SURVEY OF CIA BRIEFING AND DEBRIEFING SYSTEMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP64-00046R000100160001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 11, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 8, 1956
• Content Type: MF

crqrTFxfir-niiqe P___*egistry
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Director of Cantxal Intelligence
Inspector General
Survey of CIA Briefing and Debriefing Systems
DD/S
56-075G
1. The Agency's briefing functice. have been examined for the purpose
of determining the 'validity generally expressed dissatisfaction with
the manner in 'which they are b.tzg performed. The term "briefing, as used
in this report, is defined. as the act of immtrtimg classified information
concerning CIA, its activities and the product or result of those activities
to persams other than staff members of this Agancy. This report does not
onsider suCh related programa an the orientation of new employees, the
indoctrination or re-indoctrination of staff members, and the briefing of
dependents of overseas persennel. This review has been limited to briefings
conducted in Washington headquarters and does not imclude consideration of
briefing activities performed in the domestic or foreign field.
2. The imparting of information concerning the Agency and iti activities
is a daily occurrence which takes many forms. It may be a formal presentation
of sebstaative intelligence to a government body, the indoctrination of gov
ernment officials whose duties are related to the Agency, the deliberate
disclosure of information concerning clandestine activities to those who need
to know, or the informal conversations with outsiders who can be of service
to the Agency. This activity, commonly called briefing, is participated In
or conducted by the component* of all three major areas of therAgency and
the Office of the DCI, and its extent is practically immeasurable. No uni-
form, Agency-vide procedures have been established which are applicable to
all types of briefing* and no authoritative statement of over-all Agency
policy on this *Object has been issued.
3. 'or the purposes of this review, Agency briefing* have been placed
in two broad categories; (1) those which are given vith some degree of
regularity to organised groups participating in intelligence activities or
which have an interest in Agency affairs, and (2) those given on a personel
basis to individuals having a potential for usefulness to the Agency. The
first category includes the presentations given to the President, the SSC,
OCB, the White Nouse Staff and the IAC and OBC/B and their sub-cameittees.
These are usually substantive or operational in 'abject matter and are con
ducted separately or jointly by components of the DDJI and DD/P. Also
included are the lecture coursen on intelligence sehjects given by the Office
of Training to military echools soca as the level intelligence School, Stra-
tegic Innealigence School, the Armored School and the Air Cammaad and Staff
College. Special briefings have been conducted by the DDiP for the Doolittle
Committee and by all components of the Agency for the Clark Task Force.
Briefings are also given to government agencies which are not primarily
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e actioitiee but which are tnvolvsd in Ag?nCr
U of Budget, Civil nerviae Commission, u of
on occasion, to the Departments of Treasury
mentations have been made by the Office
nrganisationa which have included the
tordham University and the Armed Forces
4.
divided. The
inteUlgenee brie
responsibility of
conducting or coatri
Representatives of the
or organised coup briefings within the Agency is
$ the briefings of the President and the MSC. Current
h as those given the White Dense Staff are the
component* of the DD/I area are reeponsible for
to substantive briefings of IAC sub-committees.
P elements have responsibility for conducting or
participating in briefings that concern clandestine activities or covert
operations and LID/S components are principally responsible for briefings
given to such organisations as Bureau of the Budget and DEC. The only
responsibility assigned by regulatory issuance is that of briefing outgoing
military attaches by OTE which is contained in
5. In general, organised group briefings are handled in a satisfactory
manner. Those ehich are regularly scheduled have developed establithed pro-
cedures over a period of yearn and their performance is accepted as a matter
of course. Others are usually scheduled suffietiently far in advance to
permit adequate planning and pregraming, and coordination is effected by the
component having the major interest in the briefing. Although minor differ-
ences may occur, the absence of authoritatively assigned, centralised respon
sibility does not impair the cownetent performance of the group briefing
function.
6. Unfortunately, this is not true of the second category,
briefing of individuals. A large number of persons, both government employees
and civilians, are given claseified information on the aims and activities of
CIA. Among these are:
a. Personnel. of otbe
toned in Washington who are
performance of their =mei dut
b. Officials of State and Defense Departments and other govern-
me t offices assigned to duty overseas
c. Legislators involved in Agency affairs;
d. Traveling U. S. officials from Beecutive and Legislative
Branches;
e. Private citizen* c Dabie of providing information of
Ilieence value or support to Agency operations; and
f. Officials of forei?n overnmenta on duty or visiting in
Wnshington.
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7. IndiVidual briefings cover awide variety of subjects and usual4r
must be tailorcade tomtit a seecific purpose. The Clandestine Services
have attempted to standardize the oriefingi which they conduct by means of
prescribed outlines contained Jill 1 One outline pertains to service
attaches and other service personnel and another is appropriate for Ambassa-
dors, Chiefs of Foreign Missions and principal officers of State, Defense,
and other agencies. This instruction designates the PPC Staff as the focal
point for coordination of briefings within the OW but makes no provision
for over-all Agency coordination. The outlines are useful to establish a
pattern of triefinge in a limited field but it Imola be impractical to try
to develop a standardised formula whicb could be applied to all occasions.
loch briefing must be designed to obtain the meximna usefulness from the
individual for all the Agise7 and not just one segment.
8. The Away current setbon of briefing individuals is lacking in
direction and control. Aremngemente for briefings are made in meal parts
of the Agency and, too freopeat1), without reference to or concern for the
Interests and needs of other components. The Office of Central Reference
is notified by the Departments of State and Defense of outgoing service
attaches and Foreign Service orficers. These notices are circulated through-
out the Agency and if sufficient interest is generated in any individual a
briefing is arranged. OCR makes no effort to determine who should be briefed
nor to what extent. It is a passive fora of direction in vbich the initiative
is circulated along with the antic's. Any component which has an interest in
briefing an outgoing government official then proceeds on its own and no
active or effective coordination is accomplisbea. The Office of Training
gives orientation lectures to military attaches at the Strategic Intelligence
Scbool but does not participate in the particularised briefings conducted
by other offices. OCR, for example, briefs groups of military attaches in
the functinne of their BiograPhic, Industrial and Graphics Registers and
makes all arrangement* with the SIB direct. The responsibility far briefing
Foreign' Service economics reporting officers has been ueofficially assigned
to ORR and for scientific aspecte to OSI. But over-all responsibility for
all briefings has not been fined.
9. As a result of this lack of dtra.tlou and control the Agency is
not getting the fell benefit of the services available to it. Insufficient
attention is given to the potential for usefulness to the Agency of other
government officials and evenwben the potential is recognised it is seldom
developed to its fullest extent. There is a leek of aggressiveness in seeUng individuals, government or non-government, who are in a position to advance
the accompliehment of the Agmney's missive. An added deficiency in the present
method of briefing is the danger of divulging too such information about Agency
activitiee. Bread program* given to groups of persons will invariably include
*Objects 'hien are not pertinent to tbe needs of individuals and will result
in the unproductive and unnecessary disclosure of classified information.
10. Bo accurate statistics are available of the number of individual
briefings performed within the Agency annually. The PPC Staff, DD/P, has
reported that during calendar year 195k they conducted or coordinated a total
of 215 briefings of non-CIA, U. B. goeernematal personnel alone. This does
not include briefings performed by other Away cemponents which did not
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ior 4008 it incl eriefinee of
statistics for 1955 Jokiest* an evea
mead and it is enticipsted tht the
of them more of the "bigh-level" variety
Ambasseeors and other members of the
es, Directors of gevernment asenciee ana
were of sufficient importance to the
ntion.
11. The Agency lacks a c ility bavieg responsibility and
thority to develop and direct a eound briefing program. Stith facility
is necessary to ensure that the Agent* make* the beet use of persons who
are in a positioa to further its mission. Personal briefings must be care-
fully planned so that the individual receives the thorough and accurate
indectrtnation he needs to permit hie to act effectively and at the seam
time guard against the diselosurw, rlf more information than he needs to know.
Programing must be performed effeciently so that the briefings are conducted
smoothly with the eppropriate people in attendance. Coordination between
Agency components must be accomplished effectively so that their best interests
are served. There are mmuy people le the Agency, expert in their fields, who
are capable of imparting their knowledge proficiently. The need is for a
centralization of responsibility and autbority in &single plass Aare the
personal briefing function can be nemeged and controlled. A competent manager
is required rather than a substantive expert. It should be his responsibility
to determine who shOuld be briefee; plan the briefings to meet the needs of
each individual case; program end echedule tbem efficiently; and have sufficient
authority to effect the necessary coordination between the major areas of the
Agency. He 'will be responsible tvr conducting all personal briefings but will
draw on all appropriate emponente for the needed substantive and operational
competence.
12. Briefing is an AgeneyWt4e fuaction which transcends the interests
or reseousibilities of any one ca neat or area. The need to effect coor-
dination between elements of the Agency uuder the command of the three Deputy
Directors and the authoriey to draw upon the Agency's best resources dictates
that the fellation be performed ee the level of the Office of the DO. An
added factor in favor of this deterwination is the largo number of briefings
of high level government officials in which the DCI or DDCI participate. The
Agency off icer to 'boa this reepoesibiliey is assigned should be at least ia
grade -15, have &bowed knowledge of the Agency's activities and interests,
and Peleees e high degree of managerial skill. The performance of the brief-
ing function &awl( not be assigned a subordinate position 'within an operating
or producing component because ahsp7 experience has demonstrated that Agency-
vide coordination cannot be sc sl1.baci effect/Y*1y at the level or a component
of one of the major areas.
B. WRIAIMP
I. The term -debriefing i freely
the intelilgence oommuniey as the antonym
or extracting of eaformation as opposed to.
information. In this report, 4 IS used to
used
e., the renewing
impart or divuldAng of
ascribe the act of extracting
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information of intelligence value by interview and interrogation from
individuals who have knowledge of sdbjects of interest to the Agency.
2. This function is now being performed in much the some manner as
e function of briefing described in the first section of this report.
Agency Regulationl--lenunciates the policy of debriefing returning
government officials whose experiences abroad have provided them with infor-
mation or opinion useful to intelligence and assigns responsibility for the
arrangement of debriefing! to OCR. Through its Liaisen Division, OCR obtains
notification of the return to Washington of the overseas personnel of other
agencies of the government. This information is passed to CCI, ORR, OBI,
and au in the DD/I area and to ROO'S in the DD/P area. /n addition the
Office of the DCI is notified of the return of Amtessadors. If any of
these components express an interest in an individual, a debriefing session
is arranged through the liaison facilities of OCR. This is the usual pro-
cedure, although at times the regular liaison channels of OCR are avoided
and direct arrangements are made by the interested component of the Agency.
Elements of the DD/P area freqpently prefer to conduct their own debriefings
particularly if subjects of operational interest are to be discussed. If
a private citizen is to be debriefed, the arrangements are usually made by
Contact Division, 00. The responsibility for conducting the debriefing
rests with the office which has expressed the major interest in the individual.
The initiative for bringing about a debriefing is supplied by an office having
11 defined but specialized interests rather than a centralized authority
responsible for attending to all the interests of the Agency.
3. Those debriefings which are arranged by this method are
conducted in an unsatisfactory manner. The debriefing of a prominent official
may be attended by a large number of persons many of whom are motivated more
by curiosity than an interest in his intelligence potential. A large audience
at a debriefing is unmanageable. Question's are asked at random and subject
matter changes with confusing rapidity. Invariably- one questioner will domin-
ate the interview, consumdng much of the allotted time in the relentless
pursuit of a topic of very narrow interest and effectively preventing the
full exploitation of the source. To produce the belt results debriefings
must be conducted on a personal basis with only intelligence officers having
related interests in attendance.
4. Poor results are also caused by inexperienced intelligence officers
who are incapable of conducting a debriefing in a profes$ion*- manner. An
Inept interrogator who has not properly prepared himself for the interview
cannot help but fail to achieve his purpose. Efforts are often made to use
intelligence requirements 'which are inappropriate to the competence of the
source and he finds himself unable to answer the questions put to him but
thoroughly capable of answering qeestions which are not asked. Only intelli-
gence officers who are experienced in interrogation as well as expert in
substantive matters should participate in debriefings.
5. Sot all returning government officials are suitable for debriefing.
Many engage in activities in areas where the Agency's; knowledge is sufficiently
complete and little or nothing could be gained by their debriefing. Others
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deficient in b.ckgrOWld or training so that their competence
would
Some are unapproacbable for security reasons. Returning
t be selected by a careful analysis of their potential to pro-
a of value to the Agency and it must be done with all of the
ereate in mind. However, high-level government officials should
briefed if only for ths public relations benefits to be gained
Agency's debriefing runction suffers from the ONM4 lac* of
ection em control vihich applies to the briefing function. The absence
of a c.ntraU sed authority having responsibility for developing and directing
a debrief/.ng program has resulted in the inadequate and often incompetent
performance of this function. The two functions of briefing and debriefing
are so similar in nature and am closely related that they could be performed
best under a sines administrative authority. It would provide the continuity
necessary to ensure that those who are briefed are also debriefed.
7. Tbe reeponsibility for the briefing and debriefing of non governmental
individuals has been Rammed by Contact Division, 00, as a part of their func-
tion of the ?collection of foreign intelligence information within the United
States from selected business tun other non-governmental organisations, unaf-
filiated individuals and aliens" as assigned byl Occasionally, 00/C
brings non-governmental individuals of unusual competence or potential to
Washington Readvarters for briefAng or debriefing. The arrangements *re made
by 00/C with other Offices or components usually supplying the appropriate
mibstantive competence. Ideally these functions Mould be combined vith the
briefing and debriefing of governmental individuals to complete the centralize
-
tion of authority and responsibility. It is considered inadvisable to effect
such a consolidation at this time, pending the completion of the IG surveys
of 00 and OCR. Those surveys maw indicate the desirability of consolidating
governmental and non-governmental exploitation by revising NoCID-7 end reor-
ganising internally. It would be better at this time to limit the responsi-
bilities of the central administrative authority to governmental individmals
until such time as it has demonstrated the capacity to assume added functions.
Ago
always be
8. It is recommended that:
a. The regular and weil-establi briefings of organized
elements of the Government continue to be conducted as at pr
sent
b. There be established a central authority responsible for
the development, direction, and supervision of a sound Agency
program for the combined functions of the personal briefing and
debriefing of government individuals;
c. For this purpose, there be .*tablibd
CIA riefing and Debriefing Officer in the Oft c
d. An authoritative statement of over-all Agency poiley on
briefing and debriefing be published. Proposed statemen
t of
policy attached as Tab A
of
, and
disk
Lyman B. Kirkpatrick
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Canc.=
on assu
sUbject
0/.1
n that Tab A remains
to further study as to details.
Concur subject to further study of details
of proposed Regulation.
Sea
Support
MAR 2 1 1956
Concur in principles subject to
further consideration and coordination of
the details of the proposed Regulations.
3 3 _
tEPUTY DIRECTOR (PLANS)
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