PROPOSAL FOR THE RAPID TRANSMITTAL OF INFORMATION REPORTS AND CUSTOMER REACTIONS

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
33
Document Creation Date: 
December 16, 2016
Document Release Date: 
December 20, 2004
Sequence Number: 
28
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
February 11, 1959
Content Type: 
MF
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Approved ForRelease 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80B010'83A000100090028-6 8 E C R E T 21 February 1959 !13RA!fl td lit: All lAD' a St=: Proposal for the Rapid Transmittal of 2nformetian Reports and Customer R iCns This is a prapowl for a new reporting system to be used for certain CL Clandestine Services reports that h been submitted to an Agency planning gr*W for ccnsideraticn. The planning group gill meet to discuss the propcsa cm 19 February 1959 and l Mould eppreciate any comunts you might have on the proposaa by 18 February 1959. 25X1 Assistant to the DD/2 (Planning) Attateat As stated Distribution: All 3AD's I - DD/1C Chrcno 2 - WAT file SECRET Approved For Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80BO1083A000100090028-6 Approvecr Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80R'0V83A000100090028-6 RAPID TFANSM2'TTAL Or INFORMATION RRP(TS AND CUSTOMER REACTIONS The problem faced by the Agency Planning Group in the routine in- telligence field comes under three headings: a. Speed of processing, taking advantage of new technology; b Quality of reporting, dismissing submarginal information - sources -- at the earliest possible stage; c. Tailor-made dissemination to keep analysts from being flooded witb materials not pertinent to their work. These facets are interrelated. Processing delays in getting reports to customers breed additional delays in getting reactions and evaluations to the code:tors. The half-life of information is short; loss of interest in it due to time leg produces lack of interest in improving the source's production. If we are able significantly to cut the number of processing steps and their ag reeate time, users will better recognize their ovn interest In furnishin.y feedback to the collector. Collectors will appreciate this timely interest in their operations; and case officers and sources alike will. be encouraged by the speed with which their material was handled, and the interest Washington has taken in it. Speed aid quality are particularly closely interwoven in the field of marginal or submarginal reporting. If users can let the collector know quickly that certain materials are valueless, operations can be Approved For Release 2(Tr6'~l'GSA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve Mpr Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80 O'V83A000100090028-6 effectively re-directed or stopped, freeing field manpower for more con- structive ei terpriseas. If the dlec.overy of lark of value is delayed, or not coaanunia.,ated., operations go on indefinitely, producing nothing, and the Agency%,.. beat asset, its professional manpower, resins tied up in them. Ln late, 1,56 the DCI appointed a planning group, representing all elements of the Agency concerned, to recommend a coaInunications a*.nd re- porting system for CIA which would result in a speedier and more efficient flow of repc,,rts to the using analysts. The proposal below has been de- ,eloped by members of this planning group. It is .designed to cover a fairly limited number of CIA reports in the early stages of its opera- tions. It is also deai,nei, however, to be expanded to cover a larger percentage c>f CIA reports and possibly even the reports of other intelli- gence agencies if operating experience proves that these steps may be desirable. Approved For Release 205 Y' w` `ttA-RDP80BO1083A000100090028-6 Approve,or Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP8083A000100090028-6 The Need for a More Expeditious System of Reporting !,s a result of recommendations made by the President's :Board of ~ onsultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities (the Hull Committee), the President has directed the intelligence conmunity to establish a system for the reporting of critical intelligence within speeds approaching ten minutes., The ~ Critic" system has been designed to meet. this specific task. in devising the "Critic" system, however, the Critical Communica- tions Committee advanced, and the USIB approved, the view that for any system of reporting of critical intelligence to aeehieve maximum efficiency, it was essential that there be an increased flow of more timely background data against which. to assess items of critical intelligence. In view of the emerging capability of the Soviet Union in the field of guided missiles and the general speed-up in the field of weapons and eoms?n ntcations, the DD/I has set as a goal the establi hment of a rerort- ing system. in the Intelligence ce uunity which will get substantially all intelligence information to the analyst within twenty-four hours after the preparation of the report to the field. Communications and other mechanical. techniques are sufficiently advanced to rake this a feasible goal. Before developing a system that can include the- reporting of the entire intelligence community, it is necessary that CIA develop a system for its own reporting that will move toward the achievement of the twenty-four hour goal. The experience gained and the techniques devised in the development of this internal system might well provide the basis Approved For Release 20%'!#Oc1! : 6IA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approveor Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80g0''083A000100090028-6 f~O U ltrsi.ti , Iu t.t ~3T4T~e"C~ t. 'r `E C,foria.'.;,C.I 4L?n I'L?C`?#!'av. ~, l:fi" '_!I aMz2&: ".2X'. f$ d1 ov ~ r? extcn i. `t Zertc c f tiL-;.v ai'te '? tIh event b .n y z ,*1port-r4. s ire: w tt:Ien is ,;^ cex .v k in a z:s tter ov_ hours ox' + .1 ,ads z epar-t:t pro r'a rer Qf Copiek of Approved For Release 2O051Oi106'CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approved? or Release 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80483A000100090028-6 Pr asi _ tLmn Arrival at Head r rs Adequate messenger erg. is exist for the nowment of Te:atape, apm arrival in an unacc ed po w.h at the Department of r :tat*, to RID. The tape its merely, logged as a unit and red by hand to the Signal Center in L Building without delay. There nemhanical processing produces a clear text tape. in the Teletape pro esa as we ha a i.t so far, this clear text tape is delivered to the Division for i i her bwAling. For the reporting pu-. W , hosrevrer, we propose that it, go direc?tl,y by duttnb- upstairs to b-z cable Secretariat. Approved For Release 20 fi/ 6 :"CJ 4-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approver Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP8083A000100090028-6 cezba_Cabl* first its to appear on a r+ dim3miz ble C.perational and *mrce Cover Sheet.. typist in the Cable 9 retaiiat will place one of these sheets, vith the number of required by the DIvfai.aea, to her F exowrit r :. aut ti-r- :his portion of the t terial o The mac nine stops at the s-r. tape iri11 be the n=- The typist then puts a with three a:ole -Secretar?1at retains the T. D at for tr t t the Operational a. :e Cover Sheet eat, , bons , the carbons of the T.0., a fu s.i. b . by sse r to U:Kt Division reports office vh1ob has aerU..i Approved For Release 2008/('1-/n6E?CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approver Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80Q,6Ma~83A000100090028-6 was by the CS Area Division ,ncoming reports a scr*med by the reports officer concerned to separate immediately releseable material froa? that which requires re- writing. Norm .U1y , imarrdiate3,y relessab la mater t a l w i l-I be hate fir It will be given a CS report number and the distributtlion assigned,, The copy used in this review v31:1. then be released by the! Division reports ofricer arid, for ar1ed is the Cable Seereteriat with an tndica.tton the nor of d.opies refired in the Division for the u + of l .:er?na..d CS di. tribetion. Minor corrr?exftic a.s, if indicated by the Div i s..tr be made either on the finished TvD. cat, or by aautcm>etic retyping i the original tape in the Cable Secretariat. tertal which am :t be r =procea ed prior to di s a xati , will be retyp*& in the Division on a n ? T.D. mat. `lr a is then fmntshed to Gifu of the or. ginal a .t by tO Cable, Sc r;^e'+ - 'iaat - in , a ra b of the te4gair>e nt3 Staff r view unreleased T,Ds at thv Cable Socretre rriat zd i.nquireai : to tb~4 uses Approved For Release 20D3i0 /t. f;A-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approved Eor Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80B 83A000100090028-6 r.! .e this reviev :mesa takes place In the Division, a dint amly'st, stat-.o at the Cable Secretariat., bas &SEAgroed pe ?tiaaexx t ISC numbers (probably c n the new, re a v rs tc t of the C o d e ) to t h e r po :'A ate. d t h e m on the TD i t . Fe has .30 iiii.. sated the disse in ion the report ehou)-d receive beyond that. assigned by the CS n AU rw -o ff c ie vIII thus b ? the code numbers anrl .isaet&tnation, axe no pr sling tine s lost by ins ec 1i these ese ial. steps at this stage. soon a~ the xel ease sio% the Cab: e Se tariat, types the CS number on the tg as in t.ae text can be to 1 n care of at this st a Ce . The Tr. to then --w off in the re uis l_t number of -opie 3 for i :be nal aM e te; .;. nov` c..j-tcmry di.s tr ibu it is possible at ClEa ' tee tare t&.1 ',as sk r 1.,? ,,y the report elec tr l.1 25X1 tim -. until z=e to tx & v `C';.2tg a the cc "t .;2 t1cr e x-, " ,t boy. va this , e 1 ,ted, U) OI;? `I.: 'A :t e..-Mt xDz i ,cr Toning, I -e. else t , )__ r W' .t,, We consider it dcAirabI Approved For Release 200 /0'1/ 6 CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve&Eor Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 77 operating experience against the day when it may be necessary or de- sirable to make extensive electrical dissemination to a wide range of cuasto:rers 25X1 For details on and its potential, see Background. Paper No. 8. Approved For Release 20D%t4:tl :?gtA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve r Release 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 Air I,' tiai Reaction Sheet I die the foxy is a~ 1- e i tort', sev rat poi t o .e & b :xis in 3u of t. x ,.y de > .nt of the ;envy has v rienc #a in t .s.i zees, volume of ajeer, oper z llona'L act;,rttyx number of :r sort , ruiibe' of ca.)i gr y-m t -n itt+x)., etc.; av y year ere up u'a to be ; t and cuth of );et:* eL 10 and 1.5% 1!" yevrs c=f pr* er tory wor!r now gv:Lang , in :Fo1; ,,.:` n tt in q -Ljty, rare i~~ l.y the prodt;at ve have sga;y . r .c pew L -A anp(Y zr? . .'t.. or. latex, t -g a lase to be we' : ti fac:.aoyin T v another pie-;-e of pa;; >r or Ica ;,h : f: t - , va1' -1y tt. i, rM rc ' " ; the Off Uone;Rjs of " r dgg .?Jitg the s('-IT.'ait a 1I. tkti4:. xer ?:l. om;:. to e CC'r1 o*&s ? 'i~ S1 (.?'. t 3 facing 'm' t`aretr + tcl..xu k s of &. z ire to : Cat' A o: >l a, then e simole;i and mo 'e el',?eotiYi of Inter ? 1isicol.l.gc t ?, rte,, No. 1, for ott er , ~?':, of t. Same le~'Pke' po ?:r by 25X1 Approved For Release 20O5/m11061:?`CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve?+Fcr Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP8083A000100090028-6 within the Agency -- with another form. The payoff will be wort: it Three aspects of the reporting problem are combined in it: those of appropriately limited dissemination, of adequate ISC coding for later retrieval, and of a quick expression of interest to assist the collector. OOnly those analysts should be asked to use the form whose "feedback" will be worth exploiting, i.e. the specialists concerned with the sub- ject .tter reported; those responsible for writing coUec tior- ments; those whose work will suffer if infer mmtion is not eAesately retrievable for lack of coding. It stay to reason that t he a.r cooper. s- to on vill be quickly rewa ed by receipt of fewer r p)rts which are of no interest to the t; by retrie?? ,l of flied r teriais they need to research; by more direct and. _~ ffeetive contact wit b the- co_Ux ctor,3, triggered by their responses on the 'MS. The analyst ha w .,re. tE ? ? ,nt au ixwiAss to n to fill in forms; hence the form must be silt l e, and easy to use and i.. We might provide partici tiag analysts with bleak forms, at pre -ad r ss envelopes containing identifyt..ng piv-punclied, cards, to make processing easy, at all stages. Punched-card processing of fillet -in IRS fora e: + . ld be used for all l repot ti rtg derl. v d from it r `] e vUl., allow as to A4se the form in a 641 ?1e cuix, river requiring :nun 3. s derived products take the form of tailor- de aehirae t&culat .ona. The form as it a &s i the att aehr ant, although finialwd in ? rance, is mere e drat for dis :ussi. refine ant . - l9 - Approved For Release 26066"--8IA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve or Release 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 If A 96'4f Feedback for Coders Every theoretical discussion of retrieval problems brings out the inevitable human limi,ations in the coding process. For a recent review of this problem, see 'aul A. Borel's article "On Processing Intelligence Information," Studies W Intelligence, Vol. 3, No. 1. Analysts in the U:eument Division are not omniscient universal geniuses; they are ablf: to assign the apparently essential codes, but they are bound to overlook, or not to be aware of, angles under which retrieval might in future become essential. This is the primary criticism of the present library system, leveled at it by personnel using it. The intelligence subject cc4e, present or revised, is a splendid instrument, useful exactly to the paint to which coders properly foresee the headings under which material may need to be recovered, but no further. The better and me:re widely known the Intelligence Subject Code, the more it is directly uE., and contributed to by experts in their various fields, the better the retrieval system. The Initial Reaction Sheet pro- vides a simple method of contributing to the coding. This presumes that the ISC codes originally assigned by document analysts are available on the report for review:. Any analyst who receives a copy can take care of his own interests beyond the initial coding by adding appropriate codes on the form. Mechanically, the additional entries will be referred to the Docu- ment Division in weekly tabulations. These will cite the name of each contributing analyst, the additional codes each has proposed, and the -20m Approved For Release 200 'O*t #t?ATRDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve0oSpr Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80P^83A000100090028-6 report numbers to which these pertain. They can appear in document number or ISC Code order, or any other desired arrangement, for discussion with the proponents if this is indicated, and integration into the system. Once this feedback process has been underway for some time, and analysts have become used to it, it is to be hoped that they will develop such confidence in the ability of the library -- particularly as mechani- zation provides increasingly reliable and rapid service -- to retrieve what they need, that they will be willing to dispense with the bulk of their own paper holdings. Without participation in the coding process, this confidence, we believe, cannot be established. Approved For Release 20 1 1%6'7 -RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approveor Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80083A000100090028-6 Feedback for Disseminatcars Background. Papery Nos. 1, 3 and 4, when read together, spell out another cause of delays in processing information reports to the ultimate Agency user: The nethod, now in use, of successive dissemination through organizational channels, with major distribution to the Office, from there to the Branch, from there to individuals. Bulk processing through several steps is inherently inefficient, when seen as a whole, not only in terms of time, brG also in terms of the number of copies required which must be based on extreme potential needs, rather than specific known needs. A.ternatively, dissemination might be achieved within the Agency, fror a central point directly to individual analysts, on the 'oasis of their specific requirements, kept up-to-date on a continuing basis, by a feedback system suitable to mechanization. Under such a system, dissemination can take place by subjects coded in the ISC, thus taking advantage of the fact that reports :roved by the proposed reporting system will carry pertinent codes on every copy. Coded requirements, on the one hand, and coded reports on the other, are a pre- requisite for any attempt to m`cb ni-ze the routine portion of the dissem- ination process. (Unusual spot requirements would be handled outside the system.) An 5nalyst"? Statement of Requlrez nts may be derived in the first instance by tabulating his response to Question 1 of the Initial Reaction Sheet over a period of some months. The tabulation would contain all the reports he received, and, their subjects in terms of the ISC Code. -2s?.. Approved For Release 26WIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve or Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 Document analysts could translate this tabulation into a tentative State- ment of Requirements, for refinement in discussion with the analyst con- cerned. This would yield the analyst's current Statement of Requirements on which disseminations to him would be based. This in turn would be kept up-to-date by the continuing feedback of his reactions on the IRS. The experiment in automatic dissemination now underway in AFGIN-l indicates that much additional paper is pumped into the mill by the straight-faced, undiscriminating machine. This is due to inadequately spelled out requirements which are adequately understood by trained analysts, but cause hash by machine. A feedback system as proposed here -- properly used -- will tend to give the analyst and his supervisor direct control over the volume of information delivered to the "In" basket. The supervisor is an interested party inthis process because of his responsibility for a proper workload. distribution to his subordinates. This, in practice, is a most difficult task; most supervisors carry their own workloads, and do not inspect their subordinates' "In" baskets at regular intervals. Based on the Initial Reaction Sheet, supervisors may receive every week, or at any other convenient interval, a tabulation by name of their subordinates of the reports they took in, and their reac- tions to them. This is a tool which might lend itself very well to proper workload distribution. - 23 - Approved For Release 20%*91* A-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approveor Release 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 T Feedback for Collectors The remaining material on the form is intended to guide the collector. It does not contain written evaluations, but provides for checking off the simplest and, under the circumstances, most useful elements of guidance. A punched card system will be developed to bring these ele- meats to the rapid attention of field stations and Headquarters desks and Staffs concerned. The system embodies the essential facts of projects, sources and reports, i.e. the Operational and Source Cover Sheet, the CS report, form, or its TD equivalent, Project Summary Sheet, and lists of Requirements and their numbers. Non-operational portions of these cards will be reproduced for OCR for tabulations of use-to DD/1 elements. On the basis of this material, and the Initial Reaction Sheet cards received from OCR, the Machine Branch in the CS will be in a position to distribute such reports as the following at appropriate intervals: 1. To the field -- Ay station or base, source cryptonym, and re- ports officer: a tabulation of reports in field report and cable number order, citing the CS number, the subject, and each Initial Reaction received to date; requirements levied on the station, citing reports and IRS reactions pertinent to each; a list of reports not disseminated by Headquarters, giving brief reasons. 2. For the Headquarters Branch -- Copies of the above; in Source or CS number order, a list of outstanding evaluations (from Question 7 Approved For Release 2085_$C--RDP801301083A000100090028-6 Approveor Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP8083A000100090028-6 a of the IRS) with the names and telephone numbers of the analysts who promised them. In order of customer offices: a tabulation of CS reports originated by the Branch, giving the names of individual analysts and their initial reactions. Copies of materials detailed below. 3. For the Requirements and Project Staffs -- By Requirement Numbers: reports referenced to them and Initial Reactions received. By source cryptonym: a tabulation of materials rejected by customers in response to ( eationss 2 through 6 of the IRS. While the value of materials of this sort should be apparent -- take, for example, the operational usefulness of a quick reaction to Question 3 the limitations need to be pointed up as well. The chief intention is to provide officials concerned with a convenient handle by which to investi- gate a situation. If Initial Reactions run consistently high on a low cost source, Headquarters personnel need to spend little time on opera- tional massage in the renewal process. O the other band, if Initial Reactions run adversely, this provides an indication to the desk and the Staff that the situation needs to be looked into. The purpose of the tabulation is not to allow rejections to be drowned in the stack of paper which is surfaced once a year in the project renewal process, but to pro- vide a convenient method for the prompt closing of marginal operations in the light of all pertinent facts. - 25 - Approved For Release 20(/gig-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approve or Release 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 S-E-C' R-E-T Effect an Substantive Evaluations The amount of bookkeeping now undertaken in the CS to keep track of individual projects and their reporting product is very consider- able. The scheme as outlined here does not encompass the present substantive evaluation process, the importance of which is In no way affected by it. In present experience, more than half of the rather elaborate Form 39 are returned by customer analysts with cheek marks only, and no substantive comments whatsoever. By diverting these to the IRS, and by freeing desk and Staff personnel of routine bookkeep- ins- chores, it should be feasible to spend more time in personal or telephone contact with qualified analysts to obtain specific useful comments. One novelty of this scheme, which is apt to meet with some appre- hension in the CS, consists of the direct, uninhibited two-way communication between the recipients of information and its producers An initial reaction to the prcduct is sent right back without inter- vention at the Headquarters desk. This carries the risk that the field may act independently on the feedback to atop or redirect a pro- ject, as the case may be, without being so directed by the Headquarters desk, There are two sides to this controversy: we would argue that the CS have personnel In the field so competent that we entrust them with the conduct of operations which sometimes carry considerable risk; we can rely on them to discriminates Furthermore,, the desk is in a position rapidly to add its comments to the aerial communicated to the field, since it receives a copy sir i.taneously. - 26 - Approved For Release 20f35 g0$ A-RDP80BO1083A000100090028-6 Approveor Release 2005/01/06 CIA-RDP80083A000100090028-6 Under the impetus of this system,, it is to be hoped that substan- give evaluations wtLl be processed to the fiee.d with a speed approximating that of the Initial Reaction systems They now take on the order of six m~xnths to reach the field from the Sate of the orig- inal report. They are often valueless by that time. The reasons for these delays are for the ros't part mechanical and will be separately inveetioated and dealt with. - 27 - 8_E-C-R-E-T Approved For Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80BO1083A000100090028-6 Approv. or Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80 083A000100090028-6 Mec:ical Aapectt The m&%anics of the prose .a from the ai .at t are simple encu*. Upon his first rending of new inconiz ;, : ruds he w311 f'il:U out tle fox lie s iL also ,F:v+ 1-1 hi!3 e: k: blly k :1e., tai lec. eva.lua .on ::zheet s tt i ah : e r Ay later o -- aitbmb an soon as possible, The -forts, or ea. l Rio containing tam, are addressed to the vamee po1nt ; Bach of OCB We estimat .y that one keypuzMtt c?~; ato: as :at rile a?.i or eight huzadx+ed ft?r~ms of bpi E e type a day, After keypmchtnci e.nd verify ttga the bulk. of 'r'nit i e. t~;ai7 Shezts ahou Ld be dcsst x oyed . They have no doe i ntary v ue R n'i ax"t, CCXlapletely cxplaited by ss*ch.izce pr?xceastr_T excr where they conta ; ct Tti a oall imt uc Wion't on such subjects as j..3C coding. then be hanL.-proceHs . The complete si.eck of card s should re iuced da il,y f( .r use V y the C8, and passed on to the Macy inir. Branch of )W for turtht r ces in(,a We ehoud expa are the pr sibility of tak.ir the product of t ti r. t~ocaitice~~p n,~r scort the "m n in a ord- r .f tar disae iini tigz- tk field stations caUy to 5-d+ l tape, a pa sai.x3 the renat back via the Teletaa pe s t bane Subject to prof to the c cote of st' _sa g t hig' scbme, It i.s our tasumption that mfr required in the VVM xis Ro0as of OC?. t tLe CS t t1. t : a fraction of that, save. in the ;)t 1 eio s, the field,, the CS ifs, " the seieral office of 28 Approved For Release 0'g3"I46-:IA-RDP80b1083A000100090028-6 ` Approve^or Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP8083A000100090028-6 S-E-C-R-E-T lteroduction Bottleneck While the model system will, use electrical traaamies orx from pro- ducer to consumer, for a small portion of CS productv be tc>,e case for some time for the great bulk of it,. Until electrical transmission becomes the rule, we shall Lave to cent'nue to rely on multilith-type reproduction facilities. Although the reproduction and dissemination processes !ire a1i ost identical, Cable Secretariat, reproduces cabled reports for itesemination, and Printing Services Division does the same for poached reports. The reason is that the Cable Secretariat has proved its capr&tiltty for speed in its task, and therefore has retained this responsibility. We feel that the r,,~!productian facilities of the Cable cret.ariat. are properly used for all internal dissemination of incoming 4ab 41 ea. . for electrical transmission outside, but that a better capab..lity afic-,kid be established by PSD for all reports not electrically tranaanitt,ed tc customers under CS numbers _- cabled, pouched or Peletel d. this facility like the Cable Secretariat, would have to %,ork around ttle clock and otherwise develop the same high degree of efficiency. it of crar targets is to speed up our routine report s.g ac ? s s t h4? box, it would be counter-productive in the long run to process am ail sert;)r efficiently, allowing all else to lag, -29 - S-E-C-R-E-T Approved For Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80BO1083A000100090028-6 Approve or Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80 83A000100090028-6 S-R-c-R-B-T u t Assuming favorable conclusions from the test, the issue of broadening the system's application will arse. Should presently available equipment be acquired for this expansion, or should we wait for a better model? One of the w akkest aspects of the system is Its key element, the F'lesoirriter. Some of the problems we have with it are described in 3lsckground Paper No. 10; others are inherent in its mechanical operation and cause trouble for the typist. The Office of CGmmeanications, while continuing its search for better gadgets, should seriously consider par- ticipating in the development of improved devices of the Flexowriter type: i.e. typewriters which make it convenient for a secretary to produce a clear text tape -- or even an encrypted tape -- as a by-product of typing, for transmission and later processing, without re-keying. Speed aside, as keying and retyping processes are eliminated, this approach would on the one hand offer increased input volume for the graving electrical comanications capacity developed by the Office of 0onraunieations, and on the other offer significant manpower savings. Properly designed and protected Flexowriter-type devices should allow us to emtplopr secretaries/communicators in the field with only moderately increased demands on training and skills. We have indications that satisfactory equipment will be available in the ammsr of 1961. The cost of such a system, while high, may not be out of line. 3'13ree of the devices -- the minimum for one link -- are likely to cost about as much as one overseas employee in one year. 30 .. Approved For Release 2' 'D?*IlE4"SIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approveyuu or Release 2005/01/06: CIA-RDP80 0 83A000100090028-6 nl~ Extension of :3bratt :an to Other Agencies The appl-_cab$lity of the system to our work with other agencies requires stud,.r. It is our belief that pertinent parts of the system, such as the Iiiiti&1 Reaction Sheet, should initially be tested in- side the Agency o.rly. Extension might then be examined first of all to those other agencies, i.e. notably Air Force, which use the ISC. Specific negotiations should be conducted at the proper time with each possibly interested agency; this approach may well lead to the develop- ment of different versions of the Initial Reaction Sheet for each. This broadening out, in turn, might make the ISC useful to more members of the ccmmnun:.ty and thus cause them to rely more heavily on the doc- inentation fac:ili1ies provided by CIA. Approved For Release 2101706 : CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 Approved"Por Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP8083A000100090028-6 Conclusion Implementation of any one system can, of course, not be based on generalities. Our stations and bases have vastly differing needs for communications. There are methods of speeding up communications other than tape processing which will find their place in the whole scheme. The photographic page-at-a-time encrypting process explained in Back- ground Paper No. 8 is one of the most promising of these, and likely to be useful for certain categories of stations and materials. The components concerned will have to engage in a continuing general study of what mode or modes of communications will be best suited to each point abroad, with the participation in each case of personnel thoroughly acquainted with local conditions. Meantime the test proposed here, if the Committee agrees that it is worth trying, will serve to focus the thinking of the participants on specifics, and to surface their new ideas as well as their qualified both, in the end, probably of equal value. - 32 - Approved For Release 2005/01/06 : CIA-RDP80B01083A000100090028-6 a B-C-R-E T