PRIORITY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE OBJECTIVES (PNIOS)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82R00129R000100060018-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 7, 2005
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: June 13, 1963
• Content Type: MF

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USIB-D-.25.1/6
13 June 1963
UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
SUBJECT
Priority National Intelligence
Objectives (PNIOs)
REFERENCES
a.
b.
USIB-M-250,
Item 4. b.
USIB-M-251,
Item 5
3 January 1963,
9 January 1963,
The attached report regarding the subject which was prepared,
pursuant to actions recorded in the references, by a special review
committee will be scheduled on the agenda of the 26 June USIB
meeting for consideration and action on the recommendations
set forth in paragraph 3 of Mr. Cline's memorandum.
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MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
SUBJECT Priority National Intelligence Objectives
a.
USIB-M-250, 3 January 1963, Item 4b.
b.
USIB-M-251, 9 January 1963, Item 5
c.
NSCID No,
1,
18 January 1961
d.
DCID No.
1/2,
15 September 1958
e.
DCID No.
1/3,
9 January 1963
f.
DCID No.
2/2,
26 June 1959
1. Pursuant to References a. and b., a Special Committee has
reviewed the basic concept, purpose, and form of DCID No. 1/3 and
herewith submits its findings and recommendations.
2. The members of this Special Committee are Mr. Ray S. Cline,
Deputy Director (Intelligence), CIA Chairman; Mr. Allan Evans, Deputy
Director for Research, INR, Department of State;
Chief of Staff, DIA; I Deputy Assistant Director
for Production, NSA; and Mr. Ludwell Montague, Board of National
Estimates, CIA.
3. The Special Committee recommends that the United States
in-i.te1J k. e?ice Board:
a. Note the study of the subject in the Enclosure.
b. Adopt Appendix A as DCID No. 1/3 (Revised -June 1963).
c. Adopt Appendix B as an initial Supplement to the June 1963
revision of DCID No. 1/3.
d. Assign to the Board of National Estimates, in coordination
with USIB representatives, continuing responsibility for submitting to USIB
an annual revision of DCID No. 1/3 and a quarterly supplement similar
the initial one proposed.
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e. Direct the USIB committees concerned (EIC, GMAIC,
JAEIC, SIC, COMOR, IPC, SIGINT and CCPC) to report to the Executive
Secretary of USIB the procedures adopted and actions taken or planned
to discharge their responsibilities with respect to the implementation
of DCID No. 1/3 pursuant to their respective-.,Ch rters.
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Enclosure to
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13 June 1963
THE FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIORITY
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE OBJECTIVES
Page
The Requirements of NSCID No. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Concepts Underlying the PNIOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Problems of Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Problems of Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Assignment of Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Appendix A. (Draft DCID No. 1/3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Appendix B (Draft Quarterly Supplement) . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Requirements of NSCID No. 1
1. NSCID No. 1. , subparagraph 3 b, requires the issuance of DCIDs to
provide "general guidance and specific priorities" for the production of
intelligence and for collection and other activities in support thereof, including:
a. The "establishment of comprehensive National Intelligence Objectives
generally applicable to foreign countries and areas"; and
b. The "identification from time to time, and on a current basis,
of Priority National Intelligence Objectives with reference to specific countries
and subjects. "
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2. DCID No. 1/2, "Comprehensive National Intelligence Objectives",
is intended to meet the first requirement specified above (subparagraph a).
The DCID is criticized as being all-inclusive (and therefore of no practical
utility), but that is precisely what the NSCID requires. Amplified by the NIS
Standard Instructions, which are incorporated by reference, the DCID does
fulfill the intent of the NSCID, as revealed by its legislative history, and
does make formal provision for indispensable intelligence coverage of those
countries and subjects not singled out for special attention as Priority
National Intelligence Objectives (PNIOs )?
3. DCID No. 1/3, "Priority National Intelligence Objectives, " is intended
to meet the second requirement specified by the NSCID (subparagraph lb above).
The language and the legislative history of the NSCID make it evident that
PNIOs should be:
a. Selective, with explicit reference to specific countries and
specific subjects.
b. The basis for special ("priority") attention and effort. "Priority"
may be interpreted in terms of order in time. In this context it should be
understood to mean preferment in the allocation of resources, without implying
the denial of adequate resources for the general.. and basic intelligence
coverage prescribed by DCID No. 1 /2.
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c. Subject to periodic revision ("from time to time"), but also
to constant review ("on a current basis").
Concepts Underlying the PNIOs
4. Prior to December 1954 the DCID .on Priority National Intelligence
Objectives was a list of seven highly generalized topics related exclusively to
present PNIO criteria and format were developed during 1954 in response
to demands for:
a. Broader coverage, in recognition of other major concerns of
the NSC.
b. More specific guidance than could be derived from the generalities
of the then existing DCID.
C. A means of distinguishing at least broad categories of relative
priority within an expanded and more specific listing.
5. The present concept presupposes that the bulk of the intelligence
required for the formulation and execution of national security policy will be
the product of normal intelligence collection and research pursuant to DCID
No. 1/Z. DCID No. 1 /3 seeks to provide priority guidance through the
identification of specific critical intelligence problems within the general
body of the intelligence required for that purpose, particularly those revealed
in the preparation of NIEs. For this reason, the task of formulating the
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PNIOs has been assigned to the Board of National Estimates in coordination
with USIB representatives.
6. USIB identification of specific critical intelligence problems within
the general body of the intelligence required for policy planning purposes is
conceived to be but the first step toward determination of the priority, if any,
to be accorded to specific collection requirements. Not every bit of information
somehow related to a priority problem will be required with equal urgency;
some may be procurable by routine means. The full process requires further
analysis by research personnel to determine (a) the elements of information
essential to the solution of the problem indicated, (b) the elements already
available or readily obtainable through research, (c) the additional information
obtainable through routine collection, and finally (d) the residual information
of such critical importance as to warrant a priority collection effort.
7. Even when it is thus determined that a real and specific priority
collection requirement exists, problems remain with respect to its consignment
to one or more of the various disparate systems of collection. A priority
requirement appropriate to one system may be of no priority whatever with
respect to another because unsuited to it. The PNIOs cannot be expected to
provide automatic solutions for such problems. They require, consideration
and coordination among personnel familiar with the operational capabilities
of the various collection systems.
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Problems of Formulation
8. The latest revision of DCID No. 1/3, dated 9 January 1963, lists
47 PNIOs in four categories of relative priority. These 47 items vary
greatly in scope and specificity. Most of the subjects included might be
considered the ordinary grist of the intelligence mill (e. g. , political stability
and orientation, economic development), the only effect of their inclusion
being to emphasize the special importance of such matters in the cases of
particular countries deemed to be of critical significance.
9. It is evident that DCID No. 1 /3 has been overloaded with subjects
which should have been left to normal intelligence coverage pursuant to
DCID No. 1/2. This is attributable to a widespread lack of understanding of
the concept set forth in paragraph 5 above, and to consequent pressure by
analysts, through USIB representatives, to obtain priority listing for every
matter of more than passive intelligence interest, on the ground that
otherwise no attention will be paid to it. Obviously, if every matter of active
interest should be made a matter of priority, the concept of priority would
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lose all meaning.
10. Another reason for the disparities evident in DCID No. 1/3
is confusion of purpose--an attempt to provide a stable basis for planning
the allocation of research and collection resources and at the same time
to restrict the listing to specific current problems (see DCID No. 1/3,
Annex, paras, 3 and 4). For example,
11. In the judgment of the Special Committee, these problems should
be met by redesigning DCID No. 1/3 to serve as a basis for long-term
intelligence planning, excluding topics of current but transitory interest
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(see DCID No. 1/3, Annex, para. 3). Under this concept the DCID, to
be reviewed and revised annually, would attempt to look ahead for about
five years and to identify the really critical intelligence problems deemed
likely to persist or to develop during that time. Such guidance would have to
be expressed in broad terms, but nevertheless could explicitly identify the
subjects of primary concern with respect to particular countries (the USSR)
or regions
I
two categories of the present DCID No. 1/3, with the addition of a few generalized
items from the other two categories. (For an example, see Appendix A. )
12. If this revision of DCID No. 1 /3 be accepted in principle, the
requirement for more specific guidance on a current basis could be :met by
the quarterly production of a supplement like the example in Appendix B. This
supplement would not attempt to catalog every subject of current intelligence
interest, but rather, within the context of the basic DCID, to anticipate specific
developments in the situation, looking forward six months or so, which
might warrant some shift of emphasis in the employment of research and
collection resources.
Problems of Implementation
13. The USIB has never made comprehensive provision for the
systematic implementation of the PNIOs. Consequently, actual practice in
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this respect varies according to the interest and initiative of the various
components of the Intelligence Community. Particular research units
sometimes generate specific collection requirements spontaneously, in
accordance with their particular concerns, but then tend to claim priority
attention for them on the basis of a sometimes tenuous relationship to some
PNIO, generally without any authoritative determination that the information
called for is in fact essential to the solution of the problem indicated by
the PNIO and obtainable only by a priority collection effort. (See para. 6 above.)
Such "priority" requirements have often been served on several systems of
collection, without sufficient consideration as to which may be appropriate
for the task, in the hope that some one of them will act to fulfill it.
14. As indicated in paragraphs 5-7 above, the PNIOs have been
intended to provide guidance for the administration of intelligence research
and collection through the identification of critical substantive problems,
but have never been intended to provide an automatic determination of the
priority to be accorded to particular collection requirements by particular
systems of collection. Their use for this latter purpose, in default of re-
sponsible determinations by research authorities as to which requirements
are really of such importance as to warrant a priority collection effort,
and by collection authorities as to which means of collection are best suited
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for the task, is an abuse of the system.
15. Reference has already been made (para. 9 above) to the
tendency of analysts to seek priority status for ordinary information
requirements on that ground that otherwise no attention will be paid to
them. This attitude results in large part from the assertions of specialized
collection agencies that they have no time or resources for any matter not
a matter of priority. In this, both parties ignore the consideration that
the designation of certain subjects as matters of priority, in DCID No. 1/3, is
not intended to cancel the requirement for general coverage pursuant to
DCID No. 1 /2.
The Assignment of Responsibilities for the Formulation and Implementation
of the PNIOs.
16. The task of formulating the PNIOs, conceived as the identification
of specific critical substantive intelligence problems, has been assigned to
the Board of National Estimates in coordination with USIB representatives.
This is as far as the Board is qualified to go in relation to the total process;
further determinations regarding the priority of specific collection require-
ments, and regarding the suitability of various systems of collection in each
case, require the participation of research and collection personnel.
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17. For this reason, the Special Committee has considered
proposing the establishment of a new USIB committee on which all the
required competences would be represented, not only to formulate the
PNIOs, but also to supervise their implementation. The Committee has
rejected this suggestion for the following reasons;
a. General aversion to the proliferation of USIB committees,
b. Consideration that a single committee on which all the
specialized competences and USIB interests were represented would be
too large and unwieldy to work effectively.
c. Consideration that existing USIB mechanisms can be made
to work effectively to accomplish the desired purposes, under new and
positive direction from USIB.
18. On the basis of the foregoing considerations, the Special
Committee concludes that responsibility for the formulation of the PNIOs,
in accordance with the revised concept stated above (paras. 11-12), -should
continue to be assigned to the Board of National Estimates in coordination
with USIB representatives and in consultation with the appropriate USIB
committees. There will remain, however, a need to provide for more
systematic implementation of the PNIOs as finally adopted by USIB.
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19. The development of essential elements of information and
related collection requirements, including determination of the relative
priority of such requirements, is in the first instance the responsibility
of the research offices of the Departmental agencies (INR, State and DIA)
and CIA (DD/I). Certain USIB committees, however, are charged with
responsibility for community-wide coordination in this respect. The
Charters of GMAIC, JAEIC, and SIC contain explicit provisions on this
point--see DCID No. 3/3, para. 4b; DCID No. 3/4, para. 4b; DCID No. 3:?/5,,l'' .
4b. The Charter of the EIC contains provisions which can be interpreted
to the same effect--see DCID No. 3/1, para. 3.
20. Certain other USIB committees (COMOR, IPC, SIGINT) are
charged with responsibilities in relation to the implementation of the PNIOs,
insofar as particular systems of collection are concerned--see DCID No.
2/7, para. 2; DCID No. 5/5, para. 2; DCID No. 6/1, para. 3c. The
over-all view required for the efficient utilization of collection resources
on critical collection problems is provided for in the Charter of the CCPC--
see DCID No. 2/2, para. 1.
Recommendations
21. The Special Committee recommends that the United States
Intelligence Board:
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a.
b.
Note the foregoing study of the subject.
Adopt Appendix A as DCID No. 1/3 (Revised
June 1963).
c.
Adopt Appendix B as an initial Supplement to the June
1963 revision of DCID No. 1/3.
d. Assign to the Board of National Estimates, in coordination
with USIB representatives, continuing responsibility for submitting to
USIB an annual revision of DCID No. 1/3 and a quarterly supplement
similar to the initial one proposed.
e. Direct the USIB committees concerned (EIC, GMAIC, JAEIC,
SIC, COMOR, IPC, SIGINT and CCPC) to report to the Executive Secretary
of 'USIB the procedures adopted and actions taken or planned to discharge
their responsibilities with respect to the implementation of DCID No. 1/3
pursuant to their respective Charters.
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