DISPOSITION OF OCI'S MANPOWER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01495R000600130019-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2005
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: September 24, 1974
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2005/08/24: CIA-RDP80BO1495R000600130019-5
24 September 1974
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Intelligence
SUBJECT Disposition of OCI's Manpower
1. You have asked that we look into "layering"
and "levels of review" in OCI, and I am quite willing
to have II do so. If he can find elements we can
do without, I will be happy to dispose of them. I want
to record, however, my rejection of the criticisms implicit
in this inquiry. It is one of the standard bitches of the
OCI analyst that he has too many layers over him; the GI
always complains about the company cooks. What matters in
the final analysis is whether the company fights, and
whether OCI delivers. OCI does, and our prose is as good
as any in the government.
2. OCI eliminated the Section and Unit level in the
middle Fifties. In 1969 OCI had four Areas and ten Divisions
each with a chief and at least a slot for a deputy chief.
Now it has no Areas and five Divisions. It had 24 Branches;
now it has 17. It had 14 Production and Research Officers;
now it has 6. Although since 1969 we have reduced analyst
strength on Indo-China by 0(total manpower on IC by 0), and
eliminated the 0 analyst man-years devoted to the NIS,
our analyst on-duty strength has only dropped by Qand is
actually higher than it was in April 1973. Thus, we are
managing--and editing--with a much greater ratio of analysts
to supervisors. (Note that virtually all of our branch
chiefs also carry analyst responsibilities and do not have
deputies.)
3. When the DCI or DDCI reviews a draft, it is un-
realistic to think that the Branch, Division, Office, and
Directorate Chiefs who stand between him and the analyst
are not going to review it first. If anything is going to
give, it will have to be in the production elements. Here
our structure is indeed complex. I hope I have documented
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ADMINISTRATIVE-INTERNAL USE ONLY
in earlier memoranda why this is so. The PDB, NID, and
NIB each has its own peculiarities, which in turn reflect
the DCI's close attention to each. The CIWR and CIWS,
although in recent years taking a lesser place, nonetheless
are demanding of editorial attention if we are to maintain
a high standard. For all other production, however, we
have moved to decentralize as much as possible. Most of
our estimate and memorandum production moves directly from
Division to NIO or to consumer without further editorial
intervention in OCI. The Staff Notes series is produced
entirely within the Divisions.
4. On paper, the professional strength devoted
all hases of "production" has been reduced only from 25X1
to but these figures are deceptive. In the last year,
many of our substantive editors have been put on shifts.
For instance, we have four senior and four junior editors
for the NID, but only one of each is on duty per shift.
Many professionals assigned to production are not editors
but proof-readers, layout men, and what we call "production
control" officers. The latter show on the T/O as editors,
but their job is the nerve-wracking one of checking: editing
for capitalization, punctuation, spelling, making sure all
the pieces of a daily come together in the proper order--
text, graphics, table of contents--and agree with one another;
ensuring that all security rules and controls are obeyed,
verifying coordination; double-checking the proof readers,
printers and everyone else involved lved in the process. With
three dailies, each with its own ground-rules, this is not
a job for second-raters.
5. Since 1969 OCI (less the Operations Center) has
been cut from =positions to I with additional cuts
planned for FY 76. It has absorbed a number of additional
functions--writing National Estimates, for instance--and
has been able to eliminate only the NIS. When it was asked
by the DCI to publish the NID, it undertook to do so with-
out additional personnel. Having done this successfully,
it was rewarded with a further cut. As noted above, it has
been quite successful in protecting its analyst force from
the knives, and is simplifying its structure. Since 1969,
by my calculation, it has halved the number of line and
editorial officers taking part in the production process
at any one time. There has, of course, been no proportionate
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ADMINISTRATIVE-INTERNAL USE ONLY
25X1
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decrease in the volume of analyst complaints. On the
other hand, I believe the quality of our product has
improved substantially. We are doing pretty damn well
with the resources we are begrudged. As long as this
is so, why question how we use them?
6. The attached table shows OCI's disposition of
its professional manpower as it actually was in June 1969,
at the peak of our strength, and as it is now. Two addi-
tional columns show corresponding data for April 1973,
after the Schlesinger firings but before any change in
office structure, and as projected in April 1973 for the
end of FY 74. Some of these figures may not be accurate
to the last digit.
25X1
RICHARD LEHMAN
Director of Current Intelligence
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