NIO COMMENTS ON THE STEERING GROUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91M00696R000200020039-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 21, 2004
• Sequence Number: 39
• Publication Date: June 23, 1976
• Content Type: MF

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 U UT U L A h L
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SP - 107/76
23 June 1976
SUBJECT: National Intelligence Steering Group
The following are general comments on the draft Memorandum of Under-
standing on the National Intelligence Steering Group:
a. In addition to the responsibilities contained in the Memorandum
of Understanding, the Steering Group should assume cognizance over
national intelligence production problems and issues which may or may
not be related to a specific production proposal. For example, there
are national intelligence production problems concerning Soviet civil
defense and ASW. Also, the PFIAB complaints about NIE 11-3/8 might
well have been handled by the Steering Group as a national intelligence
production problem with implications for the intelligence community
which go beyond the preparation of NIE 11-3/8. It is recommended that
the draft Memorandum of Understanding be expanded to cover in very
specific terms these additional responsibilities.
b. To be most effective, the Steering Group should not meet only
to consider a specific production proposal. The NIO/SP, for example,
will be submitting for the review of the Steering Group a six-month,
or longer, program of interagency research projects. I recommend that
the Steering Group encourage other NIOs to submit plans for interagency
projects as far in advance as possible to permit it to review national
intelligence production on more than a case-by-case basis. This would
not preclude Steering Group review of the terms of reference and
tasking plans for each production project.
c. It is not clear from the draft Memorandum of Understanding
whether the production program of the WSSIC, STIC and JAEIC are to be
reviewed by the Steering Group. I suggest that issuances of the DCI
substantive intelligence committees be regarded as "Interagency
National Production Below the NIE Level."
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SP - 107/76
SUBJECT: National Intelligence Steering Group
d. The monitoring of the "national and departmental intelligence
workload," as called for in the draft is nearly an impossible task
under present administrative arrangements. There is simply no means
for knowing what finished intelligence has been produced, let alone
what is being planned.for production (the attached memorandum
SP-17/75, "Finished Intelligence on Strategic Programs," addresses
the problem in more detail). The Steering Group might well undertake
to establish a central register of finished intelligence as suggested
in the attachment. However, notifying the Steering Group secretariat
of projects involving research is not a feasible approach to establish
such a register.
e. The section of the draft Memorandum of Understanding covering
how the Steering Group would function calls for a very informal format
for its activity. I believe the degree of formality in the functioning
of the Steering Group will depend on how it implements its responsibi-
lities. It is not clear from the draft Memorandum of Understanding
exactly what the actual work of the Steering Group will be. If the
NIOs have properly prepared and coordinated their terms of reference
for interagency products and their production programs, the actual
work of the Steering Group will likely be problem oriented. If the
Steering Group reviews each detail of the terms of reference prepared
under NIO auspices the Steering Group will in effect substitute for
the coordination role which should be performed by the NIO. In any
case, I recommend the section of the draft covering how the Steering
Group will operate be made more general, allowing operating procedures
to evolve as the functions of the Group become clearer.
Assistant National Intelligence Officer
for Strategic Programs
Attachment:
SP-17/75 dtd 14 Feb 75
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Office: of the Director
SP -- 17175'
14 I ebruary 1975
i;:?'0}La}!}:)U~4 }=OR: F_xecutive Assistant to the Deputy for :iayionai
Intelligence Officers
SUBJECT: Finished Intelligence on Strategic Programs
1. Attached is a bibliography of intelligence products on Soviet.
ICBMs. It shows that 424 finished intelligence products were issued
during the period January 1973 to June 1974. An additional 64 articles
in periodicals were listed because they were considered substantive rather than transient event reporting..
2. I am forwarding you this bibliography because I believe it
dramatically demonstrates what I believe is a major managerial problem
for the MIOs and the IC Staff. It required more than six months merely
to compile the bibliography, which shows the lack of a central reference
for intelligence products and the inadequacy of bibliographies maintained
by many agencies.. Compilation of lists of -finished intelligence planned
for production would be an even more difficult task.
3. I know you are aware that in attempting to oversee the production
of intelligence, the N10s and the IC Staff are missing a managerial
mechanism for telling us what is planned for production and ::hat has been
produced. It is not only the NIOs and IC Staff who are disadvantaged. I
believe we would introduce some production efficiencies merely by making
intelligence managers at all levels aware of community-wide production
programs.
4. It is possible that all of the some 500 reports on ICi3'vis listed
in the bibliography might.be attributed in one way or another as
contributing to several KIQs dealing with ICBMs. I'm sure the candidate
list-of production responses to our present KIQs on IC&MIs will be of
lesser inagni tude, but may still be too long for detailed analysis and
evaluation.
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SI1iJCC'T: Finished Intelligence on Strategic i'rocIrams
5. We are all aware of the lack o 1= a system by which the DCI can
manage i n t:el 1 i Bence coi;,nu.n i ty resources. In whatever form that system
evolves, a mechanism for knowing what has been produced and,what is
planned for production would be a basic requirement. Therefore, action.
to establish such a mechanism now would not be lost motion.
6. I recommend that the D/DCI/id10 stimulate the establishment of
a system for recording in a central location all finished intelligence
produced and to be produced. This is it job which I believe should be
undertaken by the IC Staff in collaboration with the ASD/I. I see this
. as it difficult task, one involving reporting problems, bureaucratic
prerogatives and one which will probably raise more concerns than
optimistic expectations on the part of intelligence managers. There
, eliminate needed products,
will be fears that it will expose duplications
bring about central direction of intelligence production, provide a basis
for Congressional reviews and will ultimately have resource implications.
One-time efforts of this kind in the past raised just such concerns. In
any case I believe the Intelligence Community must get on with the task-
Assistant National Intelligence Officer
.for Strategic Programs
Attachment
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MEMORANDUM FOR: D/DCI/NIO
SUBJECT Comments on Draft Memorandum of Understanding
re National Intelligence Steering Group
1. By and large, simple, sensible plan. Only two quick
reactions.
2. Paragraph la. "Cognizance" is probably a good term, being
loose and flexible. But the question does occur; is all interagency
cooperation to be subject to pre-approval by this group? The occa-
sional crash job or small ad hoc project of a bilateral sort ought
not to require endorsement by this group. Very rarely someone asks
for, e.g., a joint CIA-State job and it would be undesirable to pub-
licize this fact or give DIA a voice or veto. The same might work
in reverse (e.g., a CIA-DIA job) though I know of no instance of this.
And to require every cooperative venture to be pre-approved -- no
matter how tight the deadlines or informal the cooperation -- would
be burdensome to the working group and to the steering group as well.
Perhaps this goes without saying, at least on paper.
3. Para raph_iii. This could require a lot of extra work and
bookkeeping. Is it necessary? Can't the groups just trade schedules
of work in progress -- which all agencies maintain?
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National Intelligence Officer
for Western Europe
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MEMORANDUM FOR: D/DCI/NI
1. I have no problem with the intent of the draft memorandum
of understanding. As a lawyer, however, I believe that the exception
provisions should be made a little clearer. The only explicit one
in the draft as prepared is at the end of b.ii on page 4.
2. In red ink I have suggested two new additional sentences,
one at the end of a.ii and the other at the end of a.iii. The reason
for the latter is that quite a lot of projects involving "research"
are conducted by CI Staff and other elements of the DDO, which I do
not believe the DCI would want to report to the entire Steering Group.
NIO ME
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Dick Lehman
SUBJECT National Intelligence
Steering Group
I'm concerned that the Draft Proposal gives
more power to the Steering Group as a group than
may be desirable. It seems to invite an inhibit-
ing posture, either through veto or delay.
I have redrafted subsections (i) and (ii) to
place the burden on the members of the Group
rather than on the Group itself.
I don't understand the purpose of sub-
section (iii). Nobody's research plans are ever
fully carried out. Submission of plans to the
group seems like an un roductive June 76
exercise. FDATE)
NIO/E
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OFFICIAL USE ONLY
i. National Intelligence Estimates. Once the
Director of Central Intelligence has authorized a specific
estimate, the appropriate NIO will supervise the prepara-
tion of the estimate's terms of reference and circulate
these to the members of the Steering Group. The members
will then review the terms of reference and the NIO's
recommendations as to drafting responsibilities for con-
tributions to the estimate. Any member of the Group who
perceives serious problems in meeting the resource demands
of the terms of reference will seek to resolve the conflict,
in the first instance, by discussion with the NIO, and
failing this, by submitting the conflict to the full
membership of the Steering Group.
ii. Interagency National Production below the NIE Level.
Requests for products having major resource implications will
be similarly reviewed. The NIO's proposal for handling such
requests will be approved by D/DCI/NI only after all members
of the group have been notified and have been given time to
comment if they wish.
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