MONTHLY REPORT -- AUSTRIAN BUREAU -- MAY 1981

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00385R000200020017-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2007
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: June 3, 1981
• Content Type: MEMO

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3 June 1981
MAU-1043
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, FBIS
THROUGH . Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report - Austrian Bureau - May 1981
The death on 16 May of 57, an Austrian Bureau employee-
for nearly 23 years, after repeated hospitalizations for surgery
and treatment of cancer discovered last December, deprived the
bureau of the services of a loyal administrative assistant whose
cheerful personality will be missed. Several bureau employees
attended funeral and cremation services 27 May at Vienna's
Baumgartner cemetery, as well as retired FBIS employees and
friends Pending. further experience,
it was decided to cover the upcoming vacation leave in July of
the other administrative assistant, by cross-training
a teletypist and use of overtime as required. A copy of 0
funeral announcement from son Simon is attached for FBIS
friends worldwide.
The U.S. dollar's continued strength against the Austrian schilling
throughout May, reportedly because of high U.S. prime interest
rates, kept bureau budget estimates down and further reduced
quarters allowances, per diem, and the post (cost-of-living)
allowance paid all staff employees. The exchange rate remained
above AS 16.00 to $1.00 for all except 4 days in May, reaching a
new high since 1977 of AS 16.735 on 3 June. In simple terms, this
means dollar holders buying schillings now get about 1/3 more per
dollar than they did only a year ago. Vienna per diem was reduced
from $104 to $94 daily for the high, summer season, and the post
allowance category to only 15 percent, meaning U.S. staffers mostly
receive about $1,700 per year, or 1/3 as much as when the COLA was
at the 42 percent rate.
The Embassy Personnel Officer, who has had the FBIS bureau new
position descriptions for six weeks, has not yet completed her
review or forwarded the PD's with her recommendations to State
Department, due to "press of other business" including local ICA
classification work.
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A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. Special coverage and processing laid on during May included
translations from Rome ANSA French-language reports on the
attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II on 13 May in Rome.
Yugoslav monitor and Albanian monitor
put their French to work. Additional staffing and coverage was
laid on over the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend on 24-25 May
to cover Sofia Bulgarian domestic broadcasts on the hijack
attempt against a Turkish DC-9 airliner at Burgas, airport,
commendations being awarded to monitor I land teletypists
2. Continued unrest in Yugoslavia's southern, Albanian ethnic
Kosovo province sustained additional coverage of Pristina domestic
regional radio broadcasts in Serbo-Croatian mostly, and Albanian,
as well as resumed sampling of Pristina television newscasts in
Albanian carried on Belgrade TV by our Belgrade contractor.
Heavy processing of Albanian and Yugoslav statements on Kosovo
issues added to a heavy workload for Yugoslav monitors
shorthanded because of leave. Headquarters approved a followup
TDY sometime in June to Belgrade for the bureau chief to orient
and meet the new,TV contractor hired through Embassy assistance,
3. Headquarters consumer interest in bureau videocassettes
remained high, with 36 pouched off in May (19 from Belgrade,
11 from Prague or Bratislava, 4 from Budapest and 2 from Vienna)
to Washington, as well as the monthly 3 for a BBC consumer's use.
FCS advised 28 May that Headquarters consumers. had agreed with
the bureau that videoselection lists would be required on
republic-level meetings only on merit.
B. Communications
1. The bureau communications section was named "Tributary of the
Month" by Pirmasens ASC for its sustained low-error performance
for many months, but on Headquarters' advice declined the honor
to avoid undue publicity. Teletypists have held the reject rate
below 2 percent for most of the last 13 months, including the
last 7 months in a row, as well as May, when the rate for CIM's
was only 1.45 despite a prolonged outage of 12:20 at Pirmasens
on 21 May and a total of 14:44 downtime for May, with 400 words
sent via London on the VCVC.
2. Upon request of the Hqs commcenter, information was supplied
on charges and time required to connect bureau teletype circuits
to the American Embassy Vienna for a future change to a high-speed
communications channel now used by the Embassy that would obviate
the need for any Skylink satellite connection, once planned for
1984.
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C. Lateral Services
On request by Vienna American Embassy Charge d'Affaires ad interim
Sol Polansky, a special Austrian television feature program on
Yugoslavia's southern Kosovo province was recorded 19 May and
pouched by Embassy Vienna to Belgrade and an advisory telegram
-sent. At the request of U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Stone,
filed FBIS reports on the Cyprus election results were passed
to Ambassador Stone 23-26 May during his Vienna visit.
D. Technical
1. Technical personnel completed rearrangement of multicouplers
and RF signal distribution, including routing of multicoupler-
distributed FM and TV antennas via looping plugs and providing
added cross-patching facilities for bureau and BBC use, greater
versatility, flexibility, and easier spare repatching when
faulty equipment is discovered.
2. With BBC agreement, Vienna began on 19 May to feed Prague
Polish evening newscasts on the VCVC channel by means of a
digital time switch when the Vienna main radio is unmanned late
at night, an arrangement similar to that followed for Kiev
Ukrainian radio coverage temporarily on BBC's coverage during
the Polish crisis. The bureau will acquire two more of the
AKAI Model DT-250 digital timers to permit more flexible use
of this mode. Facsimile transmissions for London PMU on the
VCVC remained high at 86 in May.
III. ADMINISTRATION
A. Personnel
1. Bureau teletypist
grade effective 31 May.
was promoted to FSN-5 journeyman
2. A copy of the new Vienna Embassy local employee handbook was
forwarded to FBIS Administrative Staff with covering notes
indicating certain problem areas involving grievance procedures,
"jubilee" payments, retirement, and severance pay for some FBIS
employees when all go onto the local schedule.
3. Dependent daughtersi of the bureau
chief and wife arrived in Vienna on 23 May for a final educational
travel visit.
B. Other
1. Headquarters auditorl visited the bureau 18-19 May
for a biannual look at the books; he reported no significant
items would be placed in his report. There was considerable
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interest in new-type documentation received by the bureau
from RAMC Paris but unavailable in Headquarters for audit,
and he indicated future audits may require an obligatory
Paris stop before or after bureau visits.
2. Efforts to sign government leases on two nearby, desirable
apartments for Deputy Chief Il and Senior Editor
were somewhat stymied by a stubborn Viennese landlord
and peremptory, mass vacation-taking by both the landlord
and Embassy contracting personnel. Offers to sign private
rental agreements on the landlord's terms were submitted,
and early indications from a co-owner are that these may be
successful when the owner returns from a long leave.
Chief, FBIS Austrian Bureau
Attachments:
Publishable Wordage Report
Production Report
Engineering Attachment
Staff Personnel Report
Non-Staff Personnel Re ort
Funeral Announcement-
cc: Chief, FBIS London Bureau
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