LETTER TO MAJOR GENERAL LINCOLN D. FAURER FROM PAUL V. WALSH

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CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2
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RIPPUB
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C
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22
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December 20, 2016
Document Release Date: 
October 18, 2007
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62
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Publication Date: 
January 3, 1975
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LETTER
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i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CE'1'RAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ' WASHINGTON, D.G. 20505 3 January 1975 NSA review completed Major General Lincoln D. Faurer Deputy Director for Intelligence Defense Intelligence Agency Washington, D. C. 20301 Enclosed is the CIA study of the DIA military bio- graphic operations I discussed with you in early December and which we agreed I would not transmit through channels. The Central Reference Service (CRS) in CIA that conducted the study has received numerous requests for copies from DIA/DC who requested we undertake it in a letter to Bill Colby from Vince de Poix in August 1974. We have not satisfied these requests pending your reactions to the study. I am enclosing one copy, however, that you may wish to give to John Hughes. If additional copies are needed for internal DIA distribution, you may contact Sincerely, DIA Review Completed. Paul V. Walsh Associate Deputy Director for Intelligence Distribution: Orig & 1 - Addressee (w/enclosure--2 copies of the Report on the DIA Military Biographic Pr - Director/CRS w/o encl DDI w/ encl.-- - - DDI Chro:n. Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY NOTICE TO RECIPIENT COURIER REC. NO. DATE SENT DOCUMENT RECEIPT Sign and Return as Shown on Reverse Side 1/ 3/75 SENDER OF DOCUMENT(S) ROOM BLDG. DATE DOCUMENT(S) SENT Paul V. Walsh, ADDI 7E44 I I I P 0568 2 12 DESCRIPTION OF DOCUMENT(S) SEN - 1 T CIA NO. DOCUMENT DATE COPIES DOCUMENT TITLE (IN BRIEF) ATTACHMENTS CLASS 3 Jan 75 rig & I Leifer to General Fau er C_ Two attachments: Rep ort on the DIA C Military Biographic Program, dtd 19 Dec 1974 RECIPI ENT ADDRESS OF RECIPIENT SIGNATURE (ACKNOWLEDGING RECEIPT OF ABOVE DOCUMENT(S)) Major General, Lincoln D. Faurer Deputy Director for Intelligence/DIA Room 1E8 80, Pentagon OFFICE DATE OF RECEIPT Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 REPORT ON THE DIA MILITARY BIOGRAPHIC PROGRAM Prepared by CIA/CRS 19 December 1974 SlJ JECT TO GElIER:lL QECl~S51fIfi1Tl^' S^HEp-,L OF E. 0. 19652, AVTOI~IATICAIIY 00WINGRAQED Al T43 YEAR l1aiEflr4IS A5D 6ctiluS~:"Lil Oil 31 December 1980 ------------------------------ (Insert date or event) Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL INTRODUCTION I. METHODOLOGY II. GENERAL FINDINGS A. Man-Years On Program B. File Input C. File Holdings D. Traffic III. PROBLEM AREAS A. Organization B. Manpower C. Morale D. Production E. The FRD Contract F. Collection G. ?ecurity IV. POSSIBILITY OF MERGER WITH CIA 8 TAB A Exchange of correspondence between D/DIA and DCI. TAB B Statistical Charts NmrinENTlM. Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL This report was prepared by the Central Reference Service, CIA, in response to a request from the Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, for assistance in reviewing the DIA biographic operation and in examining the feasibility of transferring the responsibility for military biographic intelligence to CIA (Tab A contains copies of the exchange of correspondence on this subject between the D/DIA and the DCI). The report summarizes the findings of eight senior CIA biographic analysts (with a total of 66 years experience in the biographic field) who examined the DIA biographic holdings, procedures and services from 23 September through 18 October 1974. I. Methodology The initial briefings by DIA/DI indicated that DIA/DI does not maintain statistics on most aspects of its bio- graphic operation.- A few statistics exist, particularly at the analyst or branch level, but they are not standardized and thus, with few exceptions, cannot be synthesized. It was necessary, therefore, for the study group to collect and compile statistics on all aspects of the operation, in- cluding file input, volume of requests, manpower, and production. The survey covered only 4 weeks, and in most cases the results could not be compared with data collected over a longer period. Thus, it is possible that information collected for an entire year might produce figures either higher or lower than those presented here. The task team (hereafter referred to in this report as "we") believes, however, that the survey period, coming as it did between the summer and Christmas vacations and lacking any unusually heavy workloads, probably was representative. We attempted to do as much of the survey work as we could, but in two major data collection efforts we required assistance from the DIA/DI biographic analysts. We asked the DIA/DI biographic analysts to complete a request form on every biographic request handled during the survey period. The form, designed specifically for this survey, contained spaces for recording information on the requester, the specific request statement, the type of response, the sources of information used, and the time required to ...,r.irfnra,lTI e I Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 UUNtIUtNIIAL complete the request. We believe that we-received completed forms on virtually all major requests serviced by DIA bio- graphic analysts during the survey period. We probably did not receive forms for some requests that the analysts were able to answer in a few minutes. The statistics on the volume of requests, therefore, reflect a somewhat lower number of requests than were actually received in DIA/DI during the survey period. The difference would not be sufficient to seriously affect our overall findings. We also asked the DIA/DI biographic analysts to give us a copy of every document they put into their military biographic files during the 4 weeks of the survey. These documents were reviewed, as available, both to understand DIA/DI file input and to compare it with what is being done at CIA. Most DIA/DI biographic analysts felt that com- pliance with our request would require tab much of their time because they lacked sufficient clerical help to re- produce the documents. We agreed and therefore attempted to collect this information by examining in-process documents at the analysts' work stations. This methodology was not completely satisfactory and we did not see all documents processed during the survey. Fortunately, several DIA military biographic analysts had large filing backlogs, some containing documents received as far back as June, and by examining them we were able to reinforce the impressions gained from what we did see of the current material. In addition to the data collection activities mentioned above we: 1. Interviewed at length all DIA/DI biographic analysts, selected supervisors in DIA/DI, and selected customers of the DIA/DI biographic services. 2. Examined all biographic requests recorded by bIA/DI during the survey, attempted to answer them from the CIA biographic files, and compiled statistics on the results. 3. Compared selected DIA/DI biographic files with comparable files in CIA and analyzed the dif- ferences and similarities in content. 4. Measured the DIA/DI biographic files and estimated the number of personalities included in those files. - Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL 5. Interviewed the supervisors of the employees of the Library of Congress, Federal Research Division (FRD), who provide support to the DIA military biographic program under a contractural operation. In compiling the statistics by geographic area, we used the CIA/CRS rather than the DIA/DI area breakdowns. This allowed us to make direct comparisons with the biographic operation at CIA. These area divisions are: USSR - Soviet Union EE - Eastern Europe WE - Western Europe WH - North, Central and South America FE - Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, PRC & ROC - People's Republic of China, Republic of China, and Mongolia. NE/SA - Near East and South Asia II. General Findings A. Based upon our survey during the period 23 September - 18 October 1974, we estimate that DIA/DI is now devoting about 32 man-years to the military biographic effort. About 20 of these man-years come from staff employees, the rest from reservists, de- tailees and contractors. (See Tab B, Chart I.) Most of the statistics in this report, particularly those on service and file input, reflect work done mainly by staff employees. B. We found that 4,381 items were selected for input into the DIA/DI military biographic files during the 4 weeks studied; on that basis we estimate that 57,000 items are added to the files annually. (See Tab B, Chart II.) C. DIA/DI has biographic files on approximately 223,000 foreign military personalities. (See Tab B, Chart III.) D. The request forms completed for us by the DIA/DI analysts indicate that DIA receives approxi- mately 2,700 requests comprising approximately 8,000 25X1 25X1 3 - Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL questions each year and that 4.4 man-years are required to service these requests. (See Tab B, Chart IV.) These request figures might have been 10 to 20 percent higher if we had received completed request forms for all the requests levied upon DIA/DI during the survey period. We also feel that in many cases the figures for the man-hours reported as spent in answering requests were low. In some cases DIA/DI analysts did not include in their reports time spent in such ac- tivities as calling military bases and schools for assistance, waiting for a xerox machine, and coor- dinating reports. The service man-hours reported by the unit handling Latin American biographics, a unit that routinely keeps detailed records of manpower expen- ditures, are much higher than those reported by the other units and in themselves tend to indicate that the total expenditure reported is too low. The charts kept by the Latin America unit over an entire year indicate that 75 percent of the working hours are devoted to service. Our observations lead us to believe that additional units probably have service manpower al- locations in that range. Thus, the actual figures for manpower spent in servicing requests may be 50 to 100 percent higher than what is reported here. Further, we fear that potential requesters do not ask for service because of the current state of affairs, and we suspect that, with improved capability, and the resultant improved service, the volume of requests and manhours spent on requests would rise. III. Problem Areas A. Organization The DIA biographic effort lacks central management and coordination. The biographic analysts are spread throughout DIA/DI and individual production components -- orisometimes individual analysts -- conduct their own biographic programs without guidance from any central authority that establishes priorities, sets standards, and develops publication schedules. Even worse, as far as the analysts themselves are concerned, there is no central authority to work on overall bio- F Problems such as 25X1 DIA slow receipt of documents and unreasonable requirements. The DIA/DI biographic analysts often do not receive incoming documents containing biographic Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL information; many of the documents they do receive arrive several weeks late. Upon being received in DIA/DI, documents clearly labeled as biographic reports usually are routed directly to the biographic analysts; but those containing biographic information mixed with other data usually go first to the political and/or order of battle analysts and may or may not eventually reach the biographic analysts. Multiple-area doc- uments, that is those containing information on per- sonalities from two or more geographic areas, often do not get routed beyond the first recipient. Because the DIA analysts are located in several different buildings, communication between analysts is curtailed and proper handling of multiple-area documents is difficult. Often, because he is uncertain, that he has all the available information, the biographic analyst must check with other DIA analysts before answering even simple requests. He is at times unaware of even the most important changes in positions held by high-level foreign military officers. We noticed several produced biographies that contained erroneous ments taken from inaccurate or outdated field DIA- state- reporting -- errors that the analyst undoubtedly would have noted and corrected if his files were complete and current. There is no effective backup system. When the regular analyst is out, the supervisor or some other analyst will attempt to handle requests from VIPs, but in general, when the analyst-is absent, all work stops. B. Manpower We estimate that the current allocation of man- power to the military biographic program in DIA/DI is about one-half of what it should be. Moreover, about one-third of the current allocation is composed of reservists and temporary detailees who are not as productive as staff employees and FRD contract pers- onnel who cannot be used in all phases of the oper- ation. We believe that most of the problems in the program stem from the insufficient manning. A severe clerical shortage plagues all phases of the military biographic effort. Staff analysts do most of their own reproduction and filing and much of their own typing; we even noted supervisors typing reports. Judging from our own experience, we believe that, an effective biographic operation needs about one clerical - 5 Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL or intelligence assistant for each analyst. As Chart I in Tab B indicates, the clerical/professional ratio in the DIA biographic program does not approach this. C. Morale Morale among the DIA biographic analysts is poor. Much of the morale problem is directly related to the manning level. The analysts do not have the time to do a satisfactory job; they realize this and some thus take little pride in what they are doing. The need for professionals to do filing, reproduction and typing further contributes to the loss of pride. D. Production The DIA/DI biographic analysts take time to write biographic reports for important requests but do not have time enough to prepare any significant number of self-initiated reports. Without a sufficiently large data base of finished intelligence reports to work from, requests tend to take longer to handle than they should and, because of the pressure to get the answer out, are not answered as well as they might be. The failure to prepare and distribute more self-initiated, finished intelligence reports probably creates more requests from customers, which, in turn further reduces the time available for writing such reports. The military Biographic Handbook program appears to be nearly dead. Some military Biographic Handbooks are being published, but most appear to be mere com- pilations of reports previously prepared for specific requests or reports prepared by contractors and re- servists. There does not seem to be any major attempt to identify the most important foreign military leaders and publish reports on them in anticipation of future needs', even when these needs can be predicted fairly accurately.. DIA/DI is attempting to meet some of the need for anticipatory report preparation through its contract with the Federal Research Division (FRD) of the Library of Congress. Self-initiated reports on personalities in the Near East, South Asia, Latin America and Africa are done almost entirely by FRD. Unfortunately, much of the report preparation at FRD is being wasted because many of these reports are not being printed and distributed. (See Section E below.) Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL E. The FRD Contract The FRD contract is a useful device for getting around the manpower ceiling, but we do not feet that DIA/DI currently is getting a satisfactory return from its investment. DIA/DI uses FRD to write reports based upon the DIA/DI file holdings and to screen foreign publications for information on military personalities. During the period of February 1973 through October 1974, FRD prepared 500 biographic reports, mostly on African, Near Eastern and Latin American personalities. A large percentage of these reports, however, have not been published, partly because of editing and pub- lishing problems and partly because most DIA biographic analysts consider them to be too wordy and "flowery" to use. One DIA/DI unit is using a reservist to reduce lengthy FRD reports to one page. The academic qualifications and talents of the FRD analysts appear to be good. FRD believes its products are satisfactory and seems to have no idea that DIA/DI reworks most of the reports before using them. Feed- back to FRD on what DIA/DI wants in its reports probably would go a long way toward correcting this situation. Increased reliance upon FRD may provide a partial solution to the manpower shortages in the DIA military biographic program; it does not, however, appear to offer the possibility of a satisfactory answer to most of the problems: First, improving the military bio- graphic file holdings through more complete screening of incoming documents and through detailed guidance to field collectors are two major needs that do not lend themselves to handling by a contractor. Second, there is always a certain percentage of the documentation that cannot be released to contractors; these documents are few in terms of volume but often highly valuable in termstof content. Third, the practice of sending intelligence files across town to a contractor means that files frequently may not be available at head- quarters to handle crash requests. F. Collection Most DIA analysts complained strongly about poor collection of military biographic information, but there appears to be tittle effort to improve it. DIA 25X1 - 7 - Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CONFIpENTfA! 25X1 DIA/DI analysts can DIA write informal letters asking for feedback their own written reports and providing feedback on reporting, but they use this channel infre- 25X1 DIA quently. Formal requirements must be levied through ICRs and CIRs, a process that most analysts tend to avoid because they. believe it to be cumbersome and time consuming. We saw little evidence of analysts at- tempting-to fill gaps in their files by preparing specific requirements for the field, unless the in- formation was needed to answer a request already in hand. The military biographic program needs both a higher 25X1 DIA priority for biographic reporting from the field and more effort in guiding and directing this reporting. G. Security and Classification Generally, the handling of COMINT documents is poor and causes both a security danger and the loss of .som-e inforrriation. In each of the DIA/DI units we found a different COMINT handling problem, including: failure to file any COMINT at all, failure to file any COMINT documents other than those at the lowest se- curity level, cutting off security controls and filing COMINT documents as unclassified, and poor understanding of the procedures used in obtaining permission to down- grade COMINT for use in biographic reports. The physical security arrangements contribute to lessened efficiency. In one unit the need to unlock 17 safes to answer a question took nearly as much time as the reisearch on the request. Some units in noncodeword areas must go to a different building to review new COMINT documents and, because of the time involved, tend to omit this task. In one unit, supervisors and analysts do much of their own reproduction work because the clerk does not have clearances to the codeword area where the reproduction machine is located. IV. Possibility of Merger With CIA If DIA could agree to certain conditions (specified below), the military biographic operation could be merged - R - Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP8OB01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL with the existing CIA biographic operation. and operated at less cost. Combining the 20 staff man-years now in the DIA effort with the existing CIA biographic effort would produce an improved military biographic program. CIA could ac- complish more with the same amount of manpower because of the economies of scale: CIA/CRS already screens nearly all of the documents containing military biographic information for other purposes, manages a large biographic collection operation; and has a large biographic production operation. Adding military biographics as currently handled by DIA/DI to the current CIA biographic responsibilities would. produce only a 1-percent increase in the number of documents screened and a 2- to 3- percent increase in the number of copies of documents put in the biographic. files at CIA/CRS. The CIA biographic analysts have responsibility for main- taining other large computerized and manual reference files in addition to their biographic files and already screen nearly all intelligence reporting. The only documents containing information on foreign military personalities not now reviewed by CIA/CRS are some biographic reports prepared some NMCC cables, Legion of Merit nominations on foreign officers, some JPRS military bio- graphic cards, and a few miscellaneous items. During the survey period, 68 percent of the items put into the DIA/DI biographic files also went into CIA/CRS biographic files. (This was about 5 percent of the total CIA/CRS biographic file input.) Based upon the statistics collected during the survey, CIA/CRS already has information available to answer 63 percent of the biographic questions DIA/DI now receives. The DIA completion rate for the same period (not counting requests answered with CIA assistance) was 70 percent. By moving the military biographic operation and the associated staff manpower to CIA, the man-hours saved in file maintenance could be used to stimulate field reporting and to prepare additional self-initiated reports. A potential problem in moving the military biographic DIA operation to CIA is the danger that will25X1 not respond adequately to requireme Several DIA biographic analysts, supervisors and customers of the service who were interviewed during the survey indicated this was one of their main reasons for opposing transfer of the program to CIA. We believe, however, that with cooperation from DIA/DC and increased effort in preparing requirements for and providing feedback 25X1 25X1 - A :- Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 CONFIDENTIAL to collectors, military biographic reporting can be improved substantially -- even with the requirements coming from a civilian organization. If we'did.not believe that this could be done, we would not be willing to attempt to handle the program; we view improved collection as one of the most serious needs of the military biographic program. Several DIA biographic analysts .and supervisors stated that they believed militarybiographics should be coZocated with order of battle analysis and record keeping. We found that, except for the Eastern European naval analysts who handle both responsibilities, the biographic and order of battle analysts operate nearly independently of one another. We did not see any coordination between the two groups that could not be handled through the mail or over the telephone, nor did we note any significant improvement in efficiency in the one instance in which the same analysts handle both bio- graphic and order of battle data. Adjustments could be made in the CIA report formats to meet specific DoD requirements. Customers and operators of the DIA biographic program frequently mentioned that the CIA narrative report format is not as well suited to the needs of military users as the DIA outline, telegraphic format. On the other hand, we found some DoD customers who prefer .the CIA narrative format. CIA does not see any potential 25X1 problem in adjusting formats to meet DIA requester needs. We already publish some reports, in a format similar to that used by Finding space in CIA/CRS to house the additional files and the additional analysts, lAs and clericals would be a serious problem for CIA. After screening the DIA files we probably would select between 250 and 500 cubic feet of material for integration into our existing holdings. Finding space for additional employees would be extremely difficult.' CIA/CRS would be able to take on the military bio- graphic operation provided that DIA would: (a) Provide manpower equal to the amount of new work caused by the transfer. The amount of manpower would depend primarily upon the amount of file input, amount of collection guidance, amount of service and quality of service DIA would want. (b) Hold the workload to that agreed upon at the time of the transfer or provide additional manpower to Approved For Release 2007/10/19 CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 CONFIDEVIAL handle possible future increases in requirements on the program. (c) Give CIA/CRS direct access through military communications channels to DoD human source intel- ligence collectors. (d) Allow CIA/CRS to evaluate the overall mil- itary biographic reporting 25X1 DIA (e)- Assist CIA/CRS in upgrading military bio- graphic reporting by increasing the priority given to collection efforts in this area. (f) Not cut back any existing military biographic collection programs without agreement from CIA. Provide promptly to CIA/CRS reports, NMCC cables and other military bio- graphic information it does not now receive. - 11 - ft![In iTIAI Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 i Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000300020062-2 C-41319/DC-4A DE_t r "ISE INTELLIGENL