The attitudes which we inculcate in
that early days at recruitment and training will be crucial for the acceptance
of the program by the trainees. One thing which we should remember .1 nd
of which the CT should be reminded from the first is that our American
educational system does not prepare people to be intelligence officers with
the specific *Ulla which are required and that these must be acquired in
training and through experience.
4. Another possible area of difficulty exists in connection with the
two-year training program or & more extended training program and that
is the assumption, either on the part of OTR or on the part of the Clandes-
tine Services, that such training will produce a finished intelligence officer.
OTli is, in this circumstance, in much the same position as a professional
school mow* namely, that practice in the profession always rens ahead
of the training and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to teach most up-to-
date techniques and specific ways of doing jobs. Like the professional
school outside, OTR concentrates on basic tools of the intelligence pro-
fession and upon familiarisation with standard techniques and methods and
with developing a broad enough outlook on the part of the trainee to enable
him to profit fully from up-to-date training on the job. Thus, _4_t remains
the responsibility of the supervisor on the jOb to familiarise the individual
with the particular techniques and practices of the office to which he is
assigned. When looked at in this light, the advantage* of combining formai
training with on-the-job training are quite apparent.
5. Another matter of importance is the sequential relationship of the
blocks of training that are to be included in the two-year program. The use
of time blocks generally assumes a continuation of things as they are, but
I believe that our plans should not necessarily be based on this assumption.
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that the program eventually adopted should pro-
xibility. i.e., to make allowance for the excep-
for individual variations among the CTs. It may develop
a of the training program should be waived in view of
the previoxta training and experience of the individual. I would expect.
however, that such waivers would occur mostly in the second year of
the program. I should like to explain this by saying that I visualise the
first year as being spent almost wholly in basic training during which the
DDP candidates would be kept together as a class. Upon corapletion of
basic training. I anticipate that the class will be broken up into smaller
groups to take different courses. For example, some will go on to pars-
military courses, others will take language courses, others specialised
Readettarters training courses, and still others to on-the-Joh training.
I believe that it is in this second year that a great deal of flexibility must
be introduced. For example, we may find it advantageous to waive cer-
tain aspects of PM training of CTs who came into the Agency from Special
Teresa. Or waive tannage training for a CT who already has a good
command of the language of his area of aseivament.
.12ruent Training Program,
6. Under our present training program, all CT: get nine weeks of
training together as a group or class before it is split up and they are
assigned as candidates to one of the four Directorates. This nine weeks is
comprised of two weeks of Agency orientation, four weeks of introduction
to cornmurdsm, and three weeks of introduction to intelligence techniques.
At this point. the DDP candidates enter the eighteen-weeks' Operations
Course (OC) and the non-DDP candidates enter the six-weeks' Operations
Farailiarisation Course (Oro. After the OC, a number of DDP and some
DOS candidates take the seventeen-weeks' paramilitary course (PMC).
The remainder of DDP candidates are assigned to one of the Divisions or
Staffs of the Clandestine Services. Altogether the CT has s,,ent a total of
twenty-seven weeks In formal training courses, or a total of forty-four
weseiss U he takes the PMC. Language training Allti specialized training.
I f any. folio* later on at the initiative of the Desk or Branch to which the
CT is *saved.
d Cbanea in the Tr
7. The Train*" Board has my proposal before it to hav* all CTe take
the OFC. This change would keep a new class together an additional six
weeks and would *sable OTR to refine still further its selection candi-
dates for the four Directorate a. It would also eliminate the need for dupli-
cation of coverage of the earne material in the OFC and in the first six
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1 the OC. At a result the OC would be shortened to twelve or
weeks and would be devoted fully to proficiency training in trade
d related subjects. Thus, if the proposal to have all CTs take
the OFC were adopted, CTs would remain together as a class for fifteen
weeks of basic training. For those assigned to the DDP, this would be
followed with twelve or thirteen weeks of basic training in tradecraft and
related ekills. For a till smaller number of DDP candidates, this in turn
would be followed by seventeen weeks of training in paramilitary techniques
and *kind. In other words, we are still talking essentially About 27 or 44
weeks -- whichever the case may be of formal training for DDP candi-
dates and as yet we have proposed no fundamental changes with respect to
either content or approach.
S. It is prodimply at this g program that I would like
to propose a fundamental change. DDP candidates are assigned
to Headquarters Desks for tours of one to three years after their training
all I Since the training they have received there is all field-
oriented, they have been given little to prepare them specifically for their
sesignmente at Headquarters. Moreover, those assigned to overseas
stations have been given little background information to assist them in
understanding the Headquarters' Desk or how best to work with it. I pro-
? pose, therefore, a new three-week course to help prepare them to assume
or understand the responsibilities of a desk case officer at l'Ieadquartere.
Emphasis would be on name checks, agent clearances, project management
intelligence rsqtdrements and reports and cable writing (Attachment A).
I believe that this new course, which would be given by the Operations
at Headquarters, should follow the OFC. After having been exposed
weeks of concentrated and relatively high-level briefings, such a
emir** would have the virtue of bringing them back to earth, down to the
s and bolts of Intelligence work. It would help prepare them realistically
will be expected of them on a Desk. This course should be followed
n-the.job training assignment to a Desk of three to six months.
A certain amount of flexibility in regard to the length of assignment could be
permitted if it were clearly understood that the CT is in a t raining status
and must return to complete the formal training program. the Desk to
which the CT is assigned need not be his Desk of permanent assignment,
although there would be obvious advantages if it were. The main purpose
at this stage of the training program, however, would be to give the CT a
good baste foundation in the procedures and practices of the Clandestine
Services Headquarters Desk. This attachment to a Headquarters Desk could
either prosaic!s or follow the OC, but I believe it would be more beneficial
to have it precede. As already stated, the OC emphasised tradecra.ft and
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agent ;1uAft.ig. For those preparing for early assignment seas it
represents a logical development of the training program. For those
remaining at Headquarters it will give them an understanding of tho field
cans *blear and hi* problems.
10. I would also longest that thought
that part of paramilitary trairdpg that empha
the Clandestine Services. It would de-emphasise that ary
training that concerns itself with skills training. A good prototype of what
have in mind is the way TSD has put together its package of
CTs. From its whole rang* of technical training courses. TSD has taken
the substantive aspects which show how its activities are a part o
Clandestine Service. operational effort but it does not concern Itself with
skills training as such. If a similar approach were adopted toward our
paramilitary training with a view to including it in the OC. it would add
another three or four weeks to the OC. This change would have the advan-
tag. of giving all CTs an understanding of paramilitary activities and their
contribution to the Agency's work. It would also have the advantage of
having only those CTs going into paramilitary assignments take skills
training in P14.
OC
II. I would suggest that this first or basic phase of the Career Training
Program be coachaded with the TSD course for CT.. to which I have re-
ferred and which is cited as reference 13. This course would be almost
2 wiseks
4
3
6
y orientation (no change
Introduction to Communism (n
? Introduction to Intalligence Techniques o change)
*
4111 /I*OTC (new element is that DDP candidates would
; at this point career placement of CTs by
Directorate takes place)
3 tt Claadastine Services Headquarters Course (new --
for DX P candidates only)
? On-the-Job training with a Clandestine Services
Headquarters Desk
12 to 13
--OC (stress on skills training in tradec raft and agent
handling will r0112114.11 unchanged; plus a po siblo new
addition of 3 or 4 weeks of paramilit4ry orientation)
12 to 24
? TSD Training
(23 days)
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f training if the Desk assignment is three
Lv. or thirteen weeks in length. If the
OC and if the Desk assignment is lengthened
could run fifteen to sixteen months.
and t4an&ua&c Tr bang
12. The second phas. of the training program should be devoted to
specialised training and to lingua;. training. A I atated earlier, the
class of DDP candidates upon completion of the basic phase would be
broken up into smaller groups. It is at this point that management should
*lora** lanagintition and flexibility in tailoring a training program that
would harmonise Agency needs with those of the individual CT. Since the
kind of specially tailored training I have in mind is more assignment-
related than other typea of traiaiag, it would be highly desirable U the CT's
area of assignment could be determined at this time. Or, as suggeited by
If the CT could be generally directed toward a given
gograpbical area. U this determination could be made, it would be possible
to put together a apse/Skelly tailored program. If such a determination is
sot possible at that time, it would then become necessary to devise a
program more general in application but which the CT could be expected to
Wig many times in his career. As applied to language training. for example.
we would have these alternatives: where a determination of area of assign*
meat has been made. the CT could proceed to full-time language training
is the language of that area; where Such a determination has not been made
the CT could tudy full-time a widely-used language such as French or
Spanish.
U. With respect to language training believe that it la essential r
the Clandestine Service to set the objectives that are to be achieved.
Once they have been set OTR' s duty to specify the length of time that
it wiU take to achieve the des red level of proficiency. But I would like to
make it clear that I belie', it would be desirable to train for a professional
level of proficiency rather than for a given period of time. However, if the
Clandestine Services cannot afford the length of time involved, they must
accept lower levels of proficiency. Normally five to six months full-time
are necessary to acquire a useful proficiency in the common languages and
nine to twelve months in the more difficult languages. For example, six
months fuU.tirne are usually necessary for German, nine for Russian, and
twelve for Chinese. In each case, we are talking about an intermediate
proficiency -- a proficiency aimed more at speaking the language but with
some proficiency in reading and very little in writing. But I believe this is
the proper approach, as to achieve a high proficiency in a language is as
much a product of experience and practice as it is of training. With few
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*sceptical* lieve that all DDP c
language courae aimed at achieving an in
d take a fu
I of p
14. OTR's present seveniesn.week PC is the pararnUitary equivalent
the OC -- essentially a basic course. If it were decided to add a para-
military block of instruction to the OC, as I have previously suggested
should be considered. the PMC would have to be either reorganized or
retained for non-CT trainees only. In that avast, the need for such a
course in the CT program would no longer be valid. I believe it would
fellow, however that our need for specialised or skills training would be
commensurately greater for those CTs whose assignments are in the PM
a.m. Haying had the introductory or basic material in the OC. a CT's
tailored training in PM could extend to several weeks or months. or In
accordance with the specific needs of his assignment. I believe that this
same principle of flexibility ought to apply to other areas of specialised
or tailored training as wall? to training in TSD-type activities and in the
various disciplines of Cl, 11. and CA. Interspersed among :ouch specially
satiorad programs. I believe it would be desirable for the CT to have a
es-coed stint of on-this.)ob training. To have the greatest value, it should
iss in his area of assignment. Ai a final step, I believe that it would be
extremely useful to have the CT participate In a four-week workshop in
operations (Attachment B). Its purpose would be to assist him in relating
La his own mind all that he has learned in his training and experience in the
Agency. Hopefully such a workshop would put the finishing touches on his
formal preparation for work in the Clandestine Services.
15. As a final observation, I must point out that proposals and
of the kind we have just been discussing cost money and require manpower
and office space and equipment to put them into effect. Regardless of how
strongly we feel the challenge al 'proposal. OTR is no
exception. We estimate that it would cost an additional $688 thousand
dollars over what the CT program is now costing to put this proposal into
effect (Attachment C).
SIGNED
hiA.TTHZW BAIRD
Director of Training
5X1A Attat4menti A. B and C
PPS:I rhei (28 Jul 65)
Distribution:
0 & - Adige 4 - OTR CONFIDENTIAL
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chment c
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Money, Von Space an4 Equipment
I. Money
a. CT Saiaries
b. Salaries. contract language
teachers
c. Language Laborat
? Aeditionsi floor space
0,700 sq. ft. (.5. $4. 3n)
a. Additional staff perm:mils'
(salaries)
1
51, :300
Comment:
i. This additional salary cost is calculateu on a GS-49 base
($7Z00): d% for allowances (WOO); WO for an ingrade raise 0E100).
This figure ($533,332) does not take irao account two grade promotions
which are likely; however, as the GS-09 base %lase is higher than the
actaal EO ID average. $533,332. I& an acceptable working figure.
Z. This program would lacrosse the number of full-tirne language
stationts by 75%. Thus a 20% Lacrosse in contract omployee money
amuld be requirod.
3. Additional "positions", i.e., booths and equipment weal(' be
required.
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3.
wietiitigh
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a. Staid
(I) 3 additional ors (GS-14) 4
(Z) I aiditiosal secretteao (GS-
. Language Trait School
() No increase In staff TIC
(Z) 20% increase princtpa1i InwAt contract enp1oyevs
c. Hsacquatte Training/CS
J aci4itionanmtructor (G5-3)
Space *ad Equipmext
a. CT Staff
(1) 4 offices
(2) CT base sne reception room
b. Language Training School
) I. claasroom (30 x 3U)
) 8 to 10 200 sq. ft. closer
C. quart* Training/OS
Oman. cla roe=
4 - 15.rnsn swinar rooms
40-.)
it.
ft.
6(`-1 sq. ft.
sq. It.
4. Frosoat
22. Their, within
appreciable assignment
? 315 while on ut etrentb la
4 to EOD this fall kefGre any
each com eller (5) will be required
to hantlie the cases of 60 CTs. The extension of the program would
so increase, the counselling Wail as to necessitate a minimum of
thr ge
new positions.
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4. *pity/
CT
b. s.00ntrati language test
c. Atinition La.aguage
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*tory equipment
. Antinomy/ classroom and office
s. Anditional staff salaries
Coseiment:
3. A total of 583J
tut to cover the ea
of space today
ppresitnately $4
0 s s
Total
5
'3,332
59,004)
tr).000
45.394
5
anal
(ta space wo be
?gram te two yenrs. The
he Um's/ye 111741/L, woutd be
63d0 2'3
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