CONVERSATION WITH MR. VANCE ON THE NRO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01580R002004220046-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 3, 2013
• Sequence Number: 46
• Publication Date: August 16, 1965
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/06/27: CIA-RDP80R01580R002004220046-4
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MEMORANDUM FOR THE R
ORD
16 August1965
SUWECT: Conversation with Mr. Vance on the NRO
1. lde1ivere4theNROagreementeciitedbythe DC;
and his covering letter to Mr. Vance at 1100 hours this morning.
We briefly reviewed the arguments pro and con for having the-
DNRO a member of the Executive Committee and the reasons
behind the proposed additional language to be added to paragraph
D. 1. d I explained the new organizational arrangements proposed
for CIA. which I said were still in a tentative stage but would result
in establishment of an Assistant to the DD/S&T in CIA to be
responsible directly to the DCI for all reconnaissance matters..
This arrangement, I said, would parallel the arrangement in the
Pentagon under which the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
would report directly to the Deputy Secretary of Defense on rec n.
naissance matters.
2. / told Mr. Vance that as soon as the agreement is signed
consideration should be given to two matters of considerable urgency.
One is the funding of further research and exploratory development
in connection with the new general search system. The second is
to d v is for a decision on whether or not to go ahead
with I explain. . Vance the present situation
and C $ preference for the contract as opposed to
I said that / presumed that the xecutive Committee would probably
want to impanel some experts or else charge the Land Panel with
the objective of developing recommendations as to whether or not
to go ahead I also said that if the
decision is made to go ahead. I felt that there were very strong
reasons for allocating the developmental responsibility to the Agency.
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? 3. Mr. Vance wanted Dr. Brown's views on the contract
before final approval. Dr. Brown was inclined to insist that the
DNRO should be a member of the Executive Committee. I said
that I thought that the agreement was probably already somewhat
overbalanced in the direction of control by the Secretary of Defense.
Mr. Vance finally intervened to say that he would concede the point.
4. Dr. Brawn then questioned the meaning of the additional
sentence proposed for inclusion in paragraph D.1. d. He was
prepared to concede that intelligence objectives must determine
the design of all systems. He was also prepared to concede-that
where it is proposed to accommodate equipment serving non-
intelligence purposes in a capsule along with sensors for intelligence.
gathering purposes, the intelligence-gathering sensors must be
accommodated at the expense of any other equipment. Finally he
was prepared to concede that the spacecraft and reentry vehicles
should not be used to constrain the development of a sensor. In
this connection, moreover, he conceded that it clearly would not be
the policy of the Executive Committee to subordinate the design of
a sensor to accommodate the conformation of a capsule simply
because of standardization considerations. I repeated the Director's,
analogy of the man and the suit and the necessity of having the suit
made to fit the man, rather than vice versa. I gave tux) specific
illustrations of situations which worried us. One is the SAMOS
program in which a capsule had been developed ostensibly for
intelligence purposes using a capsule which was actually designed
to contain a man. A second illustration is the existing general
search situation. We would not want to have the Perkin-Elmer
system rejected simply because it turns out that the Air Force has
invested heavily in a spacecraft which does not accommodate the PE
camera. Dr. Brown agreed that sunk costs should not be a factor
In this decision. Mr. Vance tended to agree at first that the language
of the agreement must be overly restrictive, indicating that general
consideration of cost effectiveness might make it impossible in all
circumstances to subordinate the design of spacecraft completely
to the requirements of a sensor. On the other hand, he also
recognized that by leaving the Air Force in control of the develop.
merit of spacecraft, CIA Wall making a very substantial concession.
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-Finally. at my suggestion, he agreed to leave the provision as
it is but include some interpretive language in a covering letter
which he then proceeded to dictate signifying his acquiescence
to the agreement and his intention to ensure cooperation On the
part of the Defense Department.
5. 1 told Mr. Vance that the DCI felt that the agree era.
once executed, should be confirmed by the White House on behalf
of the President and said that I would suggest to the Director that
he and Mr. Vance present it to IvicQeorge Bundy after a 303
Committee meeting. Mr. Vance said that he was sure that Mr. -
Bundy would concur in any proposals which reflected joint agree.
merit by Admiral Reborn and himself.
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6. Dr. Brown started to raise another objection which li
attributed to Dr. tubini. At this point, however. the Secretary of
Defense cams in and Mr. Vance said that he had accepted the
agreement in its present form. He showed the Secretary the letter
which he was proposing to send to the DM and Mr. McNamara
indicated his approval.
Distribution:
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