DRAFT DCI REPLY TO ASD ( I ) LETTER OF 8 APRIL ON COINS: IC STAFF CONTENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01495R000100130004-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2005
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: July 30, 1975
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release O05/08/12 : CIA-RDP80B01495R000100130004-6
30 July 1975
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Intelligence
SUBJECT Draft DCI Reply to ASD(I) Letter
of 8 April on COINS: IC Staff
Comments
1. At a brief meeting lat about
5 PM the day before I went eave une), I was
presented with a new draft reply Al Hall on the
COINS matter. From whati __J told me, I under-
stood that my DDI coordinated draft was unacceptable
to the DCI and that now was to re ly for
the Director on this mat Bred a couple
of sentences to correct a paragraph that ea with
DDI business and departed the scene with assurances
that the new draft would be shown to the DDI.
2. I have just returned from leave to learn
that no draft has one forward for the Director's
review. Wheni and company heard, via Paul Walsh,
that Ed Proctor wanted the o raft to go as
written, they sat on the letter. They
have made some few chap a draft and have
been "waiting to return to review the
changes".
3. I have attached both versions of the letter.
Attachment A is your version. Attachment B has the
IC Staff changes. You will see that some of the IC
Staff changes are concerned with making the Director
speak as the head of the community rather than the
Agency. Other changes have to do mainly with tone.
I believe the transposition of sentences in paragraph
3 changes the meaning somewhat.
4. If you think any of these suggested changes
have merit I will incorporate them in a letter for
the Director's signature. If not, I will move ahead
with the original version.
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Attachment "A"
Dr. Albert C. Hall
Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Intelligence)
Washington, D.C. 20301
Your letter of 8 April asks for my views con-
cerning two suggestions for increasing CIA partici-
pation in the Community On-Line Intelligence System
(COINS).
One of the suggestions is to assign two full-
time CIA representatives to the COINS Project Man-
agement Office, one for NPIC and the other for the
CIA Headquarters elements. Our review of this
matter shows that the present arrangements and
points of contact are clearly adequate to meet
the needs of our analysts in both locations at
this time. This situation may change when the
upgrading of COINS is more advanced and begins
to have more impact on our activities. Until
our analysts at Headquarters and at NPIC make
greater use of the COINS data base or we antici-
pate a substantial increase in such use, I see
no need for assigning full-time CIA representa-
tives to the COINS Project Management Office.
The other suggestion is that we consider the
possibility of using a computer at CIA for providing
real-time access to CIA headquarters files. Al-
though we are not yet in a position to make a
decision on this matter, I can assure you that
we are considering this suggestion. Obviously,
the effort involved in providing better community
access to CIA files must be justified and shaped
by a thoroughly developed concept of what files
CIA can contribute to COINS in the future and the
additional benefits and costs involved in real-
time access to CIA-sponsored COINS files.
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We have begun to take steps to get the infor-
mation we need to make decisions about new COINS
hardware at CIA. The CIA Subsystem Manager for
COINS is conducting a survey of Agency components
that will provide information not only about the
present utility of COINS to CIA production analysts
but also about any Agency plans for data bases
that might usefully be made available to community
analysts via COINS. The upcoming COINS workshops
to be run by the MITRE Corporation should also
provide new insight into how CIA participation in
COINS can be made more effective.
Sincerely,
W. E. Colby
Director
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Attac lament "B"
Dr. Albert C. Hall
Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Intelligence)
Washington, D.C. 20301
Your letter of 8 April asks for my views con-
cerning two suggestions for increasing CIA partici-
pation in the Community On-Line Intelligence System
(COINS).
One of the suggestions is to assign two full-
time CIA representatives to the COINS Project Man-
agement Office, one for NPIC and the other for the
CIA Headquarters elements. The Agency's review of
this matter shows that the present arrangements and
points of contact are adequate to meet the needs of
CIA analysts in both locations at this time. This
situation may change when the upgrading of COINS is
more advanced and begins to have more impact on Agency
activities. At such time as CIA analysts make greater
use of the COINS data base or a substantial increase
in such use is anticipated we will be pleased to
reconsider this question.
The other suggestion is that we consider the
possibility of using a computer at CIA for providing
real-time access to CIA Headquarters files. The
effort involved in providing better community access
to CIA files must be justified and shaped by a
thoroughly developed concept of what files CIA can
contribute to COINS in the future and the additional
benefits and costs involved in real-time access to
CIA-sponsored COINS files. Although CIA is not yet
in a position to make a decision on this matter, I
can assure you that we are considering this suggestion.
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We have begun to take steps to get the infor-
mation we need to make decisions about new COINS
hardware at CIA. The CIA Subsystem Manager for
COINS is conducting a survey of Agency components
that will provide information not only about the
present utility of COINS to CIA production analysts
but also about any Agency plans for data bases
that might usefully be made available to community
analysts via COINS. The upcoming COINS workshops
to be run by the MITRE Corporation should also
provide new insight into how CIA participation in
COINS can be made more effective.
Sincerely,
W. E. Colby
Director
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MEMORANDUM FOR:
Call Monday and te-T'l him
that EWP is too embarrassed to send any letter
to Mr. Colby in response to Al Hall's 8 April
letter re COINS.
EWP says maybe he should take the rap
and sign any response to Al Hall. The letter
could say:. "The Director has asked me to
respond to your 8 April letter..." EWP says
doing it this way could solve some of
coordination problems with ICS.
1 August 1975
(DATE)
FORM NO. 101 REPLACES FORM 10-101
I AUG 54 WHICH MAY BE USED.
MEMORANDUM FOR:
II
(a different, old COINS matter)
is brokering a compromise version
with 1L, which promises to reply by
Tuesday.
Bug
if he doesn't call you by
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BEM 10-01
FORM NO. 101 WHICH RELACES
I AUG 54
1 August 1975
(DATE)
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