MR. BISSELL'S REMARKS, WAR PLANNERS CONFERENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP62-00634A000100050005-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 1998
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 16, 1959
• Content Type: MEMO

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Office Memorandum ? UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
TO : Director of Training
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svsJECr: Mr. Bissell's Remarks, War Planners Conference
DATE: 16 March 1959
1. The War Planners Conference started at 0900 on Monday, 16
March. It will conclude on Thursda 26 March, with closing remarks
by General Cabell at 1000 in room The highlight of the 25X1A6D
first day's activity was the opening remarks by Mr. Bissell, who used
the occasion to present five general trends or policy changes which he
believes are in the wind and suggested the Planners keep in mind during
their seminars. These trends were:
(e) A change in emphasis in the management of clandestine
operations involving more centralized programing and program
controls and annual reviews but with increased decentralized
execution of individual projects within the programs.
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2. Othe were Mr. newly appointed Chief,
PPC; Colone PPC Staff;
ey n more than
extend appropriate greetings an convey administrative instructions
to the group. The remainder of this memorandum will present Mr.
Bissell's comments in detail.
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6. For the benefit of the visiting overseas War Planners, Mr.
Bissell touched lightly on what he called internal trends or modest
changes within the Clandestine Services. He mentioned the abolition
of SE Division and the split between EE and NE. He also mentioned
the inclusion of the Developmental Projects Division within the Clan-
destine Services. He stated this Division had been created to handle
a few major projects that had certain characteristics in common. These
were three in number:
(a) The projects use newly developed technical equipment.
(b) The projects are not restricted to a single geographic
area division.
(c) They involve specialized skills and backgrounds other
than generally possessed by Clandestine Services employees.
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He concluded by saying the Developmental Projects Division has its
own self-contained section representing each major functional component
of the Agency. On occasion this Division has acted as a task force and
7. Mr. Bissell presented the final trend as having to do with
management. He stated we are in the midst of a drive for greater effi-
ciency in the Agency as a whole. This drive started with emphasis on
personnel prompted by the problems of our fixed personnel ceiling and
the problem that there are approximately 2,000 more employees than
there is space in the new building. However, at the moment the drive
is taking what Mr. Bissell called a mor(~_cpnstructive direction. He
stated the Director has vigorously' -e i d Budget Bureau suggestions
that we reduce the number of our employees and our present concern is
rather how can we increase productivity with what we've go'? We are
trying to take a searching look at our techniques of management and
ferret out any duplications or non-essential functions. Mr. Bis sell
said he could not assure the group that there would not be some reduction
in personnel but believes the effort will be more toward establishing an
increasingly efficient and productive organization. He is going to try
to make some changes in the Clandestine Services philosophy of manage-
ment and control of operations. He has found that historically the project
has been the principal device used to establish and control operations
within the Clandestine Services, with relatively small delegation of
authority downward. At the same time, he finds that the Clandestine
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which include more delegation of authority within the various county
Services had given comparatively little attention to the management
and control of anything bigger than a project. He has found no evidence
of any conscientious review of the programs of the Agency. He believes
we must move toward more delegation of authority and responsibility
to manage and control projects downward and must reduce the review
of projects up into the higher echelons of the Agency and even to other
components of the Government. He concluded this thought by saying
he felt the top management of the Agency must come to think in terms
of country programs as a whole, programs which are conceived and
entered into much more seriously than has been the case in the past, but
programs ~ .fit ~ wsc?u w
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8. In summing up, Mr. Bissell said that he felt that these trends
may have their application to war planning, that he is most anxious that
our Cold War plans become more meaningful, and he would like to see
a closer relationship between our Hot War plans and Cold War capabilities.
He asked that the Planners keep these trends in mind during their seminars
and stated he wanted their suggestions for improvements.
9. Attached is a draft Memorandum for the Record prepared by
Mr. summarizing Mr. Bissell's remarks.
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