IMAGERY SUPPORT TO INTERDISCIPLINARY ANALYSIS

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP82T00285R000100210003-9
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
4
Document Creation Date: 
December 12, 2016
Document Release Date: 
February 8, 2002
Sequence Number: 
3
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Publication Date: 
June 2, 1978
Content Type: 
MF
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PDF icon CIA-RDP82T00285R000100210003-9.pdf245.95 KB
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~? ~ ,~ ~~ ~--~ ,~.~s p~-fir-" Approved For Relea~002/06/14: CIA-RDP82T00285R000 1 MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director, National Foreign Assessment Center a THROUGH Associate Director-Management, NFAC SUBJECT Imagery Support to Interdisciplinary Analysis 1. The recent proposal by Maurice Ernst to create a petroleum analysis center i,n OER has focused my thinking on the question of haw the Office of Imagery Analysis can best be integrated-into NFAC efforts at indisciplinary analysis, One thing is clear--this question is inseparable from the larger issue of how PJFAC can most effectively use the major analytical assets that exist in the talents and expertise of OIA. When the issue is considered in this broader context, I believe-- for reasons that I will try to explain below--that the interests of NFAC will be best served by having the imagery ingredient of in pli.nary ana"lys~s provided by OIA analysts operating from rather than moving them to .other locations. ~~ 2, My major concern about movin o r l g u ana ysts out ofd involves an issue that is fundamental to tFre effective managernent of OIA. Some background probably is required to mak e my concern under- standable. I arrived in OIA about i8 months ago and soon came to the conclusion that the potential contribution of the Office to NFAC intel- ligence production programs was far greater than the actual contribu- tion. The reasons for the shortfall were many and complex, but could be summed up by two closely related factors--morale acrd communications. Although there was great pride in the quality of the Office's analytic capabilities, the lack of effective and constructive communication at both the working and managernent levels between OIA and other NFAC components created a general uncertainty about what kind of work the Office was supposed to be doing and why. That is, there was no gener- a lly understood purpose or organizational identity to provide the kind of motivation that people need to work most effectively. The conununi- cations gap also contributed to a genera'1 sense of being unappreciated. 3. You and other senior NFAC managers have given us a great de a'1 of help over the past 18 months in establishing an organizational purpose and identity that people find professionally satisfying. I think that OIA people are now convinced that their main purpose in life is not to look aver the shoulders of their NPIC colleagues in hopes of finding mistakes, but rather to perform the much more positive task of using their skills to ensure that imagery is making as much of a con- Approved For Release 2002/(~f,~-14,:yC>4A~RDP82T00 x i v~ii,..~s alr 25X1A 25X1A Approved For Release 2002/06/14 C1A RDP~~2T00285R00(f1'd'(~~'d~i-9 ' SU[3JECT: Imagery Support to,Inter~disciplinary Analysis tribution as it can possibly make to the solution of the most important intelligence problems facing NFAC. Making things actually work and. giving the message lasting credibility, however, requires more than just the right words--it is essential- that the wards be accompanied with concrete actions that result in more meaningful substantive communica- tions with other C1FAC analysts. Things have to happen to convince people that they really are part of the action and-have an important role to play, Some of the obvious things that would contribute to this end we can't do much about--like move the Office ~to Langle.y. But, we have done some things that I think have- had a os~itive effect. For example, we have been working with to modify the ex- ploitation requirements system in a way a sou d stimulate more communication,- and we have developed and iven a series of 3 day imagery orientation courses for analysts in OFiZ, ~SR, OSI-and OWI. f'devertheless, we still have a long way to go. 4. It is against the background of this kind of management problem and challenge that I must assess PRaurice's proposal to organizationally and physically relocate imagery analysts for the petroleum analysis problem, and concludethat it would be counterproductive. On the one hand, it could convey the message to-my people that when an intelligence problem is really important and it requires an imagery input,. OIA can't be trusted to do the job right--the imagery analyst must be put under the immediate control of another organization. On the other hand, it squanders an important appar?tunity to establish prc*cisely the kind of interoffice communications that we need to work most effectively. 5. There are same intelligence problems where the need for a high quality imagery input is very clear and these problems therefore force the kind of communication we need. There are moray more intelligence problems where an imagery input could be just as important, but where the need for such an input is nowhere near as clearly perceived. I am convinced that it is essential for us to exploit these problems where the headquarters analysts must came to the imagery analyst to establish general patterns of doing business. I have seen a recent example of this spillover effect in the directed energy analysis effort and know that it works very effectively. (before we got directly involved in the interdisciplinar?;y effort with OWI and OSI there was a great deal of resentment by my people and a great deal of dissatisfaction with our work on the part of OST and OWI analysts. A year ago you and I were both getting complaints from OSI and OWI. The situation now is almost completely turned around because people are really talking to each other about a broad range of analytical prob1err+s to be solved in addition to the directed energy problem.} --2- 25X1A Approved For Release 2002/06/1'4 i4~-F~D~82T00285R000100210003-9 o,l' .., i ~. s.. ~;,.%~~m w~. OIA-53/78 SUB~C~ove~1 For Relea 002/06/14: CIA-RDP82T00285R000~?210003-9 magery Sup ort to Interdisciplinary Analysis 6. The second major argument against moving analysts out of is that it simply isn't necessary to achieve the desired o ~ectives. Presumably, there are two major objectives of bringing together analysts from the various disciplines. First, it fac ilitates the kind o~F substantive exchange and communication necessary to solve the intelligence problem at issue, and, second, it ensures. control of the resources. 7. As I argued above, in order to work most effectively, we need the. kind of substantive communication that is achieved by co-location of analysts for all of our anal,ytica1 effort. A respectable case probably could be made that it would be better if all our analysts could be co- located with their colleagues in headquarters, but we siniply can't do that so we have got to identify and develop methods for strengthenin g communications between the organizations as they exist. With regard to the resource cgntrol issue, I would point out that, unlike the other production offices in NFAC, OTA has no important constituency other than NFAC components.- Our analyti-cal effort is dedicated almost exclusively to PJFAC--that is why- OIA was created. There is no need to move people in order to guarantee that the resources will be available as needed for important interdisciplinary analysis. 8. There are several current examples which demonstrate that OIA can participate in interdisciplinary analytic efforts very effectively without moving people out of the building. .The tfrree most important are: the RDT&E resources effort (a group where the analysts all have been co-located except for the imagery analysts); the directed energy effort (none of t:he analysts have moved from their home offices); and the-civil defense effort (an organizational modality somewhere in between the other-two). Please note that far all three efforts, imagery plays a significant role. 9, The final argument I would make is that scattering imagery analysis around NFAC is likely to be an expensive way of doing business. There are indications that we have already gone farther in this direc- tion than makes sense. We were- recently asked by OGCR for help in developing a mensuration capability needed for the narcotics analysis effort. Specifically, we were asked to provide some older comparators that have been surplused. We had planned to give these comparators to service imagery organizations, I understand that OGCR is also negotiat- ing with'NPIC far use of a Mann comparator and for the provision of hard wire access to the NPIC computer. Frankly, I don't th-ink this makes much sense. Is it really efficient or necessary to create an inde- pendent mensuration capability in OGCR? If the imagery analysis being conducted in OGCR"is sophisticated enough to requ~lre comparators and NPIC c te ompu r support, then it probably should be conducted in not Ames, - 3 25X1A Approved For Release 2002/06/14: CIA-RDP82T00285R000100210003-9 r~a " ?~~' OIA-53/713 Approved For Rele~s ,, 2002/06/14: CIA-RDP82T00285ROOQ,~,Q0210003-9 SUBJECT: Imagery Support to Interdisciplinary Analysis 10. This has been a long rnernorandum. I apologize for that, but think that importance of the issue justifies its length. I feel strong- ly about this and would be remiss if I did not articulate ray views. Noel E. Firth Director Imagery Analysis Distribution: Original - Addressee 1 - NFAC/OGCR 1 - NFAC/OER 1 - NFAC/OIA Extra copies to: D/NPIC C/IEG/NPIC D/ORD 25X1A Approved For Release 2002/06/14: CIA-RDP82T00285R000100210003-9