HISTORY OF THE OFFICE OF TRAINING 1945-1949

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02445544
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 49
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: July 2, 2019
• Case Number: F-2016-01723
• Publication Date: May 1, 1969

Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Maw
111111P
IWO
SS Historical Paper
No. OTR� 2
SUPPORT SERVICES
HISTORY
(ME OF PAPER)
HISTORY OF THE
OFFICE OF TRAINING
(Pum)
1945 � 1949
DO NOT DESTROY
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
ONO
NOTICE
I. This historical paper is a permanent part of the Support Services History and
may not be destroyed.
2. It is included in the "Catalog of Support Services Histories" maintained by the
Support Services Historical Board.
3. If this document is moved from the office of control appearing on the front of
this cover, the Chairman of the Support Services Historical Board should be
notified of the new office of control.
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
HISTORY
of the
OFFICE OF TRAINING
1945 - 1949
Prepared by: Robert B. Shaffer, May 1969
Approved by:
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I Outline of Organizational Changes (1945-1951)
CHAPTER II COI and OSS Training (1941-19).5) 4
CHAPTER III SSU and CIG Training (1945-1947) 9
1 - Training Division/SSU 9
2 - Training Branch/CIG 12
CHAPTER IV Training Staff/OSO (July 1947-Sept. 19)49) 17
1 - Growth of the Training Staff 17
2 - Additions to the Staff 20
3 - Development of Courses 21
4 - Technical and Photographic Training 23
5 - Other Courses 25
6 - Evaluations of Students 25
7 - Size of classes 27
8 - Space 27
9 - Other Activities 28
CHAPTER V Training Branch/OPC (January-September 19)49) 30
1 - The Beginning of OPC Training 30
2 - The Joint OSO/OPC Training Committee 32
- Development of the OPC Training Unit 35
CHAPTER VI Merger of OSO and OPC Training 38
1 - Studies of the Problem 38
2 - Establishment of the Training Division,
OSO/OPC 44
APPENDDC
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for iethiEi2019/06/12 CO2445544
CHAPAE I. Outline of Organizational Changes (1945 - 1951)
From the earliest days in OSS up to the present in CIA, there
has been no break in the continuity in the administration of training
for clandestine intelligence work. But until the training organization
which had survived the break-up of OSS in 1945 was incorporated into
the newly formed Office of Training (0Th) in 1951, it underwent a
confusing series of changes in name and organization which must be
summarized at this point to make the following narrative more
understandable.
10 October 1945 - Schools and Training (S&T) established in
SSU as a Branch under Assistant Director,
Intelligence. Chief: Col. Henson L. Robinson.
10 December 1945 - Becomes the Training Division of SSU, within
the Operational Auxiliaries Branch. Chief:
Col. Robinson. Other Divisions in this Branch
were: Communications Division, Cover and
Documentation Division.
17 June 1946 Becomes the Training Branch (TRB) of SSU,
within the Foreign Security Reports Office
(FSRO), with stature equal to that of the
Foreign Branches of FSRO. Chief: Col, Robinson.
11 July 1946 TRB and the Foreign Branches now under the
"A" Deputy, Special Operations, Central
Intelligence Group (CIG). Chief of TRB:
,SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
1 July 1947 - becomes the Training Staff (TRS) under the
Chief of Operations (COPS) of the Office of
Special Operations (OSO) of CIA. Chief of
TRS:
17 October 1949 becomes the Training Division (oso/opc), (TED),
organizationally placed under the Assistant
Director for Special Operations (ADS0), but
under the joint supervision of OSO and the
Office of Policy Coordination (OR). Chief of
TRD:
3 January 1951 - Office of Training established under the
Deputy Director for Administration (DD/A),
with the prinary concern of developing a
program of career training. Director (DTR):
Matthew Baird. By April 19511 DIR is reporting
directly to the DCI.
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
April 1951
leaves; Rolfe Kingsley is Acting
(b)(3)
1 July 1951
Chief, TRD.
- TRD placed
under DTR, and called Training
(Covert),
(b)(3)
is designated
Assistant Director of Training (Covert)
(AD/TRC). is designated (b)(3)
Assistant Director of Training (Overt)(AD/TRO).
8 January 1952 - Training (Covert) is renamed Training (Special)
(TRS); Training (Overt) is renamed Training
2
SECRET
3
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
CHAPTER II. COI and OSS Training (1941 - 1945)
1. The Coordinator of Information (COI) - July 1941/June 1942
Training under COI was conducted by Special Activities/Bruce
(SA/B) (predecessor of SI Branch of OSS) and Special Activities/
Goodfellow (SA/G) (predecessor of SO Branch of OSS). SA/B was
concerned primarily with preparing agents for espionage, principally
under conditions prevailing in neutral territories. SA/G training
was designed to prepare personnel for various forms of sabotage and
to establish simultaneously a program and physical facilities which
could be adapted to the training of guerrilla units when authorization
therefor should be secured. Since the Americans had had no experience
in the conduct of training for clandestine activities of this type,
they turned by necessity to the British for help. The content as
well as the general plan for these courses was almost entirely de-
rived from what officers of COI learned by attending British intelli-
gence schools.
2. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) - June 1942/0cto1er 1945
a. Organizational Administration
When COI was abolished and OSS established, the
tendency for SA/B and SA/G to find considerable value in each
other's training courses had already appeared. It thus became
evident, shortly after the establishment of OSS, that all OSS
training should be centralized within one unit, so that trainees
could secure more readily any type of training pertinent to
14
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SEC:ET
their missions. Coordination was first attempted by
establishing a Training Directorate, composed of three, then
later four, men. More effective results were achieved, how-
ever, after the Schools and Training Branch (MT) was estab-
lished on 3 January 1943, with the responsibility for Training
being placed under one individual who possessed the status of
a branch chief. Various organizational changes occurred
thereafter in an attempt to meet new administrative difficulties.
Finally: on 26 May 1944, the last major organizational change
was effected. In order that S&T might be in a position to
maintain independence in dealing with the various branches
it served, a Deputy Director of Schools and Training was
appointed who was directly responsible to the Director of OSS.
The Chief of S&T reported to this Deputy.
b. Types and Purpose of Training
Training was necessarily a complex task because of
the varied and unusual activities which OSS was undertaking.
In general, the Objective of the training was to prepare men
to work as secret agents, either in espionage (Si) or sabotage
(SO). In addition, some specialized training was offered in
the fields of propaganda (MO), counter-intelligence (X-2),
guerrilla operations (0G), and maritime operations (MU).
Although no set schedule or order of courses was
required for all men, the complete training of a secret
intelligence agent took approximately sixteen weeks. Three
5
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
weeks were spent in an intensive basic course at a secluded
site. During this period, the students gained a familiari-
zation with basic intelligence and espionage techniques,
and their aptitude as well as their security sense was tested
in a nuMber of situations, the best known being the excursions
into Baltimore and other cities for practical exercises under
realistic conditions. Some tudents went through this
course. It was followed in mo., cases by ten weeks of
communications training and three weeks or so of special
training directed at a manes specific mission.
Those OSS employees who were not destined for agent,
case officer, or paramilitary roles aid not usually receive
any training. There was no consistent policy regarding in-
doctrination or orientation for all, and training was not
provided. It was felt, for example, that no training was
needed by Research and Analysis (B&A) personnel. It is not
surprising that the small group of S&T training officers who
stayed on after the disbanding of OSS and provided the bridge
to CIA training were operationally minded, concerned solely
with the training of employees for espionage and under the
direction of the Assistant Director for Special Operations
(ADSO) rather than the DCI or an administrative officer.
In addition to conducting training courses, the
S&T Branch was involved in:
(1) The provision of required basic military
training for enlisted army men;
6
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
EC LT
(2) the establishment of assessment areas
where the capabilities of prospective trainees could
be judged;
(3) establishment of parachute schools both in the
U.S. and abroad;
(4) establishment of area and language courses
under university auspices; and
(5) supplying of instructors and training materials
for overseas posts, where a number of schools were being
operated completely independent of S&T.
c. Training Areas (Physical Establishments)
The schools varied enormously in their physical
characteristics. Some were comfortable country estates like
RTU-11 (the "farm" in Maryland), and areas E (Maryland) and S
(Virginia); some were rough CCC Camps and summer recreational
areas which were far from adequate through the cold and rainy
seasons. The latter, Areas A, B, C, and D, covered thousands
of acres of wooded and mountainous terrain in Virginia and
Maryland. Area F was in one sense the show piece of the
training areas, as it was the Congressional Country Club on
the outskirts of Washington. The only school in the Mid-west
was at area MI a former Signal Corps Camp (MacDowell) in
Indiana, where communications training was given. The schools
at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania
were typical academic classrooms and dormitories. The West
7
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
�SECRET
Coast installations varied from the Marine quarters at Camp
Pendleton, to Headquarters on Catalina Island, which were in
the pleasant buildings of what had been a private boys' school.
Also on Catalina were smaller camps housed in temporary shacks
and tents.
The East Coast training areas and their routines are
amusingly described in Roger Hall's book, You're Stepping on
Ny Cloak and Dagger. The very considerable psychological
assessment activity conducted by S&T (ove people had been
evaluated or screened by July 1945) has been completely reported
in the OSS Assessment Staff's book, Assessment of Hen. By mid-
1944, the training activity on the East Coast was diminishing
and most of the effort was located on the West Coast. By the
summer of 1945, only a small unit was left in Washington, and
by the end of the year, it had been reduced to a few individuals,
including
and
who
provided an unbroken link with future training by staying with
the training effort until well after the establishment of CIA.
8
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
f
ClikeiEti III. SSU and CIG Training (1945 - 1947)
1. The Training Division SSU - October 1945/June 1946
a. The Change-over from OSS Schools and Training
During the summer of 1945, the requirement for
training dropped off rapidly. The reduction of staff through-
out the organization was reflected in S&T, which by October had
no more than five or six instructors in the Washington area.
These instructors were located in an ola brownstone-front
building near the center of Washington; there being no students,
they spent their time writing and collecting training materials
for future use, under the general guidance of
At
some time late in 1945, MIT was relieved of the responsibility
for communications training, and from then until May 1946, the
only teaching consisted of occasional tutoring of individuals,
the instruction being very informal and geared to the particular
needs of the individual student. The Chief of Training, Col.
H. L. Robinson, had the problem of organizing and preparing a
peace-tine training program, but guidance from the branches it
mould serve was lacking; the need for training was not clearly
recognized during this transitional period. Furthermore, the
Training Division lacked space and people.
b. The Personnel Situation in May 1946
In a memorandum of 31 May 1946 to William G. Tharp
(Executive Officer of SSU), Colonel Robinson reviewed the
9
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
personnel
this time
situation at length. The Training Division at
consisted of the following:
Col. H. L. Robinson, Chief of the Training Division
Deputy Chief, and scheduled to
become Chief of Training at Col. Robinson's
departure from the organization on 1 July 1946.
Capt. E. E. Koger� Administrative Officer (about to
leave)
Chief of Staff Training
Stephen Whitney, Chief of Under-Cover Training
(expected to leave the organization soon)
J. F. Donohue, Chief of Counter-Intelligence Training
(expected to leave)
Instructor in Investigative
Techniques
Instructor for Indoctrination
Chief of Assessment
Assessment
.1.ssessment
Two clerks
The five instructors, regardless of their designations,
-worked where needed, and additionally did research, wrote train-
ing materials, maintained contacts with the operational desks,
and performed administrative duties.
According to Col. Robinson, the Training Division was
faced at this time with the following requirements: possib
10
SFRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECHET
undercover agents to be trained within six months (out of
town and in safe houses); one-day indoctrination for all
new staff personnel; a two-week intelligence course for staff
personnel; plus a considerable number of individual tutoring
jobs. Col. Robinson, who was evidently under pressure to
reduce the Training Division, contended that the Division
could not operate effectively with less people, and showed
that it could not meet all the upcoming requests, even with no
reduction.
c. The Training Offered in May 1946
The first formal course (known as SSU Intelligence
Course No. I) lasted two weeks, began on 20 May 1946. It was
presented in a room in "Q" Building for personnel above the
clerical level, and was intended to indoctrinate new people as
well as to re-orient the veterans of OSS towards the problems
of peace-time operations. The content was pretty general,
touching on a wide variety of positive and counter-intelligence
subjects. The first covert training (or under-cover training,
as it was called at that time) was first set up in May 1946.
This training was conducted in safe houses and in hotel rooms
on a tutorial basis. Although much of the material covered
was the same as that which was in the Intelligence Course, the
emphasis was put on tradecraft and reporting, and more attention
was given to security and cover. The instructors felt that
their job was made more difficult because of a lack of
appreciation of the importance of security on the part of the
11
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
operational desk officers.
2. The Training Branch/CIG - July 1946/June 1947 (TR:Bil
a. Development of the Branch up to July 1947
The response to Colonel Robinson's memorandum was
inconclusive, but at least the training unit was not reduced
in size. He did not get any guidance as to the direction that
the training effort should take; no one really knew what the
future of the organization -would be. When
took over Col. Robinson's job in July 1946, the Training Branch
was placed within the newly formed Office of Special Operations
(0S0)� with
reporting to the Assistant Director for
Special Operations (ADSO). It is interesting to note that an
organizational chart dated 12 November 1946 shows the Training
Branch equal in status and position to the African Branch, the
Western European Branch, and all the other geographic Branches.
This proximity to operations lasted only a few months and never
happened again.
In view of the expansion that was taking place in the
newly constituted Central Intelligence Group (CIG),
in July 1946 asked for authority to build up the Training Branch
to a total of
people. He was then instructed by the Director
to recruit additional instructors in view of the anticipated
growth of the organization, disregarding authorized T/0 and
simply presenting each prospective instructor as a case through
channels with confidence that employment would be approved.
12
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
Some measure of success was achieved. In a
memorandum of 6 December 1946,
Mr. Tharp that
reported to
had reported for duty as
Deputy and that the following instructors had
been added to the Staff Training Unit:
The Covert Training staff had been augmented by
been built up to a strength of
The Assessment Staff had
still being
Chief), bringing the total professional strength of the Training
Branch to
indicated that he was asking for
more positions for Staff Training and Jnore for Covert Train-
ing. He felt that this was a temporary estimate of what he
needed and could reasonably hope to recruit by June 1947.
pointed out in the same memorandum that
no statement of the extent of TRB's job had ever been given to
him, and that a clarification of TRB's responsibilities and
functions might make it necessary to ask for more or possibly
fewer people. He further said that he did not know:
the numbers to be trained in a given period
the balance between Covert and Staff Training
what responsibility, if any, he had for area
background training, overseas training,
administrative training
how many people were to be assessed in a given period
what responsibility the Assessment group had for
research, record-keeping, etc.
The extant files do not indicate that
13
SECRET
got any answer
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved fc,r2:R6lisi: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
to these questions, and it is doubtful that any answers
existed at this stage of the Agency's development.
January 1947, however, the ADSO approved a T/0 of
persons, leaving
In
vacancies to be filled. In spite of
estimated need for additional instructors, he
did not get them in the first half of 1947, the only additions
to the teaching staff being
and
The difficulty, as always in the training activity, was to
locate interested individuals who had had both operational
experience and teaching experience.
b. Development of the Training Courses up to July 1947
After the first Intelligence Course was held in May
1946, five more were given before the end of the year. As
additional subject natter was added, the course was lengthened
to three weeks, then four, and finally, five. In August 1946,
a two-week period of additional instruction was set up to follow
the Basic Course, dealing principally with special investigative
techniques and photographic training, and oriented toward the
missions and operational areas of individual students.
full-time students took the Intelligence Course in 1946.
In February 1947, the training for staff officers was
revised, and four separate courses were set up:
(1) a basic intelligence course of two weeks;
(2) an advanced intelligence course of three weeks;
(3) special training: photography, etc;
(4) a one-week indoctrination course for administrative
personnel.
14
St.'"IT'ET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
liL 1
The pattern established at this time persisted for a number
of years. The basic course contained no highly classified
material; in case some of the students were eliminated at its
conclusion. The courses continued to grow; in May 191i71 the
advanced course was increased to four weeks.
c. A Typical Month's ActiviIy: March 1947
A month-by-month description of TRB activities at
this time would serve no useful purpose. But a representative
month may well be looked at as an illustration of the amount
and kinds of activity taking place in the first half of 1947.
(March 1947 has been selected because
monthly
report for that particular month happens to be more specific
than most.)
(1) Staff Training. A three-weeks Advanced Course
was given for ull-time students and
part-time
students. The week after it finished: a Basic Course
was begun for
full-time students and
part-time
students. The first Administrative Course (one week)
was given to
full-time persons;
others audited
various sessions. It was decided that this course should
be strictly limited to administrative procedures and should
not touch on intelligence procurement. Five Photographic
Training courses (three dRys each) handledr--]persons,
and individual instruction in the use of special cameras
and related equipment was given to several people.
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
I. I
di:
individuals were given special instruction in
CI Techniques, and
persons attended a two-day
course on the same subject (primarily police and
surveillance methods likely to be used against them).
people were being trained during this month in
Special Investigative Techniques.
(2) Covert Training. Three programs were conducted
in Washington and New York; one of these started in January
and two in February. Two additional programs were started
in Washington in March, and one case was started and
completed in New York during March. Three covert ap-
praisals were also conducted: one each in Washington,
Boston, and New York.
(3) Appraisal. During this month, men and women
were appraised in Q, Building. Most were from OSO;
rere
from Communications, and a few from other parts of CIG.
In addition,
clerical candidates were screened in
classes held one day each week.
(4) External Training. Early in 1947, TRB was made
responsible for coordinating the training conducted in
other branches of CIG and in the Department of State.
During March 19470 TRB arranged for Communications train-
ing for
persons, and made special arrangements for
individuals to get special language training from the State
Department. In addition, students attended the State
Department Indoctrination Course (two weeks).
16
SIVIET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2444.4
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SIMLI
CHAPTER Iv. Training Staff/OSO (July 1947/September 1949)(TRS)
1. Growth of the Training Staff in 1948 and 1949
In July 1947, the Training Branch became the Training Staff (TRS),
reporting to the Chief of Operations of OSO (COPS). At that time,
positions were approved for this Staff, apportioned as follows: Office
of the Chief - Special (i.e. Covert) Training - Staff Training -
The Appraisal Division was dropped from the T/0 at this time, and
the function discontinued as it did not seem to be needed and the ADSO
had indicated that he was strongly opposed to the assessment and evalua-
tion activity. In March 1948 the T/0 still had
were vacant instructor slots and
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
positions, of which (b)(3)
were clerical positions. Of
the people actually on duty, two-thirds were actively engaged in in-
structing--a proportion which dwindled in later years. The Chief of
Training's position was rated as a GS-14; the instructor positions
were mostly GS-11 and GS-12.
A reorganization of the Training Staff was proposed by
in a memorandum of 12 August 1948 to the Chief of Operations, OSO,
proposed to have three main sections: (1) Staff Intelligence
Training, which would serve OSO staff personnel; (2) Covert Training,
for those who could not be trained in groups or overtly; and (3) Special
Projects, which would include orientation and administrative training,
language training, training materials, central records, etc.
asked for a T/O of positions, which he felt should be adequate to
meet the expanding demands on TRS. Between March and August, the
17
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
_
Approved forRelease: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
ILMAilile I
strength of TRS (but not the TIC) had gradually grown from the
approved
to
Much of the growth was in his so-called
"Special Projects Section." One of the reasons for requesting a
larger staff of instructors was to enable the Basic and the Advanced
Courses to be run simultaneously, thereby speeding up the training
pattern and cutting the size of the classes in half.
(b)(3)
also (b)(3)
asked for an upgrading of the instructor positions, pointing out that
otherwise he would not be able to attract the experienced mature in-
dividuals he felt were needed to conduct training.
Among the new activities, an "unclassified pool" had been
established in June 1948 to provide useful activity for people who
had been brought into the Agency before being fully cleared and for
newly cleared employees waiting to be admitted to classes which were
operating under quotas. By this device, prospective employees who
could not -wait for the necessary number of months before full clearance
was received could be put on the payroll immediately, the only problem
being to keep them profitably occupied and motivated. This responsibility
fell to TRS (apparently by default). Occupants of the Pool could be
tested and assessed; they were usually given assignments to read un-
classified materials of pertinence in their future employment, and in
some cases did writing or research on selected topics. By the middle
of August, the population of the Pool had risen to
1911-8,
people were in residence.
during November
To cope with another training requirement which was expanding,
also wanted to add a Chief of Language and Foreign Service
18
SLEET
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Lii
Institute Training, in view of the anticipated doubling of demand
both for language training and for instruction in State Department
procedures and practices.
Written a month before the establishment of the Office of Policy
Coordination (OPC),
August 1948 memorandum also contained
a far-sighted proposal to form a "War-time Techniques Section" with
instructors, based on his feeling that the techniques of sub-
versive warfare which had been learned during OSS days were being
forgotten and that Agency officers were not getting any training in
these skills or their use, at a time when there was a need for positive
action in many parts of the world. He wanted his proposed section to
devote about six months to digging out basic materials from the OSS
archives and working them over for training purposes. It was un-
fortunate that nothing came of
(b)(3)
proposal; such a section (b)(3)
could have been of great value to OPC operations and training in the
early days of that Office.
The Chief of Training,
did not get his increase in
T/0 strength until July 1949, eleven months after his initial request,
and subsequent to repetitions of his request in October l918, and
again in JannFiry and March 1949. There were two reasons for this
delay. In the fall of 1948, the ALSO, Colonel Donald Galloway, was
expecting to leave his job at the end of the year, and he and the
other top officials of OSO felt that his successor should rightfully
be the one to make a policy decision on this request, particularly in
view of the changed situation to be expected as a result of the recent
establishment of OPC.
19
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Furthermore, by the time that the new ADSO, Colonel Robert
Schow, arrived in March 1949: OPC had become a reality with its own
Training Unit with a proposed T/0 of
(and an actual staff of
It was rapidly becoming obvious that a policy decision would have to
be made soon as to the extent to which OSO and OPC could or should
pool their training facilities and personnel, an action which would
greatly affect the plans and activities of both units. A Joint
OSO/OPC Training Committee had been set up in January 1949 to consider
mutual problems. In August 1949, it prepared a proposed T/0 for a
combined OSO/OPC Training Organization, calling for a total of
were already either on duty or hired and
individuals, of whom
awaiting clearance.
Consequently, when
Training in September 1949 as the successor of
became Chief of
(who
was rotating to an operational assignment), he inherited both the OSO
Training Staff and the OPC Training Branch, with their rapidly expanding
tables of organization and their multitude of vacant positions. To him
fell the task not only of struggling to get the organization and the
positions needed to meet the requirements of OSO and OPC, but also that
of achieving an actual merger of the two training units under a single
head.
2. Additions to the Training Staff in 1948 and 1949
Between December 1946 and March 1948, there was very little change
in the size of the Training Staff or in its roster. But as it grew in
191.1.8 from
uO
people, a number of individuals were acquired who
would make significant contributions in later years. Among these were:
20
SLUglET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
P
i
(the first chief of the unclassified pool);
\(covert training);
and (staff training) ;\ (administrative train-
\
ing); \(technical
training).
In 1949 the build-up of the Training Staff began to accelerate,
but instructors were hard to find. In August 1949, the first instructors
acquired by OPC were placed on loan to TRS Staff Training for practical
reasons. These were
this turned out to be the beginning of a combined OSO/OPC training
organization.
3. Development of the Training Courses: July 19)47 - September 1949
During this period, the principal training activity was centered
in the Basic Course and the Advanced Course, which had been initiated
in the previous period. The general Objective of these courses, which
was to introduce students to the concepts and techniques of gathering
intelligence information, did not change. The main effort of the
instructors was directed to the improvement of instructing techniques
and to the refining and updating of the training materials.
The Basic Course was extended to four weeks in November 1947; the
duration and content of this course then remained basically the same
for a number of years. One of the principal features of this course
was the final week, which introduced students to the theory, the
organization and the tactics of Communism. The importance of this
subject was recognized from the beginning by the Agency's training
officers, and this week in the Basic Course was the ancestor of the
21
SEGli
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 nnwAcc A
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
later School of International Communism of the Office of Training.
One of the features of the "Communist Week" in 1948 was a demonstra-
tion of a Communist Front meeting, which as role-played by the in-
structors ended in complete frustration for the trainees and. had an
impact which was remembered for a long time by many of the students.
Twenty years later, (1968), this same exercise (with some modification,
of course) was still being used successfully by the School of Inter-
national Communism.
The Basic Course will also be remembered for its comprehensive
problem, which gave the students an entire week of practice in writing
information reports and in holding various types of role-playing in-
terviews mtth instructors. This was the so-called "Buenos Aires" or
"Margel" Problem, a highly improbable situation which nevertheless
served its purpose, being refined by the instructors through thirteen
editions over the years. Many Agency intelligence officers will like-
wise remember "The Prefect of Palermo," a series of atrocious informa-
tion reports which gave them a drill in the editing of information; and
the "Vienna Riot," which gave them a chance to sort out fact from fiction
as collected by them in an interview with a biased source.
The Advanced Course, which dealt primarily with "tradecraft"
(i.e. the techniques and skills of handling agents and operating
clandestinely); and was the ancestor of the present (1969) Operations
Course; was extended to five weeks in November 1947, six weeks in
September 1948, and to seven weeks in June 1949. This course had an
elaborate comprehensive role-playing problem which gave the student
22
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
!SECRET
practice in handling "agents." This was the "Korean Problem," which
was the prototype of the "Trieste Problee and a whole Group of
later "live" problems which have been a distinguishing feature of
the clandestine operations training ever since. The idea of using
role-playing as a training device was handed down from OSS Training,
which in turn got it from British practice. These problems in the
early days were written by the instructors, who usually based then
on actual happenings and situations, considerably disguised.
4. Technical and Photographic Training
During the 1947-1949 period, several basic issues were surfaced
regarding this training. The Chief of Investigative Training (as it
was called at this tine) was who had been teaching (b)(3)
this material since the early days of OSS. During that time, a
pattern was set of lectures and demonstrations on such phases of
police work as surveillance, microphones, wire-taps, lock picking,
house and body searches, etc. The presentation was comparable to
what it would. be in a police school. A primary Objective of the in-
struction was to make the student realize what methods might be
employed against him by police in other countries and what means he
might use to counteract them. A small nnrk-room was maintained for
instruction in photographic work.
In the SSU period, the Training Division was able to give photo-
graphic training only through an informal arrangement with the Repro-
duction Branch to use its dark-room facilities in the attic of South
Building. No policy decision designated any specific unit as responsi-
23
SECRET.
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
!Wilt
ble for this type of training. The Field Photographic Branch of
OSS had felt that its experts should do the teaching, and this view
persisted after the War. The laboratory facilities of the OSS units
were inherited by the Cover and Documentation Division (C&D), which
felt strongly that photographic training was its responsibility; it
was apparently reluctant to make its facilities available to TRB.
Jurisdictional conflicts persisted during 1947 and 1948 between
C&D and TRS. At one point, TRS set up a make-shift laboratory of its
own. In a memorandum of 14 July 1948 to the Chief of Operations, OSO,
the Chief of Training vent on record as not in favor of transferring
technical training to the Communications Division and the Cover and
Documentation Division because they did not have as much experience
as TRS in conducting training in these subjects, and such a transfer
would weaken the TRS attempt to integrate investigative techniques
into the operational training. He suggested that TRS continue to
conduct all basic training in photographic and counter-intelligence
techniques, with training in specialized techniques continuing to be
conducted by Communications, Cover and documentation specialists.
The issue was apparently unresolved, as the content of the TRS courses
remained a matter of dispute for several more years.
In the fall of 1947, TRS offered a Counter-Intelligence Course
consisting of the following: surveillance (2 hours), searches (1
hour), fingerprinting (i hour), microphones and wire-tapping (3
hours), recording equipment (2 hours), lock picking (3 hours), flaps
and seals (1 hour), photography (2 days). The work on photography
was focussed on exposition of the various types of cameras, darkroom
24
DIFINFT
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
oar
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
!SECRET
vie
MIN
WIMP
work, and document photography. Practical exercises were diffi-
cult to stage in the limited space available; the storage and
display of special equipment was a considerable problem. By
1949, both the photographic instruction and the investigative in-
struction had expanded to one week each. A proposal was submitted
by
in April 1949 for a four-week course in techniques
(one week each on investigation, interception, identification, and
surreptitious entry), but although it seemed to gain acceptance, it
was not put into effect at that time because of various unresolved
problems of course content, facilities, and jurisdiction.
5. Other Courses
The one week Administrative Course first run in March 1947 was
increased to two weeks in June 1947 and to three weeks in June 1949.
It devoted one week to stenographic skills, one week to headquarters
orientation, and a week to field administrative procedures; it was
primarily for clerks and stenographers. Covert training continued
in Washington and out-of-town on a modest scale during this period,
and arrangements continued to be made by TB'S for trainees to attend
language and orientation courses at the Foreign Service Institute.
6. Evaluations of Students
Training exercises and live problems were not only teaching
devices, but the basis for evaluations of student performance; they
were compiled by the instructors for the offices to which the students
would report at the conclusion of the training. Comments on the stu-
dents have been compiled from OSS days to the present (1969), and
25
,SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
ale
SECRET
oil
this responsibility has always been an unwelcome and perplexing
one for the instructors, with many different approaches and techniques
being tried through the years. The evaluation problem was particularly
acute during the formative period 1947-1949. Not many of the instructors
had done any professional teaching, and they were not only unsure of the
means of grading students, but reluctant to do so, feeling that their
evaluations might injure a man's career unjustly. This feeling was
well founded. A memorandum of 29 June 1949 from the ADSO to the
Chief, TRS, indicated that the ADSO would use the training evaluations
from the Basic Course to select which students would take the Advanced
Course (and, in effect, have a career with 0S0). A memorandum of 10
August 1949 from the Deputy ALSO quoted the Director as stating that
anyone unable to attain "excellent" in training should not be employed.
In effect, a man's future was being left up to the judgment of the
instructors. The DADSO felt that the large number of low evaluations
suggested that TRS standards might be too high. He also felt that
there were too many categories of marks. In a memo to the ADSO on
1 July 1949, TRS was vigorously attacked by the Chief, Foreign Branch
T, for its negative evaluation of an individual. This was one of a
number of such adverse reactions.
Controversy and confusion existed within the Training Staff over
such questions as: what controls over dissemination?; what scale to use;
narrative descriptions?; adjectival ratings only?; the purpose of the
evaluations (a measure of observed performance? a prediction of operat-
ing potential? a screening device?); the basis for evaluations (individ-
ual observation? collective judgment? observed personal traits?
26
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
'SECRET
objective tests? what norms?). These questions were not resolved until
the psychologists of the Assessment and Evaluation Staff (A&E) of 0TH
assumed the responsibility about 1952 for providing practical guide
lines and assistance to the instructors.
T. Size of Classes
The Basic and the Advanced Courses had to full-time
trainees in each class, in general, during this period. For the twelve
months ending 31 July 1949, the Basic Course had
the Advanced Course had
of
students, while
In April 1949, with a theoretical limit
pressure was building up for these courses to take more students
as OPC employees started to enter on duty in quantity. But TRS was not
staffed to bAndle an increased enrollment unless it gave up all exercises
and problems and restricted the instructing methods solely to lectures.
In fact, the Chief of Staff Training
that the Basic Course be limited to
in April 1949 recommended
students since there were only
full-time junior instructors and one part-time senior instructor avail-
able; likewise for the Advanced Course, which had only
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
full-time (b)(3)
instructors. Much of the time of the Joint OSO/OPC Training Committee
meetings in the first half of 1949 was taken by discussions of possible
ways to admit the increasing numbers of applicants to the existing
courses, and to augment the staffs. The Administrative courses were
similar in size. The technical courses were usually less than
8. Space
Up to the summer of 1948, the Training Staff was limited to
several rooms in "Q" Building; both class-room and office space
27
SECRET
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
were a severe problem, which was alleviated at that time by the
acquisition of Buildings 13 and 14 for the Basic and Advanced Courses
and the Pool, the second floor of the "Garage" for Investigative
Techniques, and office space in "L" Building. In May 1949, T-30
was made available to TRS, but because of the extensive remodelling
and restoration necessary, it was not occupied until September 1949.
In June 1949 the second floor of T-14 became available for adminis-
trative courses. All of this space was unsatisfactory for class rooms.
The rooms had not been designed for the purpose, were awkward in shape,
cold in winter and stifling in summer, with poor ventilation and acoustics.
9. Other Activities of This Period
In 1948, a beginning was made in the direction of formalized re-
search activity. By December, TRS had a Chief of Training Materials
and Research Throughout 1949, this section was en-
gaged in procuring and editing the records of interviews of case officers
and station chiefs returning from field posts. These interviews formed
the basis for the content of lectures. The section also searched for
other materials which could be used by instructors in lectures and
problems. This section not only edited this material, but also edited
and reproduced cases and other materials used in the classes. Progress
was evidently slow because of a continuing shortage of clerical assis-
tance.
Although the assessment and appraisal function had been dropped
by TRS in 1947 there was still some demand for this service, and it
was gradually resumed. In the fall of 1948, TRS was conducting a modest
psychological testing program; for the most part it consisted of a
28
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
OLLTRIC I
battery of psychological tests which were given to the members of
the unclassified Pool.
was responsible for their
.01 administration; by early 1949, he was also giving aptitude and
ski
proficiency tests to the students of the Basic and Advanced Courses.
These had been devised by
(b)(3)
the Deputy Chief of TRS, (b)(3)
with the Objective of identifying pertinent strengths and weaknesses
imp
of students, particularly in the areas of report writing and logical
1.111
thinking. In early 1949,
also assumed the responsibility
for consolidating and coordinating the training evaluations of all
students, using the rough data provided by instructors. He carried
the title of Chief of Records, Tests and Evaluations until the es-
tablishment of the Assessment Unit in June 1949 under
this time
At
took the responsibility for developing a
Training Library, which in the next several years became quite sizeable.
10. Conclusion
The period from mid-1947 to mid-1949 was a difficult one for
the little group that was trying to establish a solid training organi-
zation. With little to draw upon in the way of operational or teaching
experience, working in unsatisfactory space with limited facilities,
searching for suitable methods, materials, and doctrine, the Training
Staff showed remarkable motivation and sense of mission, and succeeded
in providing a firm base for the training effort that was to come.
29
[SECRET
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
CHAPTER V. Training Branch/OPC (January-September 1949)
1. The Beginning of OPC Training
The establishment of the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC)
on 1 September 1948 posed the problem of its relationship to the
Training Staff of OSO (then known as TRS).
the
Chief of TRS� was told by the ADSO (Col. Galloway) in September
1948 that the Training Staff was to assist OPC in its training
problems and was to permit OPC students to attend OSO training
courses, provided that no essential changes were made in the
courses and also that no OSO students were displaced from train-
ing courses by OPC entrants. TRS then proceeded to provide ad-
vice to OPC officers on the types of training applicable to their
operations, on standards of selection for instructors, and similar
matters. It took OPC students into the uncleared pool, into the
Basic Intelligence Course and the Advanced Intelligence Course
(part-time only). Drawing on their knowledge of OSS training
and archives, the Training Staff members provided OPC with sample
schedules, T/O's and manuals used in OSS Schools and Training.
In the beginning, the points of contact in OPC were
(at that time the Acting Executive for Administration
and Services) and his Deputy, (Acting Personnel
and Training Officer). OPC began to set up its own training unit
by-Decetber 1948. It began with USA,
who was appointed Acting Chief of OPC Training on 4 January 1949,
30
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
and.
same time.
who joined the training staff at the
then appointed his deputy,
to be the sole channel from TRS to
The appointment of
and the pressing need
for furnishing training to OPC personnel posed many questions
and doubts for TES. When OPC asked that be enrolled
in the Advanced Intelligence Course (Ala) beginning in January
1949, the Deputy Chief of TRS felt a policy question had been
raised of sufficient importance as to justify a meeting with
Admiral Hillenkoetter. The question: should OPC personnel be
permitted to take OSO/TRS courses, particularly the advanced
ones? The DC/TRS pointed out in a memorandum of 22 December
that OPC officers would acquire definite information about OSO
practices and procedures, learn the identities of OSO persons
and even become friends with them, with consequent risks to
security of operations. This particular problem was resolved
by an OPC Administrative Memorandum which listed the lectures
in the AIC which OPC personnel would be able to audit. Both
and.
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
then audited the Advanced Course (b)(3)
in January 1949, but were excluded from lectures considered by
TRS to be of purely OSO interest or of high security classifica-
tion.
first progress report (4 February 1949)
tells of an unsuccessful effort to Obtain the services of the
Director of the State Department Foreign Service Institute for
31
(b)(3)
'SEPPFT
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
the purpose of making a thirty-day survey of the existing
training facilities in CIA, the Military Establishment, and
other governmental agencies. He reported that the OSO Communi-
cations Branch had agreed to recruit and train communications
personnel for OPC with the understanding that OPC would furnish
several instructors. He also said that several OFC staff
personnel had been enrolled in evening courses at American
University, for training in administrative and personnel work.
stated that his main problem was the pro-
curement and training of instructors, but he felt this should
not be done so hastily as to be a security hazard. As one way
of solving this problem, OPC by this time had approached OSO with
a proposal that the two offices jointly screen and recruit
instructors during the first six months of 1949. They would then
be carried on the OPC T/01 but detailed to TRS for training in all
phases of clandestine activity, for a period of up to six months.
Then, under TES guidance, they would research and write OPC train-
ing materials for another six months, at the same time getting on-
the-job practice in conducting instruction before beginning their
actual duties as OPC training Officers. No action was taken on
this proposal, however.
2. The Joint OSO/OPC Training Committee
report also told of the establishment of a
Joint OSO/OPC Training Committee by authority of an ADPC memoran-
dum dated 11 January 1949 and an ADSO memorandum dated 18 January
1949. This Committee was composed of Messrs.
and
32
4:11riFT
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
,SECRET
from OSO/TRS and
and
from OPC. (b)I(b)(3)
Their first duty was the composition of a proposed outline of
functions and duties which would then be submitted to ADSO and
ADPC for approval. This Committee's membership changed frequent-
ly, but it continued to meet up to four times a month until its
dissolution in July 1951, at the time that OSO/OPC Training was
placed under the organizational jurisdiction of Matthew Baird.
During the two and a half years of its existence, the Joint
Committee was the key factor in the rapid development of the
Training organization which took place in this critical period.
The Committee at the beginning felt that its job vas pri-
marily to make recommendations on training policy, more particu-
larly as questions arose regarding joint use of facilities, in-
structors, and activities. It was also seen as having the
authority to establish procedures and channels for the conduct
of training matters of joint concern.
The deliberations of the Committee have been preserved in
a complete file of carefully written minutes of their meetings.
A study of this file reveals that the Committee's time during
the first half of 1949 was taken up primarily by the general
question of what kind of training OPC people were to get and the
extent to which they could utilize or be admitted to already ex-
isting OSO courses. In January 1949, the Committee studied an
OPC request for a one-week course in the recruiting, briefing
and handling of agents, and decided that with very little change
33
[SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
UdlI
in the Advanced Intelligence Course, it would be more practical
to admit OPC personnel to the two weeks of that course which
dealt with "tradecraft," than to set up a separate course.
In February, the Committee decided that
students (b)(3)
from OPC could be taken into the two-week segment of the AIC,
but during the "live problem," half of these students would have
to be limited to observing rather than participating. As for
the Basic Intelligence Training Course (BITC), it was agreed
that
OPC students could be accepted in addition to the
regular quota of
from OSO, if
could assume
a share of the instructing load. A few auditors could also be
fitted into the limited space.
The minutes note that on 16 February the Committee felt
unable to proceed further until the Assistant Directors approved
its statement of its functions and responsibilities. The Com-
mittee also felt that the training staffs were hampered by their
lack of understanding of how OSO and OPC were planning to co-
ordinate their respective activities. This of course was some-
thing that nobody else knew the answer to at this time.
During March 1949, the Committee concerned itself with
problems of language training (OSO had used up all its funds
for Foreign Service Institute training), admission of OPC
students to OSO courses, the proposal for the training of OPC
instructors which had been made the previous Decenber� the
relationship of OPC Training with OSO Communications Training,
34
EMT
(b)(3)
((b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
Cover and Documentation Training, etc., with questions of
additional space for current courses, and with the design of
a. T/0 for OPC training. in his Training Report
for March, noted that he was spending four to eight hours a
week on OPC training matters, while his Deputy,
was
devoting 12 to 16 hours a week to these matters, with other
members of TRS giving an appreciable amount of time either to
training OPC students or to helping OPC Training to set up its
own programs.
3. Development of the OPC Training Unit
In March 1949, the OPC Training Unit added James Cross to
its staff temporarily and conducted a six-hour Indoctrination
Course for
persons. It also had
ersons waiting for
formal instruction: prior to being assigned to the Training
Unit.
and
were taking the OSO
courses in preparation for their assignments as instructors.
During April 1949: a T/O of
persons for OPC Staff Training
was drawn up for approval; this number, when compared with the
contemporary OSO Training T/O of
gives a measure of the
(*(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
large-scale plans being drawn up in OPC. In addition, OPC was
preparing a T/0 for the conduct of para-military training in an
area outside Washington; courses were being planned, and a
search for a suitable site had begun.
At the beginning of June 1949, reported (b)(3)
that the recruitment of personnel continued to be the biggest
35
LUCRE._
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
'SECRET
problem facing him. It appeared impossible to fill his T/O
with men who had had operational experience, and he had come
to the conclusion that it would be necessary to recruit from
college faculties the men who had the personal qualifications
and who could be trained to be members of the Training Staff.
Letters had. been sent to
individuals who either had been in
OSS or had been recommended by members of OPC. A total of
men had answered;
had been hired.
An area for para-military training had not yet been located,
but even if it had been, it could not have been staffed other
than by drawing on military personnel entirely. Actually on
duty in the Training Branch at this time were
of these had been interviewed; of these,
secre-
tary and
(temporarily).
were enrolled in training courses, as was
a researcher. It was quite obvious that any
hope of setting up a training unit in the near future was not
related to reality.
During June, additional letters were sent to individuals
and to six college presidents or deans, the archives were combed
for names, and of
men interviewed, one was hired
individuals were assigned to full-tine personnel
duties in an effort to find suitable people for the Training
Branch. These efforts continued through the summer, with slow
36
EGRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
progress being made. But by this time, the status of OPC
Training was being changed.
37
SECRET_
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
[SECRET
CHAPTER VI. The Merger of OSO and OPC Training
1. Studies of the Problem
When OPC first set up its own Training Branch, the Chief
of TRS
worked out a plan for merging it with
the OSO Training. In a carefully thought out memorandum of
10 January 1949 entitled "CIA Organization and Functions" ad-
dressed to the ADSO, he proposed that the Chief, TES, have a
Deputy for OSO-type training, a Deputy for OPC-type training,
and a Deputy for Covert Training (for both OSO and OPC). Ad-
ministrative training, basic orientation, and a basic intelli-
gence course would be available for people of both Offices.
Advanced courses for OSO and for OPC would be offered as requir-
ed. He felt that TES should continue to be under the direction
of the ADSO for a number of reasons, chief of which was the
continuity of experience and the assets already in being on the
OSO side. He also proposed that TES be advised on training
requirements, objectives and plans affecting training by a
committee composed of the chief planning officers of OSO and
OPC as well as representatives of the operations staffs of each
Office. He pointed out the numerous advantages in having a
single training staff, and foresaw the possibility of a single
Office of Training serving the entire Agency eventually.
proposal for the organization of Training was
38
[SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
!SECRET
composed in an atmosphere of urgency caused by an apparent
threat from another direction. In the preceding several
months: the DCI had been moving in the direction of centraliz-
ing under an Executive for Administration a number of support
functions which had previously been performed within OSO.
noted in his memorandum that the most recent CIA Organi-
zation Chart (dated 1 January 1949) stated that the Personnel
Officer, as one of his functions, "provides training and indoc-
trination for CIA employees as needed." This seemed to give the
Personnel Officer of CIA the authority to assume jurisdiction
over all OSO training.
took a strong position against the placing of
training under personnel or administrative officers, pointing
out that the nature of secret intelligence work made it imperative
that the training of people for such work be closely related to
covert plans and operations. He felt that the Agency should take
the approach of the Armed Services rather than that of a typical
government bureau, and cited the example of the organizational
placing of the training function within the British Intelligence
Service. He therefore recommended (as part of his proposal) that
the DCI delegate the responsibility for all CIA training to the
ADSO.
The Chief of TES in this paper enunciated a basic outlook
which has been fundamental to training philosophy ever since.
The closeness of TES to the operating elements of OSO generated
39
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
'SECRET
the view that training was a basic part of operations, rather
than a personnel function. Part of
problem with (b)(3)
OPC Training stemmed from the fact that it was organizationally
under a Chief of Support (along with Personnel and Finance)
whereas OSO Training was under the Chief of Operations. Over
the years, all of the Directors of Training have worked to
strengthen the ties with operating elements (particularly the
Clandestine Services), and have resisted periodic proposals that
the Training organization be merged with the Personnel Office.
Although
conceded that the non-OSO/OPC employees
might need some formal indoctrination, he did not deal with that
problem, limiting his proposal to ways of organizing for training
in clandestine activities. In this, he was following the example
set by OSS Training. His plan was still being studied in August
1949, when
the Agency Management Officer, in-
dicated that the proposal for a unified training staff under
the ADSO was acceptable in principle, although he believed that
CIA should have one training staff which would handle all training
for the Agency, including the orientation of new personnel for ORE,
OCD� etc.
Meanwhile, in the first few months of 1949, it was becoming
increasingly clear to the Joint Training Committee that joint
effort would answer many of the problems that had developed. At
a. meeting of the Committee on 11 May 1949,
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
submitted a (b)(3)
draft of recommendations to be submitted to the ADSO and the ADPC,
on the subject of joint OSO/OPC training programs. This paper
[SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
did not mention a proposed organization or chain of command,
but otherwise reflected the proposals of the previous January.
This paper evidently added to the pressure that was
building up for some solution to the joint problems. On 21
May 1949, an all-day conference was held on the
Training. The following were present:
(for TRS);
Training);
and
The OSO courses and
and
and T/0 of OPC
by various OPC
Mr. Cross,
subject of OPC
and
(for OPC
(Chief of Support/OPC) and his Deputy,
(Executive Officer/OPC); and two consultants,
evidently brought in by OPC).
facilities were described by
discussed the proposed activities, facilities
Training. Training requirements were discussed
Program Chiefs (e.g., sabotage, guerrilla warfare).
in a follow-up of
previous proposals,
showed the savings in personnel and facilities that would result
from coordinated courses, assessments, and research. The chart
which he used moved
to suggest that all OSO and OPC
training be placed under the authority of a Joint Training Board,
composed of two members from each office, with its own T/0, and
under the direction of a high-ranking Chief of Joint Training.
Four days later, a detailed proposal to this effect which had
been drafted by was approved by the Joint Training
Committee for submission to the ADSO and the ADPC for their con-
currence and forwarding to the Executive, CIA.
[SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
This paper evidently stirred the interest of the ADSO,
Colonel Schow, who asked
to prepare written
recommendations for him concerning OSO/OPC
In a paper of 3 June 1949 to the ADSO,
training problems.
said that the
OSO Training Staff had been "squarely in the middle" ever since
OPC had been set up. He felt that TRS had developed an ex-
cellent training program after several difficult years, but
with barely enough strength to meet the requirements. At
this point TRS had been told to assist OPC to develop a train-
ing unit but the demands this made on the meager TRS assets
(both personnel and facilities) had necessarily lessened the
quality of OSO training. Nevertheless, he said, the TRS
personnel had recognized their obligation to help OPC establish
a competent training staff and had given their best to the effort.
As
was expecting to rotate to a field assignment shortly, he
was desirous of leaving to his successor a clearly defined rela-
tionship with OPC. Therefore, he was again submitting his paper
of 10 January for the ADSO's consideration, again suggesting a
Chief of Training, appointed by the ADSO, with one deputy for OSO
training and one for OPC training. This memorandum indicates that
was somewhat apprehensive that Training might be put
under the Office of Personnel if this problem were not resolved
shortly.
proposal was held by the ADSO until 8 August.
In the meantime there were several other inputs. The two con-
sultants who had attended the conference of 21 May
42
1Etr""
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
SECRET
and
Support, OPC
submitted detailed recommendations to the Chief of
on 20 June 1949. They urged that
a single Training Office be set up, with a Chief who would have
three deputies---one for OSO training, one for OPC training,
and one for "combined" training, i.e., training which was of
mutual concern, such as language, administrative procedures, and
basic operations. They noted that completely satisfactory uni-
fication of training facilities was not possible without the
actual unification of OSO and OPC. But in view of the efficiency
and effectiveness to be achieved, they advocated as much unification
as was feasible at the time. They proposed that policy direction,
priorities, and programs be provided to the training organization
by a Joint Training Committee of three: consisting of the Chief
of Training and one high-level officer each from OSO and O.
The consultants stressed the importance of giving priority to the
development of competent instructors and efficient techniques of
instruction. Extant files indicate that this report stirred up
a debate among the top staff officers of OPC as to the make-up
of the committee, and the desirability of unification.
On 14 July 1949 the Executive Officer of CIA informed the
ADSO (in a memorandum of that date entitled "Table of Organization,
Training Staff, OSO") that additional positions for Basic
Training had been approved by the Director, these being in effect
OPC slots. He also said that the Director had directed OSO to be
"responsible for the conduct of basic training for personnel of
OPC, such training to meet standards to be established by OPC."
43
_SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
-
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
UWIkI
2. Establishment of the Training Division, OSO/OPC (TED)
On 8 August 1949, the ADSO returned
memo of
3 June 1949 with the notation: "This should be restudied on
this basis of a complete merger of OSO-OPC. The views set forth
in the attachment could very well serve as a point of departure."
Just at this point in time
replacement,
USA, entered on duty, and received the title
of "Chief of the Training Division, OSO/OPC" (abbreviated as TED).
The Training Division was thereafter shown on the organization
charts of OSO until it was officially detached on 1 July 1951
and placed under the Director of Training, CIA. Although TED was
officially a part of OSO it was in fact an amalgamation of the
old TES/OSO and of the Training Branch of OPC; it gradually be-
came an integrated training organization along the lines suggested
by
and the
The recommendations of the
team.
report regarding
policy direction and control of the integrated training unit were
followed almost to the letter. The Joint Training Committee's
membership was revised to include high-level representation from
OSO and OPC. It then assumed a strong role in providing policy
and general guidance (if not actual supervision) of TED activities.
True to the underlying philosophy, for a long time the OSO repre-
sentative on the Committee was its Executive Officer, whereas the
OPC representative was its Chief of Support. The Committee played
a vital role in the activities of TED from September 1949 to July
1951, a critical period of rapid expansion and development.
1,3311E1
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
!SECRET
APPENDIX A
A NOTE ON SOURCE MATERIAL
The information in this historical paper has been
drawn almost entirely from documents in the Office of the
Director of Training or on deposit at the Record Center.
In all cases, they have been identified in the narrative.
There has been a minimum reliance on interviews,
other than the checking of details with knowledgeable
individuals.
iSECRET..
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544
S*ECRET
SECRET
MIN
SIM
Approved for Release: 2019/06/12 CO2445544