SURVEY OF OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01731R001700110187-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2003
• Sequence Number: 187
• Publication Date: December 7, 1951
• Content Type: STUDY

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7 Deteribta.
SURVEY OF &FIZZ CURRLYr flThI
ILLEGIB
7-0
A surve;;' of OCI wa6 conducted between 15630 *welter. iatIrvli -
were held 'with AWCII his deputy, the heads of his different t. dTs
and of the Special Support Division. The work of the arta tit:A; w6i
reviewed. Two fun zectings of the PUblicatien Board were ::uu.f. or _
one while the Board was auditing a Currant Intelligence /ulIcti: au:
one while it was editing the Weekly Review. Ah Agency hria:.1,4- in
Situation Becalms attended.
Following in a statement of Vie s
observed in this eurvv.
A. STRINOTP
1. PAEKT
OCI produeee all source intelligence but.
of its strengths is the high, reliebilitY factL4411;11
of CakIMT lute/limos. The enly. pelicationz Qi
the Agency which are purelor feetual emenste 2=74
OCIi partieularly the fee4r atuetios StioNar:,'
4Peearinv on Fridays. This comment is not intent:A,
to disparage the evaluation function, ebvioumly
of the principal functions of an letellicericu agon.?.
but it is ennsidered an element of strength tat tire
is available throegb ()CI a eeekly mummery of currolt
intelligence undiluted if unadorned by at -ceetive
25X1 interorelation, This is not required by
alcaes tit aid
2. .Indicatipns
The maintenance in OGI Soviet Stratea !tart (:
the Indications File, Greeted an the init?stvc of
the Intelligence Staff and 3eviet Strategy Staff_ e;
oCI OictilaDY j should be
commended. This file is said to be unique tu ovk"-?
mint and it is the only place in the Agency 4.hre
recta vh4ch milAt te430004414 to indicate Zevit
intentiods and lashings in political and ecocoic
fields as well as military ars inland no tlet one
can quickly run back through summariee of all the
intelligence we quire received bearing epee an'f' Part cu-
ler indioation. The check list of indicators ..;.b
censtant1y reviewed and revised.
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Closely eIlled nith the above is the al3r-tic
a OCI to earrect intelligens.) of Interevt to the
watch Comittee or indicating the nese**
emergency aetiol on the highest levels, XI c
hIghly were of its rasponelbflitir of avoladini,
OCI should also be
administrative staff.
temptation to have toe
administrative staff is only
6 receptionists, 4 engaged in
twist. This atoff Us aU houseto
the *Mee and maintains its persone and
tidos 1.011ticial euIPPert !Sr OCI, CCI e y anti
Liaison Staff, 'which in addition to llama enctio
with other offiess in the Agoncy oust keep boo men
practically on tell?tine duty at Arlington
a total of only three .1sople end ens secretary; int
its Cpecial Support atvinicria ir1i Tur Nocitons
within 041 of an Offloo of Oolloctien and ablieni..n." ion,
whieb is resoonsablo for OCI eosamiostienas
officers and couriers and for estsitilishinC, ;Ixti
grating sposial aid collateral rewirseents
*pmtss with a total personnel ef 46 of whoa ,)1.44." ?
for example, real and route all the row 1nte1l14,--alto
reports aced% into the office.
It is possible, se Ledicat.ed b
tue of streaaliaing the sulainistra
OGI bag been serried so far that certals
have been created,
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r:
8* IVIONVOSES
1. Althor4tY
A weaknees in OCI is the liatation -1po.1 t1.4
authority of Aj/CI in dealing with other A41:1q7
Assistant Directors IQ discharge hie reeponsIbili4
for the security and develqpment of apecia1 aenui
tiara intelligence. This weaknese massy frorite
historical few., tnat the work of this offioe with
relation to CWINT nes formerly done by an i1417be
comasittee which was part of the Director's 6taff.
This eammittees, outraaking other offices, 1M ell
to assert the authority 'high is necessary cefarT-.
Cvard =INT, ROW these fuectioas are on ami
level identical with that of other offices. A pr&-
posed new net cf regulation*, prepared by Ur. bea-ar
and reviewed by the endersigned, will solve this
problem if acceptable to DCX.
2, Liaited_Knowledie
An laportant weakness in the intelligence prc-
duction of CIA is the limited secrp. of
meteriall particularly about Soviet Russia, wlv-cch
is received. Of course, this is essentialli a
irecknea$ of the collecting offices but there are
two cleaves of saterial available within Govaruact,
which 041 does lot receive and wILleh it ehould .urct
namely, (a) memoranda of interviews in the 34ate
Department with returning ambassadors and dldlooat_c
personnel and (b) military miorte (operatialal da t).
A alppeland,Effectivejorkipg 144 .744 0+
No comment can be made en this problem Iltiti3
after the aurvey of OKI but it is clear tlEru :IF, a
lack of coordinction.
A Recnzed No. 2 Lai?
The abeence of a staff officer 'to is reconi.--id
ae an adavate substitute for AD/CI should ary-11+
happen to him is a weakness of the office.
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I Al t
OCT it ooncerned about sectrity aknesset,
AFak. Thit question has not boon investigated, tIcluarl
it involver reeponsibility for MA, a larger citesticl
beyond the scope of this survey, upen which AD/CI hoe
briefed the: Director.
Puplicatiops
It is possible that OCT is blieation hurp7".
The Chief of the Publications Board spends all of hL
time condutting editoriel board meetings. tict
the material is sc hastily PreP trod that it reethos
this Board without adeqoate editing. The Chief and
the editorial staff shoold have time to edit fcr
before PUblicatlor Board meetincs, to leave for the
Board on4 questions of substence. One of the pulic
tics1 the Current Intelligence Review, is so colnlaiiy
an edtboris.j and research effort that it woUld sees
logically to elong in ONE or ir ORS. The istolln e
it unea in really not *errant. AsetTmente -lade
weeks in advance of publications.
001471.1CS
APSA
001 depends very largely on 001-10 intern
and bee the oecurity responsibility for such, i
once. Yet it has no control of Am and Cita(
assign priorities as to the tref tic ATA shoi
authority to riquest sore field positions or
nine, :Or example, whether we should seek to i troo:
clandeetine traffic, i.e. traffic of agents of other
countries. This problem, however, goes beyond the
scope of this survey.
2. Fpr4.4PRE
A real threat to the capacity of OCI to fictiui
as rewired br the Ageney in involved in the
move of Ar$A to -tort Knox. The problem involved herc,
too, is beyond the scope of this +survey and 19 not
elaborated upon here beeause of the understazit t;=a-
the Director has been thoroughly briefed upon this
question and is ocaversent with all the problems
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Me se sae very highly Minx'
tali* of pe el in the Office of urre7t
Liceneo on 311 te lower eebolone as yell sz.:
staff and division chiefs, The Deputy to V*
soma to be a first class adminIstrat*r bot it so141,1
mem to thie urtiersigned that It Aould grent4 itreiVA i,urt
the office if there Acre another high level officer
handing, for exairler the Polley and Liaison
mitt, the orwitv to Ube over el/ the dutitc tf
AD/CI, The Chief (If the reelligenee Staff f
Nil;v be (and appears to be) such a thtre
Li a cvalenees in the office em this *list
octinemi tho trio es attention of AD
Athseomendelion
That AD/LI selact his 4e,
as a 'an capotle ct replacing
IkVi
This section consists' A $Jre 3t&Uta
*nu Liaise* Staff; Administers It&Te
Special 114-oort alvisios, 25dfiolest comment tao
bees made above Alth respect to this part o( tts
A change is being made in the Chief of tho
tires nail and the Polio and Idalson surf is sor
headed on a temporary basis, but by a mon
mho impressed the underelghed ag 1nt01110112
appresiative ot the problems of his nfficm,
a
itmatatim
The DID/C1 ;lad the admini
in hand, lo recormomistianse
17
four tiers
Vitiri
Ise and
ably
I at trv.
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two prineipal
offs, the Putliceti Boer(
25X1 I land
he Soviet Strategy Staff under
25X1 These men are all good, able,
gents imaginative and devoted to their Jobe.
R4Ognmenfation
None necessary.
bliaktonp Poard
WI publishes (1) the Current Inteill
Review. issued On Wednesdays' (2) Ourrant
gon*4 DwIletims issued daily i_(3) the Situt
3ummary1 issued weekly on Prsdayss (4) the Dcily
Digests of which there are Uwe's.: one Top Socret
one cable supplonsnt end one code supplererti
weekly .able ovippleamat for the Director ard
atonal special items. This somprises a very cubstii:
publication prouren6 In the 'miter's opinisil the
Current Zstellicence 1.eview iv not truly a 01-rou,
intelligence publication. se supra, B.f.
Ropefatiqp
a. That an effort be node to permit a lierber
of the editorial board to do t rewrte
as to farm, an all mat al before the
Board meets to consider it, ?here - an
experioneed newspaperman on the Board
sepals) of deing this jot T.111
would shorten the work of the Board, and
give the divisies chiefs, who mpet'ITith
the heard, end its ehainiant more
time to think,
,indor
L-n?te:
b. That consideration be given to
the Weekly Review as a vieeickTa
it every taw 'treeing or only when
opinion of the editorial board Lt
thing to say.
N.B.
bo thinki
but oontinuod
Linen
uid be
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This staff& operatinc t5i4er a sienemer, ei
telligenee from a unctional ancle tad
hart and long run indicator* oui 4:leek
tinG Soviet orbit capabilities and inten ion-
frou the politioal& economic and military points 01
t also publishes the Weekly Situation
an all-scuree factual revival without commit, of I G
week's intelligence reporta. rhe dummy is set v7 o
Wednesdey afternoon and edited Thureday afterzoon d
evening, but it is organised to include intalice:4-
received right wo to publication time and has fre-
quently been changed at the last minute for stop -Tr
items. The staff consists of three in the Chieff
offices four in the political field, three An the
economic field, three in the military and too In A'
others, It is the on board in OGI which ana1yv4
its intelligence from a functional point of view
rather than on an area beast This is the pri7m17-
distinction between the 50viet Strategy Staff myi
the Soviet Divialom in ?CI& the Soviet Division
being merely a concentrated area desk.
The Chief of the Intelligence starCI d
like to rollers the Soviet Strategy Staff of ita
publication duties and use it at * research staff t
anakyze intelligence information roeeived in past
periods from the point at view of hypotheses cd
by the indicator Cheek lists. The thoucht is to
the suggested 4potheels to escertainwhether the
indicators provide a patters which really dots s
future Wien, By sueh analysis it is he?ed to ffs.,
cc cc id.
Lie!
on,
ligent
outwohether action Ohlah alresdr hai taken
have been predicted from the IV the int*
questions cumulatively strengthen the indit
followed on the *heck list, This is an int
approach to the problem of analysing the As ing of
current intelligence but it does not seem to the
undsreigeed that this effort mould requir tke attx
of the (satire Soviet $trst.gr .taf,
Eacemmenciation
It is suu7ested that the Chief
one assistant mork on the above *
for six sontha and be relieved of pub
ciuring that time& turning the respoasibili
tuation Review over to a selected =siker
ogru
dutit I
or a i
the r
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Tunction f.
The org4nisation chart of OCI provides fur
Functional Divisf.on to r-roduce all souree CILrli?ent,
intelligence for all areas on a fUnctional tecLa.
This divieion ben not boon moaned, howerix, atu1
sot operating, and does not seem to be necenorca77.
Issorvendlition
That the Functional Division be aboliz
7. Situttion,Dlvision
The Uitnation Division m*Lntaine the Sitruion
ROOM 'Oda is used as a iseetini: Pleas by the:
tions Board and where selected Intelligence in con-
vertod Into graphic form, It is the Situetion L'ixt:Aort
whirl conducts the biameekly briefinga givan oth,r
offices or the Agency. In the main, then hr_fl.'231,..7-.
are * rehash, with graphie aides of the
in the the Elituation Suarlary.
The use of graphic aids. naps end ohsrta ceu11
be very helpful in the work of the Agony,ti: Li
in saving time and giving a clear picture to t...be ro,ple
in the hichar echelons who are not -markingvh the
yes material of intelligence VI:apt in .its ottted ;el
published form, Properly the !situation Roma vlic!:ad
adjaeont to the Director's office rid all stet:7J'eLig
end P1C meetings Should be held in the Situation 11.0{1,,
'whore a aspic amps and charts would ;ire
substanee to the significance of sone of tht; prolaai,s
diseassedo It in realized that this is ingrygtiozzi
under our present bousing conditions but it !--u
$o that it my be considered if the situation evtr
changed.
At present the Situation %con arid tht
held theroin do not set** any really preduotive r:Air ?e
in tbe Away accept to build reerale by 4'rix4; a pi tur*
of the over-4LI enarent intelligence problem and 1_1! -
duction tea Assistant Directors and their depuen o
are werkibg in other fields. For lack of nargioliero Lie
amebic portmals have not been }ant up anti are at
;Invent Vittle sore than is availabla in atv rt A-3
sagas the.
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JB 34,m4ation
That the needs of t1 Ajercyter
eerved if the regularly
reduced, at least for a peri, aaI prLL7 Aphasi_
Le placed on pre7xaring the aharts* *ape auld other
graphic Wide stlieh should be included in the ',1tuet_on
tome Special liefg, when important new spiicie
situations arise or when uniquely Informed talatt
available, should be continued.
8. Area Deekip
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Some con erat-on was givnn te the qecet:_on of
whether a pight shift would be desirable cm tho area
desks to keep the work more upwto-date. At ths2eiIt,
it is thoucht that very little would be gaiaed by tn.;
and such weuld te lost by dividing tle work et the 'Dalin
chiefs. This is c questfon which would desem meet LAcr?-
tlot if the volume of current iutelligenoe Asterial
sObstantially in the future as a result of either an 14
-
pension of 030 or a substantial expalsion of ovr
stations.
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Recomsenealio
The recommendation above Alkr to
gtve the area chiefs more time to a
in their divisiont. The only basic no
divisions is note manpower,
ntlart liedden
tits era: 1
titlo*rk
tht arta
4-
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