LETTER TO JOHN A. MCCONE FROM MANSON BENEDICT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R002800020019-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 4, 2003
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: January 4, 1963
• Content Type: LETTER

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GENERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
TO THE
U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
P.O. BOX 3528
WASHINGTON 7, D.C.
ENRICO F_c 2.11 AWARD
4-3-067,6
January k, 1963
The General Advisory Committee invites you as an individual to submit
a nomination for the next Enrico Fermi Award. This Award is made under the
provision of Section 157b(3) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954'which states
that, "..... The Commission may also, upon the recommendation of the General
Advisory Committee, and with the approval of the President, grant an award
for any especially meritorious contribution to the development, use, or con-
25Xl trol of atomic energy."
The first award under this Act was made on ::ovember 16, 1951+, to Enrico
Fermi. In Decem'er of 1955 the General Advisory Committee recommended to the
Atomic Energy commission that a:.n iinrico Fermi .ward be established on a perma-
nent basis, ana that it be international in scope, available to scientists of
all nations. The recommendations, together with others pertaining to the'
Award, were opproved by the Commission early in 1956.
The Commission :ctermined that the Award should be made not more often
than ar.:.,:ally, and not necessarily annually. The recipients of the Award
have c,_:cn Dr. jch.. :o:, 1:c,_-.ann, Dr. Ernest 0. Lawrence, Dr. Eugene P. Wigner,
Dr. Glenn T. Senor , Jr. ia..s A. Bethe, and Dr. Edward Teller.
The Ge.. ral Advis-- y Oommittee ro.~ has the duty of soliciting nomina-
tions for the next Award and of recommending a candidate or candidates to
the Commission. she Cc:..mittee and the Commission wish no worthy candidate to
be overlooked. In mmking a nomination, please place principal emphasis on
the statement of scientific and technical achievements upon which the nomi-
nation is based. Please minimize such data as can be found in standard ref-
erence works.
You may wish to know that nominees who fail of-selection.are retained
on the Committee's list for further consideration for two additional years.
If the candidate aas not been selected in three consecutive years, his or her
name will be removed from the list unless the candidate has been renominated
in that time or until renominated.
Nominations for the next Award should be received by the.Chairman,,-General
Advisory Committee, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, P. 0. Box 3528, Washington
7, D. C., not later than March 1, 1963. Your assistance in making nominations
will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
-.' -.??..~._. ~d,/ IAA-'aro~S1~ ~?~~
Manson Benedict
Chairman
Mr . John A. Mc Cone
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington 25, D. C.
Kul,
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25 January 1963
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director O#' Central Intelligence
SUBJECT: Possible N~-111ination for Enrico
Fer,d, Award
4-1
,^7s,Ci7 jVO . ;`tsj8LX j'
I. T='Iis mernoranduiu suggests a ;possible npminee
for the Enrico Ferrru Award.
The Enrico Fer Award nOrl)ination request
is difficult to reconcile with the inherent restrictions of CIA.
However, you xxuight wish to consider Fete Scoville. Inm
y
view ne has done as much or 1n1oro than an f ane else in this
country to provide n''e ngful intelligence on foreign nuclear
prograirts. Certainly no one %,se in CIA has the stature to
command serious consideration in this field.
STAT
STAT
Scientific Intelligence
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DD/R-209-63
16 February 1963
MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Director
SUBJECT: Possible Nomination for Enrico Fermi Award
1. Many of us who have been closely associated with
Dr. Scoville over the years know of the exceptional contri-
butions he has made to the use and control of atomic energy
and feel very strongly that they should be officially
recognized by an award. Previous recipients of the Fermi
Award have been cited primarily for contributions in such
fields as nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics, develop-
ment of the cyclotron and discoveries of elements; however
there have been references to additional contributions
through leadership in research and efforts to strengthen
National security. Since Dr. Scovillets contributions
are not of the scientific development type, we are not
entirely certain that we have the basis that the Director
would feel he needs for a nomination.
2. We have attached a resume of Dr. Scoville's activities
that highlight his contributions to the use and control of
atomic energy and you can see that they are substantial but
certainly not of the purely scientific discovery type. No
attempt has been made to put them in a final nomination form,
but rather to let the facts speak for themselves through a
description of his assignments and the manner of his performance
as assessed by persons highly qualified to do so.
3. I would appreciate it very much if you could find
the opportunity to discuss with the Director the information
we have developed and find out his reaction. If it is favor-
able toward a nomination, we will be very pleased to assist
in shaping up the final nomination papers, and of course I
am most anxious to do anything I can personally to assure the
success of this nomination or any other that might be more
appropriate.
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Subject: Fermi Award 2
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4. A copy of the invitation from the Chairman of
the Fermi Awards Committee is attached for your convenience.
The deadline for nominations to this Committee is 1 March
1963.
Assistant Deputy Director
(Research)
Attachments
1. Resume
2. Invitation
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HERBERT SCOVILLE, JR.
The exceptional and highly meritorious contribution
of Dr. Scoville to the use and control of atomic energy is
best presented in the form of a resume of his responsibilities
and activities in his two major federal assignments.
Dr. Scoville served as Technical Director of the Armed
Forces Special Weapons Project (successor to the Manhattan
Engineering District and now the Defense Atomic Support
Agency) from June 1948 to August 1955. He was scientific
advisor to the Chief, AFSWP, on all technical matters
relating to the development, use, effects and defense against
atomic weapons; and planned and directed research and develop-
ment programs in atomic weapons fields. (Concurrently he
served as a member of the Chemical Corps Advisory Council,
the Committee on Nuclear Science of the Department of the
Air Force, and the Advisory Committee on Civil Defense of
the National Research Council.)
In nominating Dr. Scoville for the Arthur S. Flemming
Award in December 1950, Major General K. D. Nichols, Chief,
AFSWP, cited Dr. Scovillets wide technical experience and his
advice "on many highly classified aspects of the military
atomic program which includes radiological warfare" and
"in connection with the development of atomic weapons,
including bombs of all types, and other methods of employ-
ing atomic energy as a weapon". He further pointed out
that radiological warfare was a new and exceptionally
technical subject of relatively unknown potentialities
and that "the evaluation of the military worth of this
weapon has,largely through the assistance of Dr. Scoville,
been conducted on a sound technical basis, combined with
logic and practicality". He also cited Dr. Scovillets
"full appreciation of military thinking and his clear
perception of the military, as well as the scientific pro-
blems" and that he had "accomplished a great deal to bring
these
problems and thoughts of the military and scientific (sic)
to a common ground of understanding and this, in itself, is
one of the finest of his accomplishments". Also in that year
the Director of Civilian Personnel informed the Assistant
Secretary of the Army that Dr. Scoville had attained "a
position of pre-eminence in the military services on matters
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Herbert Scoville, Jr. 2
of radiological defense and is the leading authority on
the analysis of radiation information which has been made
available to the armed services as the result of the atomic
tests at Operations CROSSROADS and SANDSTONE".
In June 1952, Rear Admiral W. K. Mendenhall, Deputy
Chief, AFSWP, in commending Dr. Scoville as "the scientist
directly responsible for the accomplishment of the weapons
effects programs" stated that "the successful accomplish-
ment of the several programs involving many fields of science
was in a large degree dependent upon your clear insight
into the problems, your ability to coordinate the activities
of many laboratories, your scientific guidance to the groups
and your own hard work". In October 1952 the Department of
the Army conferred on Dr. Scoville its Commendation of
Meritorious Service for his work in the nuclear weapons
field.
In August 1953, Major General A. R. Luedecke, Chief,
AFSWP, stated that Dr. Scoville "kept himself abreast of new
developments in the atomic energy field to a marked degree"
and "through his own efforts and his tremendous capacity for
absorbing knowledge, he is considered one of the outstanding
experts in the fields of atomic weapons development and
weapons effects....and because of his guidance, advice, and
direction, the research programs of AFSWP have been exception-
ally successful in providing useful data to increase the
Projectts knowledge of effects of atomic weapons".
Major General P. W. Clarkson expressed his "sincere apprecia-
tion" for Dr. Scoville in May 1954 for his contribution to
the success of Operation CASTLE during which in the forward
area as a consultant to Commander, Task Unit 13, he was
called upon "to organize and lead a team in making a radio-
logical survey of certain remote atolls". Later in 1954,
Dr. Scoville was detailed to the Office of Defense Mobilization
on the Technological Capabilities Panel in an "assignment
undertaken at the request of the President". In April 1955,
Arthur S. Flemming, Director of Defense Mobilization, wrote
Dr. Scoville: "The President has requested me to express
to you his own deep appreciation for the outstanding service
rendered over a period of the past few months under the
leadership of Dr. Killian .... All of us who have had the
opportunity of examining the results of your work feel that
you have made an outstanding contribution to the security
of our nation".
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Herbert Scoville, Jr. 3
With his specialized knowledge and experience in atomic
weapons he was able upon his appointment as Assistant
Director for Scientific Intelligence, CIA, to grasp quickly
the need for more substantive intelligence in depth on foreign
nuclear capabilities and potentialities. Through his Chair-
manship of the Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee
and his excellent rapport with the scientific community, he
was able to marshall the resources of science and technology
with those of the intelligence community to obtain unprecedented
intelligence information while overcoming the tremendous
obstacles of foreign countermeasures. Because of the force-
fulness of his personality and drive, his professional standing
as a senior scientific intelligence officer, and his position
as a consultant to the President's Science Advisory Committee,
he was able to open a channel to the top echelons of Govern-
ment. Here this new, solid scientific intelligence created
a greater awareness of the threat to the security of the
United States from foreign nuclear programs and had significant
influence on National security policies affecting both inter-
national position and defense programs.
When scientific intelligence moved into the new field
of arms limitation, Dr. Scoville was called upon to take a
leading role in development of the technical facts which are
critical to inspection and policing agreements. As a member
of the United States Delegation to the Geneva Conference of
Experts in 1958, he supported the front line negotions con-
sidering the scientific and technical aspects of compliance
with a possible treaty on the discontinuance of nuclear tests.
Since the first Geneva session he has been called upon as the
most knowledgeable scientist in the Government as to the
capabilities of both the United States and foreign govern-
ments in the field of atomic energy to furnish essential
scientific and technological information upon which realistic
negotiations can be based.
In the fall of 1962 the President recognized his pre-
eminence by appointing him chairman of a committee to assess
the U. S. atomic weapons posture as to stockpiles, yields,
state of the art and possible break-through vis-a-vis that
of other nations and to arrive at a net evaluation.
In recognition of Dr. Scoville's accomplishments on
the frontiers of scientific intelligence, he was promoted
in February 1962 to Deputy Director (Research).
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 Gam.
10 May 1963
MEMORANDUM FUR: General Carter
Mr. Kirkpatrick
Executive Registrp
DCI does not believe we have anyone who would qualify
substantively. He does not think we need to say so; it is enough
to refer to previous winners and the quality of their contributions:'
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We are attaching a copy of a memorandum
from Dr. Wheelon suggesting that Mr. McCone
consider nominating Dr. Scoville for the
Enrico Fermi Award. We are working with
in drafting the necessary suppo ing
papers but thought that you might want to
mention this to Mr. McCone at an early stage.
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