WORK REPORT

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7
Release Decision: 
RIFPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
6
Document Creation Date: 
November 4, 2016
Document Release Date: 
September 6, 2000
Sequence Number: 
35
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 15, 1984
Content Type: 
LETTER
File: 
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PDF icon CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7.pdf352.68 KB
Body: 
TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Work report Swann, Consultant DATE: 15 April 1984 1_9CATION: SRI, NY 1. The following constitutes a report on the overall work achieved in the training program 1 January through 30 March. 2. Beginning With 1 January 1984, a great part of the training program was moved to SRI NY. Prior to the commencement of work, and with regard to obtaining appropriate rooms at the NY office, considerable upset was experienced, leading to a small delay in beginning the work which might have begun two months earlier. Eventually, however, the rooms were secured. Because of confusions between SRI office management and the contractors in the building, it became necessary for me to engage a'separate contractor to complete the changes desired by the client. Finally, during the week of January 14, the painting, installation Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7 Dr. H.E. Puthoff of appropriate lights, etc., was completed. 3. The NY rooms were designed to be a duplicate of those chambers designed at SRI. Certain smaller changes were made. The walls are a slightly different color; the lights in the viewing room are of.Pfull spectrum" quality; and a good negative ion generator was placed in that room. As a result, all the trainees claim that this set up is nicer than the one at SRI, indicating that these small changes configure to help establish an even more optimum (psychologically) environment than that at SRI. Since we have great interest in just what kind of environment the trainees can most competently exercise the benefits of their training, these comments are given for the record. Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788R00150011.0035-7 Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788 R001500110035-7 4. S4 training completion: The client.preselected trainee (TM) who began S4 training during the second week of December 1983, completed the requirements of S4 on 22 March 1984. As you are N aware, this is the first opportunity that we have had to train another candidate on the materials that we believe comprise 54. Because of this, I was very careful to monitor the daily reports and to oversee his progress during training with particular attention to determining whether or not our designed materials for 54 were a natural increment on the other stages. we have managed to isolate. 5. While I did expect to encounter some difficulties, in fact none at all were encountered. With the possible effects of the upsets acquiring the rooms initially (which the trainee surmounted with .great elan, due, probably to his own abilities at maintaining productive poise in,the midst of difficulties), the S4 work progressed without faults and without any upsets at all. The cumulative progress of the S4 training is to be found in the trainee's own daily reports, copies of which will be forwarded to-you shortly. 6. Originally, I had extimatel 8-10 working weeks, with appropriate rest and consolidation time interspersed, for completion of a S4 training series. The completed S4 training of this particular trainee falls well within this estimate. 7. As you know, the simulated sites selected for S4 training are of a complexity that is such that the trainee must a'tess information that would not generally be available to him if he were actually viewing the site from the physical characteristics made available through our Sl-S3 techniques. Thus, these selected simulated sites Approved.For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788 R001500110035-7 -3- Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7 are those of considerable complexity. This particular S4 trainee used up 31 simulated training sites, the last seven of which led to accurate descriptors of the site's major functions, as well as to other particular and associated site-information. Judging against the strict standards that I believe should be imposed, then this trainee arrived at the culmination of S4 with a particular excellence. 8. As you are aware, the usefulness and workability of S4 can not and should not be predetermined within our own competency. The trainee and the clients were, therefore, requested by myself in advance of the training to quickly have this trainee produce work in their own house that might or might not quickly establish the efficacy of the training here. To my understanding, this has already been done or is in process, and the comments I have heard are positive. 9. T believe it is appropriate here to comment overall on the character and nature of this particular trainee (TM). I recommend that we forward to the client our congratulations on this product of their selection methods, which are, apparently, excellent. In all instances, and even under certain project hardships, this trainee exhibited what can only be rated as high and professional demeanor throughout. He was able to apply himself at all times with the utmost of intellectual accuracy to all the tasks and training drills that were encountered. He was able to perform even all the tedous drills necessary, to maintain his performances within the standards that have been inbuilt into the training model, and, finally, to emerge at the other end of the training with new and consolidated aptitudes. While we do not, of course, yet have enormous numbers from which we might draw comparisons, it should be stated to the client that in the case of this trainee,'he exhibited the least of Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7 Approved For Release 2001/04/02 :_PIA-RDP96-00788 R001500110035-7 difficulties, if we compare his performances to those few we have, including my own. In addition to his professional poise, this trainee was, as-a person, always considerate of the problems at hand, and a pleasure to interact with.. I believe that these traits, although not uncommon, yet are rare enough, especially in our field which has a history of demonstrated antagonisms, personality clashes and unwillingness to comprehend the subtle natures of esp and psi, that this trainee must in some form constitute an ideal model for future selection procedures. 10. New trainees: As of January 1984, four new'clientpreselected trainees embarked on the difficult training procedures of Si, phase 1. The first two weeks were held, at the client's request, at SRI Menlo Park. Due to the importance of four selected,' highly intelligent and qualified individuals incoming as a group, I took the opportunity to redeliver all the lectures person, with a view to tightening up the overall procedures. 11. Each of the four new trainees (CC, BR, PS and ED) exhibited from the outset great interest and enthusiam for thework to be undertaken, and this interest only grew as they began :to become familiar with the implications implied by the training sequences. From the outset, no problems have been encountered and the work at the SRI office has. proceeded in quietude and peace. These trainees are invited, as is usual, to comment on the daily procedures in their daily reports. 12. Each of the four trainees has since completed S1, phase 1, and are embarked on phase 2. As we are all now aware, Sl is probably the most difficult of our designed stages, due mostly to the fact that in addition to understanding the mental processes involved, the trainees must for the first time in their experience bring them also into objective use. The following chart illustrates the beginni.n.g, completion and number of simulated sites required for each trainee: Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7 Approved For Release 2001/04/02 :SGIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7 Start cc 19 Jan 84 PS Completion 27 Feb 84 29 Feb 84 22 Mar 84 27 Mar 84 With regard to the above statistics, it is clear that two more simulated sites than the other two. is natural to Sim-sites used 26 26 interpret this fact as meaning that two had a harder time of it than the other two. This interpretation is to be definitively discouraged. The difference in the amount of simulated: sites necessary only reflects that before consolidation of the new and emerging .aptitude, a greater "noisy" period was encountered. It has been my overall experience as training monitor to find that each trainee is different, and that each trainee will enperienceua "bulky" noisy sequence somewhere in the. training line;. and that this major noise will not always occur at the beginning of Si. Within the training procedures as we understand them., therefore, whether one person uses up numerous or few sites during the course of any given training sequence means nothing at all. Since we can monitor the progress through the learning curve, we can anticipate the "turn over" into consolidation and thus the emergence of a new level of ability. Each of the four new trainees performed therefore along the lines of our expectations, and did so admirably. 13. Each of these new trainees is considerably different from the rest, but all have several things in common: an apparently high intelligence, a quick grasp of fundamentals, diligence in pursuing the repetAtive training tasks necessary, and, on the personal level, open and pleasing personalities. 14. I should like to take this opportunity to ask you to forward to the client'my personal appreciations at this time. It goes without saying that I am gratified they have confidence in the work at hand, and have undertaken, the oAppM Je6LF --R IW 'e 12001104&Z ~"CTAARD 6i iO 8 0U_ O144 -5-i'nd I hope Approved For Release 2001/04/02.6-CIA-RDP96-00788 R001500110035-7 that my personal appreciation will, at this time, be entered into the written record. In addition, since the outset of all this work was not without its rather enormous upsets, I hope you will inform the client that I am personally grateful at this latter end of the work that they have taken utmost new care to help ensure the peaceful progress of the work at hand. This has not gone unnoticed by myself, and it is due to this development that we can say and see that the work overall proceeds without enturbulation; when, indeed, at times in the past, we had begun to wonder if it ever could. 15. In closing, I wish also to extend to you personally, as well as to the relevant people at SRI, my appreciation for making available the rooms at SRI NY. This has indeed made my life easier, but also it has enabled us to ascertain that the training work can and does have an integrity that suggests it is transportable, and that it can go foward in environments other than: those at SRI Menlo Park. Cordially yours, 1;4 A-4- CW Ingo Swann Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001500110035-7