Security Organization and Function in Predecessors to CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04007A001000010014-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 25, 2001
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: August 13, 1970
• Content Type: MEMO

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13 August 1970
MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW
SUBJECT: Security Organization and Function in
Predecessors to CIA
1. On 11 August 1970, , a division
chief in the Dissemination Branc en ra e erence Service
(DDI/CRS), was interviewed at his office, G-H-0922, Head-
quarters Building (Ext. 5310). is completely coop-
erative with the purposes of inquiries concerning the subject
matter. From his memory, and some reference to a few of
the Historical Project materials, he gave the following relevant
information:
a. He started employment with COI in April or May
1942; ;first was in the Budget and Finance Office, and was
transferred to the Security Office in late 1942 or early 1943.
By this time, COI had become OSS, and he left OSS in August
1943 to enter military service, having re-employable rights
in civilian employment with OSS. After his discharge from
the military in March 1946, he returned to employment in
SSU, which had replaced OSS. He was employed by Security
Office of SSU beginning in April 1946, at which time CIG was
in the formative stage. On either October, or November 16,
1946, he received a personnel notice transferring him from
SSU to CIG. In CIG he was assigned to the Security Office
of OSO. He continued on into the Security Office of CIA and
has been with the Agency continuously since that time, having
transferred from Security to OCR.
b. When he went into the Securit Office of I, the
25X1A9a
Chief there was
who had had such
25X1A9a
position for some period of time.
He recalls
UAi
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SUBJ: Security Organization and. Function in Predecessors to CIA
sonally, and that neither 25X1A9a
h
of men of prominent New es w om e new
as a sincere and hard-working man who came from a manu- 25X1A9a
facturin -ownin family in the New York area. He believes
worked for S_
sibly as his assistant, an recalls that 25X1A9a
also came from a family of prominence and good background
of the New York area. He said that COL. WILLIAM J. DON-
OVAN, who headed COI and the OSS, had come from a Wall
Street legal firm, brought into the organization quite a number
h k er- 25X1A9a
had had any previous security experience o whic
was aware.
c. He did not know any naval lieutenant who was or
had been Chief, Security Officer of COI, and doubted that 25X1A9a
the Security Officer of COI during his time
there, was a naval lieutenant. (The OSS History states:
"Donovan appointed an experienced naval officer, already
attached to COI in a liaison capacity, as the first Security
Officer.") He said there was a Navy Lt. at the 25X1A9a
Security Office, but he was not the Chief.
d. He was in the Physical Security Section or Divi-
sion of the COI Security Office, the Chief of which was U. S. 25X1A9a
Army also, from a New
York family known to Col. DONOVAN; 25X1A9a
an attorney at Washington who since had died; 25X1A9a
who after she married was 25X1A9a
and continued in the Badge Office of the Agencc for many years 25X1A9a
and only recently retired; and a woman name pos- 25X1A9a
25X1A9a
sibly the wife of a man who became an Ambassador.
came into the Physical Security Office 25X1A9a
in July or August 1943, just before he left to 25X1A9a
enter military service.
e. His physical security duties were preparation and
issuance of badges. The COI bain use when he came there
was a light-metal pin badge, about 1 1/2" x 2", containing a
E tug ~ irfin ~;.to~tatt~
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SUBJ: Security Organization and Function in Predecessors to CIA
small face photograph, the initials "COI," and possibly a
number. He is hazy in recollection as to whether or not
it was required to wear this badge openly within the COI
buildings, but from the fact that it had a pin for attachment
to one's clothing, he assumes it was intended, at least
originally, for such use. These badges were purchased
under contract from some company, and The Badge Office
added the photograph to them.
f. With the start of OSS these badges were changed.
The new OSS badge or identification was a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"
laminated half-length photograph, containing nothing more.
The Badge Office had a laminating heat press machine and
the clear plastic sheets, as well as camera equipment, to
produce these badges. These badges were not worn openly
with the OSS buildings, and had no pin or clip or opening
for a chain to allow such wearing. They were kept in one's
wallet or pocket, to be shown to gain entrance to a building.
g. While his chief function was badging, he did some
work on safes, such as changing safe combinations. So far
as he knows, the Security Office kept no record of the com-
binations; the safe custodians only keeping records of them.
The safes were old ones; Mosler 2-drawer, Remington-Rand,
Mosler one and two-door, and bar-lock cabinets. The locks
were three-way combination ones, usually Yale. There were
no "manipulation proof" combination locks, those familiar
ones of Sargent and Greenleaf not coming in until years later.
He recalls that many of the safes were not very good ones,
and that some of the combination locks had three discs on
"tumblers" that fitted together with small nubs and holes
(instead of small grooves around the disc), so that they could
be set only every five numbers or so, cutting down very much
on the n umber of possible combinations, and hence making
it comparatively easy to open them without knowledge of the
combination at which they had been set.
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SUBJ: Security Organization and Function in Predecessors to CIA
h. He recalls getting chairs to set up in one of the 25X1A9a
25X1A9a large rooms for , probably for security lectures
_was going to give. He made no physcial security sur-
veys or inspections of buildings, and knows of none that were
made. There were no grilles on the windows of the COI
buildings, except ossibl on those of the basement of Central
25X1A9a Building where had his TSS-type operation. 25X1A9a
Neither nor anyone from his office went to any
COI or OSS facility outside the immediate Headquarters area.
i. The physical security offices were in "Q" Building.
He had been in North Building with Budget and Finance and
recalls that the construction of Temporary "Q" Building cost
OSS, just under a million dollars. The project was started
under COI with a planned larger building, one additional wing,
at an estimated cost of a million and a half, and when OSS
took over, it cut down on the size and the cost.
j. When he came back from service, OSS was out Of 25X1A9a
b
i
d h
d b
d
d b
us
ness an
a
een succee
e
y SSU.
had left the Security Office, as had his successor
25X1A9a
The Chief of the Security Division of SSU was
25X1A9a
told him he was not going
to send him back to physical security but was going to make
an "all around security man" of him. He was sent to the Per-
sonnel Security Section, where he took over the job of ~
who was going on vacation. His work there was
almost entirely giving security exit briefings to former OSS
personnel whose services were being terminated. He no
longer had anything to do with physical security work.
k. He said that at this time in 1946, although he
worked for SSU, the new CIG was being formed. He referred
to who is in the State Branch of the
Documents Division of CRS said she
started on 1 October. 1941 in COI in its Central Mail Room,
and under OSS, worked for its Secretariat, then the Services
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SUBJ: Security Organization and Function in Predecessors to CIA
Branch, then OCD, and then the old ORR Reading Panel. She
said that during the formation of GIG, the Services Branch
under was moved to what is now New
State Department Building, and there the high-level group
forming CIG had their offices, but had to move out to North
Interior Building for a while before coming back to 25th and
E Streets as CIG.
1. continued that later on, in 1946, he was
transferred to Security Office of the Office of Special Operations
(OSO) of CIG. At the beginning, OSO kept itself completely sep-
arate from the rest of CIG, this being to the extent that the mem-
bers of the Security Office he joined called themselves not the /1LVA Af1-
Securit Office of CIG, but the Security Office of OSO.
was brought into OSO o head 25X1A9a
this security unit, and his Deputy wa , under
whom worked. They kept apart from the new securit
staff being formed by CIG, but finally Lt. Col. 25X1A9a
became the head of CIG Security and was made
25X1A9a M. Referring to the CIG Security Regulations of 15 August
1947, said that he did not know who had prepared these,
and had had no part in this himself.
n. As to Executive Order 10290 of September 1951 (which pre-
ceded EO 10501), said this had provided for the words 25X1A9a
"Security Information" to appear with the classification category, and
was an innovation. He believes there was a previous E.O. on the same
subject of safeguarding of classified material, as he recalls having to
insert this provision in the similar Order they previously had been
using.
o. did not recall
Security Branch of OCD which the latter had headed.
p. stated that, sofar as he recalled, the PBA
guards were not under the jurisdiction of the Security Office, either
when he started with COI and into OSS, or when he returned and was
with OSO under SSU. His memory was that the guards seemed to
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SUBJ: Security Organization and Function in Predecessors to CIA
come along with the buildings and such control of them as
was exercised was by whatever offices took care of the
buildings and the space requirements,
2, The interview a n ded without going into fur-
ther matters about which might have information, 25X1A9a
and it was agreed that there would be a further interview at a
subsequent date, by which time he might be able to locate some
old records of possible relevancy.
W 25X1A9a
OS Historical Sta
OS/HS/
25X1A (13 Aug 70
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