NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL STRUCTURE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R001003870069-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 7, 2007
• Sequence Number: 69
• Publication Date: February 25, 1981
• Content Type: REGULATION

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WASHINGTON
NATIONAL SECURITY DECISION February 25, 1981
DIRECTIVE NUMBER 2
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL STRUCTURE
I. National Security Council
The National Security Council (NSC) shall be the principal
forum for consideration of national security policy issues
requiring Presidential decision..
The functions and responsibilities of the NSC shall be
as set forth in the National Security Act of 1947, as
amended.
. The NSC shall meet regularly. Those heads of
Departments and Agencies who are not regular members shall
participate as appropriate, when matters affecting their
Departments or. Agencies- are considered.
The Assistant to the President for National Security
-Affairs, in 'consultation with the regular members of the:
NSC,-shall-be re-sponsible for determining and publishing the
agenda and ensuring that the necessary papers are prepared.
Decision papers shall be approved by the President and shall
be disseminated-by the Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs.
II. NSC Responsibilities of the Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is my principal foreign policy
advisor. As such, he is responsible for the formulation of
foreign policy and for the execution of approved policy.
I have assigned to the Secretary of State authority
and responsibility, to the extent permitted by law, for the
overall direction, coordination, and supervision of the
interdepartmental activities incident to foreign policy
formulation, and the activities of Executive Departments and
Agencies of the United States overseas. Such activities do
not include those of United States military forces operating
in the field under the command of a United States area
military commander, and such other military. activities as I
elect, as Commander-in-Chief, to conduct exclusively through
military or other channels. Activities that are internal to
the execution and administration of the approved programs of
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a single department or agency and which are not of such
nature as to affect significantly the overall US overseas
program in a country or region are not considered to be
activities covered within the meaning of this Directive.
The Secretary of State is responsible for preparation
of those papers addressing matters affecting the foreign
policy and foreign relations of the United States for
consideration by the NSC.
III. NSC Responsibilities of the Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is my principal defense policy
advisor. As such, he is responsible for the formulation of
general defense policy, policy related to all matters of
direct and primary concern to the Department of Defense,'and
for. the execution of approved policy. The Joint Chiefs of
Staff are the principal military advisors to me, the Secretary
of Defense, and the NSC.
I'haveassigned to the Secretary of Defense authority
and responsibility, to the extent permitted by law, for the
overall direction, coordination, and supervision of the
interdepartmental activities relevant to defense policy
formulation.
The Secretary of Defense is responsible for preparation
of those papers addressing matters affecting the defense
policy of the United States for consideration by the NSC.
IV. _NSC Responsibilities of the Director of Central Intelligence
The Director of Central Intelligence is my principal
advisor on intelligence matters, responsible for the formulation
of intelligence activities policy and proposals, as set
forth in relevant Executive Orders. I have assigned to the
Director of Central Intelligence authority and responsibility,
to the extent-permitted by law and Executive Order, for the
overall direction and coordination of the interdepartmental
activities incident to intelligence matters.
The Director of Central Intelligence is responsible for
the preparation of those papers addressing matters affecting
the intelligence activities of the United States for consideration
by the NSC.
V. Interagency Groups
To assist the NSC. at large and its individual members
in fulfilling their responsibilities, interagency groups are
established as described herein. The focus of these interagency
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groups is to establish policy objectives, develop policy
options, make appropriate recommendations, consider the
implications of agency programs for foreign policy or overall
national security policy, and undertake such other activities
as may be assigned by the NSC.
A. The Senior Interagency Group -- Foreign Policy
(SIG-FP)
To advise and assist the NSC in exercising its
authority and discharging its responsibility for foreign
policy and foreign affairs matters, the SIG-FP is established.
The SIG-FP shall be composed of the The Director of Central
Intelligence; the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs; the Deputy Secretary of State (Chairman);
the Deputy Secretary of Defense or Under Secretary of Defense
for Policy; and the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Representatives of other Departments and Agencies with
responsibility for specific matters to be considered will
attend on invitation by the Chairman.
The SIG-FP will:
1. -'Ensure that important foreign policy issues
requiring interagency attention receive full, prompt,
-and systematic- consideration;
2. Deal.with interdepartmental matters raised
by any-.member or referred to it by subordinate inter-
.agency groups, or, if such matters require higher-level
consideration, report them to the Secretary of State.
for decision or referral to the NSC;
3. Assure a proper selectivity of the foreign
policy/foreign affairs areas and issues to which the
United States applies its efforts;
4. Monitor the execution of approved policies
and decisions; _and
5. Evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of
interdepartmental overseas programs and activities.
A permanent secretariat, composed of personnel of the
State Department augmented as necessary by personnel provided
in response to the Chairman's request by the Departments and
Agencies represented on the SIG-FP, shall be established.
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B. The Senior Interagency Group -- Defense Policy
(SIG-DP)
To advise and assist the NSC in discharging its
authority and responsibility for defense policy and defense
matters, the SIG-DP is established. The SIG-DP shall consist
of the The Director of Central Intelligence; the Assistant
to the President for National Security Affairs; the Deputy
or an Under Secretary of State; the Deputy Secretary of
Defense (Chairman); and the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Representatives of other Departments and Agencies with
specific matters to be considered will attend on invitation
by the Chairman.
The SIG-DP will:
1. Ensure that important defense policy issues
.requiring interagency attention receive full, prompt,
and systematic consideration,
2. -.Deal with interdepartmental matters raised
by any member or referred to it by subordinate inter-
agency groups., or-if such matters require higher-level
consideration, report them to the Secretary of Defense
for decision or referral to the NSC; and
3. Monitor the execution of approved policies
.and decisions. ..
A permanent. secretariat composed of personnel of the
Department of Defense augmented as necessary by personnel
provided in response to the Chairman's request by the Departments
and Agencies represented on the SIG-DP, shall be established.
C. The Senior Interagency Group -- Intelligence (SIG-I)
To advise and assist the NSC in discharging its
authority and responsibility for intelligence policy and
intelligence matters, the SIG-I is established. The SIG-I
shall consist of the The Director of Central Intelligence;
the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs;
the Deputy Secretary of State; the Deputy Secretary of
Defense; and the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. The SIG-1
will be chaired by the Director of Central Intelligence.
Representatives of other departments and agencies will
attend on invitation by the Chairman when such departments
and agencies have a direct interest in intelligence activities
under consideration. .
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When meeting to consider sensitive intelligence collection
activities referred by the Director of Central Intelligence,
the membership of the Committee shall be augmented, as
necessary, by the head of each organization within the
Intelligence Community directly involved in the activity'in
question. When meeting to consider counterintelligence
activities, the Committee shall be augmented by the Director,
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director, National
Security Agency.
.The SIG-I will:
(1) Establish requirements and priorities for
national foreign intelligence;
(2) Review such National Foreign Intelligence
Program and budget proposals and other matters as are
referred to it. by the Director of Central Intelligence;
(3) Review proposals for sensitive foreign
intelligence collection operations referred by the
Director of Central Intelligence;
(4) Develop standards and doctrine for the
counterintelligence activities of the United States;
-resolve interagency differences concerning the implementation
of counterintelligence policy; and develop and monitor
-guidelines, consistent with applicable law and Executive
Orders-,- for the maintenance of central counterintelligence
records;
(5) Consider and approve any counterintelligence
activity referred to the Committee by the head of any
organization in the Intelligence Community;
(6) Submit-to the NSC an overall annual assessment
of the relative threat to United States interests from
intelligence and security services of foreign powers
and from international terrorist activities, including
an assessment of the effectiveness of the United States
counterintelligence activities;
(7) Conduct an annual review of ongoing sensitive
national foreign intelligence collection operations and
sensitive counterintelligence activities and report
thereon to the NSC; and
(8) Carry out such additional coordination;
review and approval of intelligence activities as the
President may direct.
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A permanent secretariat composed of personnel of the
Central Intelligence Agency, augmented as necessary by
personnel provided in response to the Chairman's request by
the Departments and Agencies represented on the SIG-I, shall
be established.
D. . Regional and Functional Interagency Groups
To assist the SIG-FP, Interdepartmental Groups
(IGs) shall be established by the Secretary of State for
each geographic region corresponding to the jurisdiction of
the geographic bureaus in the Department of State, for
Political-Military Affairs, and for International Economic
Affairs. Each IG shall comprise the Director of Central
Intelligence; the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs; the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the
appropriate Assistant Secretary of State (Chairman) and a
designated representative of the Secretary of Defense.
Representatives of other Departments and Agencies with
responsibility for specific matters to be considered will
attend on invitation by the Chairman. The IG for International
Economic Affairs will,-in addition to the above membership,
include representatives of the Secretary of Treasury, the
Secretary of Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative.
The Assistant-Secretaries of State, in their capacities
as Chairmen of-the IGs,: will assure the adequacy of United
States policy in the areas of their responsibility and of
the plans, programs, resources, and performance for implementing
that policy.,,They-will be responsible for the conduct of
interagency. policy studies within the areas of their responsi-
bility for consideration by the SIG.
The Regional IGs also shall prepare contingency plans
pertaining to potential crises in their respective areas of
responsibility.. Contingency planning will be conducted
under the direction of and in coordination with the Chairman
of the Political-Military IG.
To deal-with specific contingencies, the IGs will
establish full-time working groups which will provide
support to the crisis management operations of the NSC.
These groups will reflect the institutional membership of
the parent body, together with such additional members as
may be required to respond to the contingency with the full
weight of available expertise.
To assist the SIG-DP, IGs shall be established by the
Secretary of Defense to consider interdepartmental activities
of direct and primary concern to the Department of Defense
and defense policy.
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To assist the SIG-I, IGs shall be established by the
Director of Central Intelligence. The IG for Counterintelligence
shall consist of representatives of the Secretary of State;
Secretary of Defense; the Director of Central Intelligence
(Chairman); the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs;. Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Director,
National Security Agency; and a representative of the head
of any other Intelligence Community organization directly
involved in the activities under discussion. Additional IGs
.may be established as necessary.
The operational responsibility or authority of a Secretary
or other Agency Head over personnel from the Department or
Agency concerned serving on IGs -- including the authority
to give necessary guidance to the representatives in the
performance of IG duties -- is not limited by this Directive.