LETTER TO THE HONORABLE ALBERT C. HALL FROM RICHARD HELMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82M00531R000400010027-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 22, 2005
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: September 22, 1972
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For Release 2005 RETIA-RDP82M00531 R000400010027DCVIGV.2- 07 35'
The Honorable Albert C. }all
assistant Secretary of Defense
(Intelligence)
Room 3E Z82
The Pentagon
42 SEP1972
Executive Regiatx
Your letter of 12 September 1972 concerning the COINS system
was most timely and I agree that a review of the total interagency
information handling problem is needed. Since the dominant part of
the system is operated and funded by the Department of Defense, as
you point out in your letter, I believe that it would be appropriate for
your office to conduct the review. The Department of State and CIA
also have an interest both in the system and the product, and for this
reason I believe your office should conduct this review under the
general auspices of the Intelligence Resources Advisory Committee.
The fact that COINS i i now an operating system which carries
certain files that are of varying degrees of usefulness to users in the
community is recognized. The push behind COINS up to the present
time has come, however, from the technical system developers and a
thorough evaluation of the usefulness of the system from the standpoint
of the people who need and use the data has not been conducted. The
Information Handling Committee of USIE has delayed such an evaluation
because technical deficiencies in the system have made such an
evaluation too difficult but COINS has now reached a stage of develop-
ment where such an evaluation should be practical. It is hoped. that
your review will focus on this problem of user requirements. To put
this another way, I would suggest your panel be composed at least as
much of consumers as systems developers.
Present and soon to be operational collection systems for both
SIGINT and photography will place additional requirements on the
community- for information net' rork~. development. As you are aware,
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studies are now under way in both of these areas which should give
us a better understanding of what these requirements are. The
review should draw from and complement these two studies.
Bronson Tweedy's office has available to it some funds allocated
by 0MB "for expenses related to development of an agreed interagency
plan for a computer-based information exchange system to be implemented
in 1974 and subsequent years. Your review of COINS and the broader
questions of the extent of operation of such a system before we consider
fully the question of im.plernentation" would certainly be an appropriate
charge against these funds, if you should require there.
CIA will, of course, provide a representative to your review
group. In addition I have asked Bronson to be in close touch with you
on this matter and to provide you with infor-nation you may require
from the Information Handling Committee or other community organiza-
tions. I also have asked him to work out with you arrangement,$ for
IRAC participation at the appropriate time.
Sincerely,
Ric-a HeIMS
Richard. Helms
IC:RT:dm (20 Sep 72)
Distribution:
0 - Addressee
1 - D/PPB
& C/CCG/IC w/basic
1-DCI
1 - ER via DDCI
1 - IC/ RT chrono
Note to DCI: As you can see, we are
suggesting Hall do the job--under IRC.
I feel perfectly satisfied to have it
handled this way, if you agree.
Bronson Tweedy
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