MINUTES OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING, 7 NOVEMBER 1979(Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85-00988R000500060009-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 11, 2003
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: November 16, 1979
• Content Type: MF

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Committee Members
FROM
Secretary, Executive Committee
1 6 NOV 1979
SUBJECT . Minutes of Execut' ommittee Meeting,
7 November 1979
1. The Executive Committee met on 7 November 1979 to review.
NFAC's work to date in identifying critical, long-range intelligence
problems and suggesting mechanisms for tackling those problems.
(Mr. Carlucci chaired the meeting; Messrs. Clarke, Dirks, McMahon,
and Lipton were present; Mr. May represented Mr. Wortman; and Mr. Ware
was not represented. Messrs. and Huffstutler of NFAC also
attended as observers.)
2. Mr. Clarke highlighted the rationale for identifying critical,
long-range intelligence problems and NFAC's efforts to date in this
area. He noted his office directors: initial skepticism regarding
this project, but said he would meet with them again next week to
develop a new set of candidate problems and to consider how to proceed
from there. He noted his preference for an approach other than the
PCP model, and Mr. Carlucci suggested that the question of whether. or
not to adopt the PCP approach was not relevant to the problem at hand.
3. Noting that he did not think NFAC had allocated enough resources
to long-range problems to date, Mr. Dirks said that he was glad to see
NFAC focusing on this important issue. He emphasized and Mr. Carlucci
concurred in the importance of including the DDO and the DDS&T in this
effort. Mr. Clarke suggested that 12-13 candidate problems would
probably be more appropriate than two or three as suggested in Executive
Committee guidance or NFAC's initial list of 35. He added, however,
that NFAC had not yet developed the criteria for identifying critical,
long-range problems. Mr. McMahon agreed that if the DDO were to put
increased emphasis on collecting against such problems, the list of
35 would have to be refined considerably. Mr. Lipton suggested that
NFAC should zero in on a few illustrative critical problems that differ
from the ones being addressed today to determine what their impact would
be on the Agency's organizational structure and its allocation of resources.
Mr. Carlucci said that a manageable number of top-priority problems
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should be considered and the intrinsic importance of those chosen would
determine the amount of resources to be allocated to solving them. He
noted that he had an open mind regarding an a ro riate organizational
structure for attacking these problems.
4. Mr. Itraced NFAC?s efforts in producing an initial
list of 35 candidate long-range, critical intelligence problems. He
acknowledged that NFAC was not yet ready to identify those problems
against which the Agency should make a substantial resource investment.
He therefore recommended that NFAC concentrate on developing a process
to identify appropriate problems rather than on identifying the problems
themselves. He suggested that after further consultation with NFAC
office directors, two-three representatives from each production office
could be selected to develop a target list of about a dozen problems,
suggest the two-three problem groupings that warrant high-level attention,
and, in conjunction with DDO and DDS&T, look for the common collection
activities inherent in the problem set. Mr. Carlucci cautioned against
prejudging the collection structure required to attack the target problems.
Mr. Dirks emphasized the need for an institutionalized process to deal
with a range of critical, long-term problems on an ongoing basis--a
process that would require a continuing dialogue and more interaction
among the directorates. He also cautioned against becoming discouraged
by the apparent intractable nature of some intelligence problems.
5. Mr. Carlucci asked NFAC to intensify its efforts to identify
candidate critical, long-range intelligence problems and to be prepared
to zero in on two-three of them for the Committee to track how the intel-
ligence process should work. He asked Mr. Clarke to report back to the
Committee in January. II
6. Mr. Huffstutler briefed the Committee on NFAC's research program
on Soviet Military Policies and Forces in the 1930's, a multidisciplinary
effort that exemplifies the long-range research and production plannin
NFAC hopes to do in the future. Mr. Carlucci adjourned the meeting. I
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