REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AT THE SIS PROMOTION AND AWARDS CEREMONY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP95-00535R000300010001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 12, 1988
• Content Type: MISC

r Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/09: CIA-RDP95-00535R000300010001-2
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REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AT THE SIS PROMOTION AND AWARDS CEREMONY
12 JULY 1988
It is a great pleasure to recognize the achievements of our senior
managers today, and I am especially pleased that so many family members and
friends have been able to attend this promotion ceremony. I try to take these
occasions to report on what has happened over the past several months. I
can't think of a more appropriate occasion or an audience I would rather
address in making such a report.
I cannot remember, in the ten years I have been in Washington, a time when
there have been so many regional developments and problems surfacing almost
simultaneously -- the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the arms control
initiatives, all the problems in Central America, the emergence of the
People's Republic of China as a major arms supplier -- a whole range of issues.
This is an extraordinary time for us as leaders of the Central
Intelligence Agency. I am proud of our success in providing accurate and
timely intelligence to our nation's policymakers. And I am also proud of our
work in helping implement U.S. foreign policy through the use of covert action.
Before recognizing your individual achievements, I'd like to spend some
time today considering what we as an agency have been able to accomplish over
the past year. I'd also like to talk about where we are headed.
Our combined efforts have produced impressive results. And nowhere is the
contribution we have made more evident than in our support to the Afghan cause
and in our work in the area of arms control. By the terms of the Geneva
accords, 50 percent of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan will leave before
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August 15th of this year. The rest will withdraw by mid-February, 1989.
Despite recent Soviet threats to reexamine their withdrawal timetable, we
still believe that by next spring Afghanistan will be free of Soviet forces.
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In addition to successfully meeting the needs of policymakers, we have
taken steps to improve the efficiency and security of our own efforts. The
Office of Information Technology successfully moved the Agency's computer
systems to the new headquarters building over the Memorial Day weekend. This
office has also begun operation of a Cray supercomputer, which has been
estimated to run scientific applications more than 20 times faster than IBM's
largest mainframe computer.
The Foreign Broadcast Information Service has nearly completed automation
of the handling of news from foreign media. It is now possible for analysts
and policymakers to receive more information on fast-breaking developments
sooner. Live coverage of many foreign television services is now available to
Headquarters analysts through the FBIS television center.
The development of the National Exploitation Laboratory over the past year
has provided a focal point for government agencies and contractors involved in
the exploitation of imagery.
The Office of Training and Education has dramatically expanded overseas
trdninn Since 1985 the number of students trained abroad has increased form
-- an increase of more than 1,000 percent.
And the Office of Personnel has expanded our minority recruitment efforts
in colleges and universities. The office has begun an undergraduate
scholarship program for minorities and has increased contacts with groups in
business, trade, and government to help minority recruitment.
The Office of Security assumed responsibility for the protection of all
Agency buildings in the Washington area in January -- a major undertaking.
The office also established a security awareness program and briefed more than
agency employees on current security issues. In addition, a briefing
specifically designed to alert people to the Soviet espionage threat to
security representatives throughout agency contractors, as well as to
Lotthe Intellioence Community.
industry has been given to over_____
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Another important part of our agenda for the next few months will be
coordinating the move of Agency components into the new headquarters
building. I visited the new building a few days ago, and those coordinating
the move appear to be ready. And this is a major task, made all-the-more
difficult because the move must be successfully accomplished while we continue
such efforts as modernizing our telecommunications network, automating our
support systems, and developing the Reston complex.
There are a number of other formidable challenges we face in the months
ahead, not the least of which are fiscal constraintg. As senior managers, we
will have to continue making difficult decisions in order to maintain
high-priority programs and to undertake new programs to satisfy future
intelligence requirements.
We must also continue to strengthen our internal management and provide
opportunity for all our employees. Six months ago, I appointed Bill Donnelly
to head the Office of the Inspector General. At that time, I increased the
authority of the office and the size of the investigative staff. We are
staffing this office with our most talented, highly rated GS-15 through SIS-3
officers from across the Agency. And I want to emphasize that I view
successfully serving on the Inspector General's staff as a key assignment
leading to more senior positions in this agency.
I am pleased that we have stepped up our minority recruitment efforts, but
there is still much to be done. I want to see more minorities in the middle
and senior levels of management.
I firmly believe that it will take all of our talents to accomplish the
goals we have set for ourselves. The exchange of intelligence and operational
information produces sound ideas, a sense of mission, and teamwork. Units
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Counterintelligence Center are examples of what we can accomplish by combining
the talents and expertise of officers from all the directorates. We have
shown that this can be done without, in any sense, losing sight of the mission
and responsibilities of your home offices.
There is much ahead of us, and I depend on your leadership and expertise
as we address the critical issues facing us.
During the next several months we will have to continue to monitor closely
the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and its effects on that country. We
will also have to provide insight into what Gorbachev's emphasis on "new
thinking" implies for his own country and, indeed, for the world.
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We will have to be sensitive to greater instability ahead in both
democratic and authoritarian countries and to political changes that could
affect U.S. interests. In the Far East, for example, the stability of the
Philippines continues to be a major concern. And in South Korea, which is
troubled by internal dissent and the threat of hostile action from the North,
we need to be even more watchful as the Olympic Games in Seoul approach. In
the Persian Gulf, we can expect political infighting to intensify when
Khomeini dies.
Other issues which will demand our attention include international
narcotics trafficking; increased turmoil in world financial markets;
proliferation and use of advanced weapons, particularly in the Middle East;
and the impact of the spread of AIDS on those countries hardest hit by the
disease.
Perhaps most important, we must prepare to serve the intelligence needs of
a new administration taking office in January, while continuing to meet the
needs of the current administration. No matter who is elected our next
President, we will have a new group of intelligence consumers next year. And
that, without a doubt, will be no small challenge.
I am most impressed by the talent, initiative, courage, and dedication of
our people. I have seen the effect our work has had on the nation's policy,
and I know of the contributions we have made to the cause of freedom around
the world. 1
All of you being promoted today have demonstrated the qualities that have
made this the finest intelligence agency in the world. The American people
are well served by having you in the Senior Intelligence Service. And I
congratulate you all.
.S9NElattrifiL
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