BUDGET CYCLE FOR THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82M00531R000400230007-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 18, 2009
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: February 8, 1973
• Content Type: MFR

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SECRET/SENSITIVE 8 February 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Budget Cycle for the Intelligence Community
One of the DCI's concerns must be the early establishment of some
orderly and well thought-out community wide process for setting
priorities and allocating resources. I have been concerned for
some time about getting the DCI's position of increased responsibility
for the community established on firm ground and working to affect
the ~ammunity management improvements we both know to be needed.
One of my main concerns has been that the NIPM and the Planning
Guidance, two documents which should play important roles in the
DCI's leadership of the community, are, in their present form, not
useful for the purpose.
CRITIQUE OF THE NIPM/PG
The NIPM was a very poor document with a number of serious failings:
-- It was not useful as a budget, since. it did not
contain adequate breakouts of funds, nor descriptions of
the budgetary base, nor justification for requested changes.
-- It was not useful as a policy or planning document,
since it skirted around critical resource allocation issues,
failed to relate priorities to programs or decisions in any
meaningful way, and failed to address alternatives and
tradeoffs.
-~ It was not clearly addressed to anyone in particular.
- - Its messages were muffled by style and presentation,
and seemed mostly to be advocacy of CIA. programs.
The Planning Guidance was somewhat better, in the sense that there
were fewer things in it that were just wrong, and in the sense that
NSC review completed.
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there is probably a role for a similar detached, philosophical document
in the planning process. However, it has several failings also:
-- It is a "mixed bag,' containing material apparently
aimed at long-range planning, but also advocacy of present
systems and programs.
-- It, too, is not addressed to anyone,
-- It does not assign goals or responsibilities,
-- It is written in such a way that it would be impossible
to take anyone to task for failure to comply with its provisions.
-- It does not invite discussion or provide for modification.
Taken together, the NIPM/PG do not seem to fit well together, or to be
part of a well thought-out process aimed at specific objectives.
I believe that the requirement for the DCI to prepare a consolidated
budget and to accept broader managerial responsibility for the community
entails a responsibility to insure adequate planning and programming in
support of the budget. .This, in turn, implies the need for some sort of
planning guidance that is directive in nature, for a formal exchange of
views between responsible agencies to sharpen issues and smoke out
problems, for some kind of decision document to wrap up the arguments,
announce selection among the alternatives, and assign clear-cut
responsibilities to specific agencies.
POSSIBLE YEARLY BUDGET CYCLE
What I am suggesting is that the community should go through a PPBS
cycle analogous to the one used by McNamara at Defense. There would
be some significant differences, however. I do not believe it would be
necessary to control reprogramming as rigidly as McNamara did.
Also, instead of using a faintly bogus device like Draft Memoranda for
the President, amore credible stamp of authority could be attached
to DCI resource decisions affecting DOD, State, and others, possibly
by the NSC. How this would work is not clear to me and requires
further thought.
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The cycle, as I see it, would begin early in the calendar year, say
in February, with a document containing specific planning and pro-
gramming guidance, originated by the DCI. This document would:
-- State the major objectives of the National
Intelligence Program.
-- Identify the programs which support these
objectives.
-- Relate resource inputs to programs.
-- Project programs and resources into the
future (five years).
-- Identify major problems and issues arising in
achieving the objectives with the programs and resources
projected.
-- State feasible alternatives and trade-offs within
resource constraints.
-- Propose solutions to existing and emerging
problems based on analysis of the alternatives.
This document would then be placed before the IR.AC for discussion.
Parts of it dealing with objectives and priorities might also be taken
up by the NSCIC, but the IRAC was established to serve as a forum for
the discussion of resource allocation issues within the community. It
has not thus far been used for this very effectively, but the opportunity
now exists. The views of the IRAC members would be taken into
account, and the DCI would then prepare a de{.vision document for
forwarding to the NSC and the President.
-- Contain the same basic information as the planning-
programming document concerning objectives, programs
and resources, but amended to take account of the preceding
dialogue.
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-- Highlight major unresolved issues and areas
of disagreement.
-- Discuss major alternatives for the resolution
of remaining issues.
-- On the basis of this analysis, select desired
alternatives and indicate responsibility for execution.
This decision document should be available about the end of July.
The next step would be budget preparation. The DCI staff would prepare
a consolidated community budget based on the decisions just made and
approved for the budget year, and on detailed information from various
member agencies. The budget would be reviewed by the IRAC, amended
as needed, and made available for review in October. The D_CI staff
would be the principal actors in negotiations with OMB, with support
as required from the other agencies.
I believe at some point in this process, possibly in December, when
the budget review is well along, the DCI should write a fairly concise
memorandum for the President summarizing the budget, indicating
remaining or emerging major problems and issues, and conveying
some sense of how the community is doing as far as cohesiveness of
effort and general movement toward the objectives are concerned.
Finally, there should also be some sort of long-range planning guidance
paper which the DCI would prepare for comment by the IR.AG and the
NSCIC. This document would address probable future changes in the
international environment, the implications for the intelligence effort,
and the general directions in which current programs should evolve to
meet future needs. This document should probably come out in the
early part of the year.
REMARKS
Obviously some agreement with Defense as to how the community
budgeting and programming process relates to the Defense process
is crucial. Community wide budgeting might be done on a less detailed
basis than that used within CIA, DOD, etc. , and used as a control
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on these budgets. Also, IRAC should design appropriate studies of
key issues that arise, and the DCI could arrange to have them carried
out. Sorne decisions in IR.AC or ExCom should be binding on all
parties. Possibly not all decisions can be taken in those arenas,
however.
In any case I see a role for four DCI documents, along the lines
specified above.
SECRET/SENSITIVES
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