AT CIA: BADGES AND ARMED GUARDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880110-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 2010
• Sequence Number: 110
• Publication Date: February 11, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880110-4
FAIRFAX JOURNAL
11 February 1985
At CIA: Badges and armed
uards
BynASLAN FOGG
Jour writer
How tight is security at the seclud-
ed CIA headquarters in Langley?
It's so tight that government
guards recently confiscated film
from a photographer who was stand-
ing in the median of Route 123, tak-
ing pictures of the guardhouse.
It's so tight that guards in blue
blazers and gray slacks line the en-
tranceways during rare public events
on the compound.
It's so tight that they won't even
tell you how tight it is.
Security at the 22-year-old intelli-
gence agency's headquarters is the
most extensive of any building in
Northern Virginia, even the Penta-
gon, local officials say.
Not surprisingly, CIA officials
won't say much about security pre-
cautions taken at the 219-acre com-
pound or in the agency's seven-story
building. They won't say anything
about any high-tech toys that are be-
ing used. They won't say how many
guards work there (last year there re-
portedly was a shortage of 100
guards, though). They won't even
say how many employees of all types
work there.
"That information could help peo-
ple working against us," said Kathy
Pherson, director of CIA media
relations.
Pherson will say that only agency
employees showing badges and visi-
tors with appointments to see em-
ployees are allowed past the gate-
houses on Route 123 and the George
Washington Parkway. Armed guards
stand watch at the gatehouses. for
The same restrictions apply
employees and for visitors who ride
into the compound on the 5S Metro-
bus line.
Approved visitors driving in are di-
rected to a parking area, then to a
large foyer and a waiting room. Em-
ployees meet guests there and escort
them around the building.
President Reagan attended
groundbreaking ceremonies for a
new building in the compound last
year. Invited guests had to call in
their names, Social Security num-
bers and car license plates in ad-
vance for clearance. They also
passed through a metal detector be-
fore watching the ceremony.
Outsiders were not allowed tQ take
pictures inside the compound during
the ceremony. Neither were pictures
allowed in 1983, when CIA officials
held a meeting to talk about the new
building with McLean residents.
Journal photo by Tracy Woodward
Sign on George Washington Parkway marks approach to CIA headquarters in Langley.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880110-4