LETTER OF INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260017-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: July 29, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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29 July 1966
MEMORANDUM FOR: Bureau Chiefs
SUBJECT:_ Letter of Information
GENERAL
1. Saigon Situation: Further security measures were taken in Saigon
during June. The U.S. Mission ordered that no U.S. vehicles were to be parked
on the streets after dark, travel in the eity was restricted to official
business, and areas of dissidence, including the PX-Commissary compound, were
to be avoided. Police guards around the U.S. Embassy complex were reinforced.
. Bureau operations were not significantly affected though minor alterations in
work schedules were required. With sone 13,000 employees of RMK-BRJ (U.S.
construction combine) on strike, the Mission Council, which sets wage policy
for local employees of the U.S. Government and government-contract companies,
decided on 29 June to grant a 7.5-percent wage increase for local employees
of the U.S. Mission. The wage increase, considered inadequate in view of the
inflationary situation, evoked considerable discontent among employees of the
Mission and there were expectations of some walkouts and possibly sit-down
strikes, though not among FBIS employees. (CONFIDENTIAL)
2. Mediterranean Bureau Develcvments: June was marked by a further
tightening of controls by Greek Cypriot authorities, including the sealing off
of the nein Turkish enclave between Nicosia and Kyrenia for three days in
retaliation for two bomb explosions in Nicosia. During this period the
Nicosia-Kyrenia road was closed to all but necessary bureau travel in official.
vehicles, which included the school bus. FBIS personnel were able to use the
road normslly during a second tightening of controls later in the month, but
two FBIS American families had their cars thoroughly searched by Greek police.
Arrangements were made for the return of UAR coverage and four Arabic monitors
from London in two stages during September. "(CONFIDENTIAL)
.3. Services on Vietnam: FBIS services relating to Vietnam included
information for the White House, State Department, USIA, and Agency requesters.
on communist reactions to the bombing of oil depots near Hanoi and Haiphong.
OCI was supplied with Moscow references to volunteers in connection with the-
Hanoi-Haiphong bombings, and with the last previous Soviet references to
volunteers; past promises of volunteers from the East European countries, is
background for the statement on volunteers in the Warsaw Pact declaration on
Vietnam; recent Soviet elite references to support for the DRV and NFLSV
programs; background on Soviet Defense Minister Malinovskiy's speech in
Hungary accusing the Chinese of hindering Soviet efforts to aid Vietnam;
Group 1
Excluded from automatic down-'
S-E-C-R-E-T grading and declassification,
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SUBJECT: Letter of Informatidn, 29 july 1966
precedents for "kills" of items by TABS in its domestic transm1aai0h; tb
evaluate the possible significance of an item on the Hanoi-Haiphong air
strikes which TABS transmitted and then canceled; and announced dates of Le
Duo Tho's Moscow stopover en route home from the Czech party congress.
Military casualty branches were recently sent several tapes of recorded
statements or "depositions" by U.S. pilots broadcast by Hanoi and Peking radios
and supplied by Saigon and West Coast Bureaus. Dependence on FBIS reporting
and sources was reflected by a recent Navy request for photographs from the
North Vietnamese press of U.S. pilots being paraded through Hanoi 6 July.
The Saigon Bureau supplied the photographs. FBIS' contribution to information
aboUt American POW's received high praise at a recent meeting in the Pentagon.
Hanoi's intensified propaganda about the possible trial of captured U.S. pilots
was the topic of several recent Saigon Embassy cables citing FBIS items.
(SECRET)
4. Research and Analysis Services: At the request of the U.S. delegation
to the Geneva disarmament talks, Soviet statements during 1965 were examined
for references to the multilateral force as the only obstacle to the
conclusion of a nonproliferation agreement. The delegation was advised that
the MIF had been cited as a hindrance, but not singled out as the sole
obstacle. Examples culled from the War Themes file were wirefiled to the
delegation. A typescript report was prepared for USIA tabulating the number
of Moscow and Peking radio commentaries per week on U.S. race relations and .
racial troubles since January 1964 and indicating the proportion of the weekly'
total directed to African audiences. A compilation of Soviet statements on
contingency procedures for and cooperation in rescuing cosmonauts in distress,
with a covering summary, was prepared at the request of the 0/DD/I.
Other research services included a report for DIA on the number of
,Chinese "serious warnings" to the United States, the year in which they began
and the number per year, and how many pertained to air, sea, or sea and air
violations. Agency components were provided with information on Chinese
propaganda on Outer Mongolia; the first Soviet mention of the idea of a "front
of opponents of a new world war," a proposal attacked by Chinese delegates at
recent World Peace Council meetings in Berlin and Geneva; data on a series of
talks carried in April/May by the Persian-language clandestine radio Peyk-e
Iran; and Peking reaction to the New York TIMES series on the Agency. The
Soviet leader who declared in an election speech that "no key international
problems can be solved without the Soviet Union" was identified for the State
Department as Ponomarev. Statistics were culled for USIA on Soviet domestic
and foreign broadcast attention to the World Peace Council arid International
Labor Organization meetings in Geneva. (SECRET)
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
5. Special Services: At State Department request, for use by Secretary
Rusk at the SEATO conference, FBIS refiled to the U.S. Embassy in Canberra
Prince Sihanouk's 18 June speech on Cambodia's relations with Thailand.
Special requests for tapes during the month included: several Indonesian
radio commentaries containing anti-CPR material (Okinawa Bureau), samples of
Tashkent's broadcasts in Uighur (London), and a speech by Cuban minister
Osmani Cienfuegos (Key West). Senator Robert Kennedy's statement, on his
return from East Africa, that Peace Corpsmen there told him they would rather
listen to Radio Peking than the Voice of America prompted a high-level VOA
request for a sample of Peking's musical programing on its African beam. West
Coast Bureau supplied the tape.
An Agency component levied a requirement for all Havana reportage,
including video tapes of any television material, on the Caribbean Games in
Puerto Rico. After the games, Havana television began a series of lengthy
programs highlighting the harrassment of the Cuban athletes by "counter-
revolutioparies." Video tapes of this series were forwarded by Key West
Bureau, which also serviced a request for tapes of any Havana television
appearances or films of Fidel Castro since 1 May. (CONFIDENTIAL)
6. Lateral Services: Upon request the London Bureau supplied the
American Embassy, London, with the FBIS Bulletin and the Review of Soviet and
East European Broadcasts for use by Secretary Rusk during his 9-10 June visit,
The German Bureau on 10 June arranged for several 513th Intelligence Corps
Group Officers to view and take still photographs of a television program,
"The Secret of Oberursel," at the bureau's Camp King monitoring facility. The
Okinawa Bureau supplied USIS with updated information on Ceylon's international
and commercial broadcasts. MACV's Polwar staff was provided with three months
of Cambodian radio material by the Saigon Bureau, which also began servicing
the U.S. II Field Force Vietnam with broadcast reaction to that unit's
operations. Recent services performed by the Tokyo Bureau upon request
included translation of a lengthy Akahata appeal to all Japanese Communist
Party cells, for the Tokyo Embassy's Political Section, and processing of a
long Peking in Japanese item containing statements critical of the U.S. High
Commissioner by Okinawans visiting the CPR, for a local Okinawa Bureau consumer,
Upon urgent request, the Mediterranean Bureau filed to the American Embassy,
Amman, at 00 precedence a full summary of King Husayn's 14 June speech. Text
of the speech was supplied the next day. (CONFIDENTIAL)
7. Power Failure: As the result of power failure caused by a fire in the
Key Building air conditioning system over the Fourth of July weekend, the
Editorial Division was severely hampered in its production of the Daily Report
on 5 July and most Headquarters employees were dismissed early as the
temperature in the building rose to the mid-nineties. Despite the oppressive
heat and several shutdowns of all building power to facilitate repairs, the
Editorial Division was able to publish a full Far East book and truncated
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
editions of the Middle East, Africa & West Europe and USSR/East Europe books.
However, a power interruption during a critical production period in late
afternoon prevented publication of the Latin Atherica beck. Provision of an
additional emergency power supply to insure uninterrupted power for the
Production Section's electric typewriters and Xerox machine has been arranged,
by the Engineering Staff. ,(FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
8., NeW AP Service: FBIS Headquarters began receiving the Associated
Press "A" wire on 15 July in place of AP's longaused "C" wire. ? The new service,
designed primarily for newspapers, reports news in more depth and provides more
international coverage than did the previous service tailored mainly for radio
stations. An added advantage of the new service is that it reports important
international developments well in advance of the "C" wire, alerting FBIS Wire
Service editors Whe in turn can alert the field when necessary. (FOR OFFICIAL
USE ONLY)
9. Supplements and Reports: CPR Defense Minister Lin Piao's article on
People's War, first published by FBIS as a Daily Report supplement in September
1965 and reprinted repeatedly to meet consumer demands, is being printed in
4,000-5,000 copies as a U.S. Government publication and will be sold to the
public at a nominal price. The resolutions of the 13th Czechoslovak Communist
Party Congress, carried by the 8 June Rude Pravo, were published as a Daily.
Report supplement on 23 June. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
10. White Book Study; The Office of Programing, Planning, and Budgeting_
recently completed a study of the production and distribution of the
unrestricted Daily Report, the "White Book," and the possibility of selling it
to consumers. The final report recommended continuation of present printing
and distribution arrangements because the cost of the White Book is in fact
,minimal and there would be many problems involved in selling it. (FOR OFFICIAL
USE ONLY)
U. Information on POW's: In addition to continuing requirements for own-
voice recordings and information about downed U.S. pilots and other servicemen
captured in Vietnam, there is continued high-level interest in significant
material an the DRV's intentions regarding the trial of captured pilots. All
such material should.be addressed to the four Service casualty branches as
previously specified in messages. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
12. Bureau Commendations: The Panama, Mediterranean, and Key West Bureaus
were commended by Headquarters for their respective handling of the 28 June
Argentine coup against the Illia government, the attempted coup against the
Iraqi Government on 30 June, and Cuban Premier Fidel Castro's radio-TV speech
on 30 June. Coverage of the rapidly developing events surrounding the Iraqi
and Argentine situations was both thorough and prompt, and enabled the FBIS
Wire to carry significant developments well in 'advance of other news media.
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
Rumors about Castro's political standing and mental stability lent special
importance to the Cuban leader's speech, and the Key West Bureau's general
observations on his appearance and its rapid dispatch of the video tape to
consumers were greatly appreciated. The East Coast Bureau was also commended
for its coordination with and backstopping of the Panama Bureau and its
exploitation of Latin American press transmissions during the Argentine coup.
(CONFIDENTIAL)
13. ECB Editorial Innovation: To help ease the editorial staffing
situation at Headquarters, the East Coast Bureau has assigned monitors with
lung experience to the editorial functions of selecting, editing, and filing
copy with the guidance of bureau supervisory personnel. Results to date have
been good and the quality of the file has been very good. (FOR OFFICIAL USE
ONLY)
14. CPR "Cultural Revolution": The Okinawa Bureau is maintaining a
cardfile index of all individuals reported by Peking as being "anti-party
elements" in the course of the CPR "cultural revolution." The index includes
biographic information and the source of the first monitored accusation.
(CONFIDENTIAL)
15. Briefings and Visits: Eight FBIS summer employees were recently
briefed by Headquarters components and visited the East Coast Bureau to
observe monitoring operations. Twelve NPIC analysts were briefed on FBIS
operations during a visit to Headquarters. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
16. Training: The Chief, Editorial Division, attended an IBM Executive
Seminar an Automatic Data Processing (ADP) at the IBM Education Center 29 June-
1 July. The seminar, designed as an introduction to computer science and data
processing, dealt with computer uses in industry and government, card punch
and sorting machines, ADP programing, and use of ADP in management. (FOR
OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
FIELD OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING
17.. African Communications: Following a recent agreement with the
Department of State, the African Bureau began sharing a Lagos-London leased
circuit with the American Embassy, Lagos, on 5 July. The new circuit, which
increases transmission speed from 17 to 33 wpm and slightly increases capacity,
operates between 0500-1200 and 1600-2100 GMT. The routing indicator for FBIS
Kaduna is now RUDSLN. . (CONFIDENTIAL)
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
18. Far East Communications: Okinawa Bureau reported its fifth
consecutive month without a preemption on the Tokyo allocated circuit follow-
ing upgrading of its restoration priority from 3A to 2A. As a result of
serious preemption and outage difficulties with the Saigon allocated channel,
this circuit's restoration priority was also upgraded from 3A to 2A on 21
June. (CONFIDENTIAL)
, 19. Sale2p Bureau Call Sign: The Saigon Bureau's common-user call sign
is now RUMSEM/FBIS Saigon. On 27 July the bureau became a tributary of the
DCA relay in Saigon rather than Okinawa, and common user traffic now goes
through the Saigon relay. (CONFIDENTIAL)
. 20. Ration Reports: Cruising monitors are reminded that brief
observations on the quality of reception, in addition to the usual data
provided for MOS, are of considerable value to FOS. This applies particularly
to new stations, transmitters, frequencies, and beams. Significant changes in
previously reported reception also should be noted. (UNCLASSIFIED)
21. Broadcastimjevelopments: Hanoi radio introduced Indonesian=
language broadcasts to Indonesia at the end of June. The Okinawa and Saigon
Bureaus are sharing coverage. Albania has increased its English-language
broadcasting with two new half-hour broadcasts announced as the "Afro-Milan
Service." Preliminary indications are that the material is repetitive and
will not require additional coverage. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
22. ny West TV Tests: Television transmission field intensity measuring
equipment was forwarded to the Key West Bureau for a series of field tests to
determine what effect Coral Television Corporation's new transmitter in the
south Miami area would have on FBIS monitoring of Havana television trans-
missions. Preliminary test results indicate there will be no serious inter-
ference from the commercial transmitter. (CONFIDENTIAL)
ADMINISTRATION
24. Shipment of Foreign-Manufactured Vehicles: The support authority has
'recently granted approval for the shipment of foreign-manufactured vehicles at
government expense for Staff employees transferring from the United States to
overseas posts, provided such vehicles have been owned for six months prior to
the PCS departure date from the States. (ADMIN-INTERNAL USE ONLY)
25.
? ? ?
(OONFIDENTIAL
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
aelatuy Issuances:* The f011oiriftg regulatory. issuances were
dia'seminated: --(CONFIDER-HET
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
EDITORIAL
1. Field. Suuort of Wire: Field editors, drawing on their relationships
with monitors and their familiarity with events occurring in their coverage
areas, are in a unique position to support hard-pressed Wire Service editors
by singling out Important feats that'might go unnoticed upon receipt in
Headquarters. This can best be done through separate FYI's, or editor's notes
in the copy, pointing up significant comment or details buried in lengthy or.
apparently innocuous items. A case in point is the mass of incoming material
on the current "cultural revolution" in Communist China: A seemingly routine
list of Chinese leaders attending a writers reception identified Vice Premier
Tao Chu as the new head of the CCP Central Committee's propaganda department,
thereby confirming speculation that politburo member Lu Ting-i had been
dismissed from this position. In this case the item was selected for the
Wire, but for other reasons. An FYI or editor's note from the field would
have enabled the Wire to place the new appointment in proper perspective for
consumers. ?
2, Corrections: insufficiently identified corrections continue to pose
problems for Daily Report and Wire editors. Corrections to items filed from
such press sources as Lime AFP and Havana PRENSA LATINA, in particular, should
identify the country to which the original item referred.
ADMINISTRATION
3. Bonds: Form 2254--U.S. Savings Bond Authorization for Purchase and
Request for Change--must be submitted to Payroll Branch, canceling a bond
deduction whenever an employee transfers from an overseas bureau to Head-
quarters or to a domestic bureau. Personnel transferring between overseas
bureaus do not need to'cancel bond deductions. All requeets for changes or
new bond allotments must be completed in full; otherwise, bonds will not be
issued. In applying for bonds a United States address, including zip code,
must be used. APO or FPO addresses may not be used.
4. Dates of Arrival: Bureaus should report an employee's actual date of-
arrival in the "Remarks' dolumn of the Time and Attendance Report.
5. Tax Codes: When preparing Form 1027, T&A Report and Payroll Change
Slip, and in the payroll memorandum containing leave and payroll information
for transferring employees, the tax code should be prefaced by the symbol M
(for married) or S (for single) followed by the number of exemptions claimed.
For example, the tax code of a married man claiming five exemptions would be m-5.
PERSONNEL
6. New Employees
Assipment
Teletypist, Editorial Division
Cruising Monitor, MOS, Field Operations Staff
7. 8 ,
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 July 1966
7. Reassignments
8, Separations
Temporary Duty
From To
Branch Chief ,Bureau Chief 50X1
Editorial Division Key West Bureau
Editor Editor
Editorial Division Saigon Bureau
Senior Editor Chief Editor
Austrian Bureau Mediterranean Bureau
Branch Chief Chief Editor
Editorial Division Okinawa Bureau
Section Chief
gditorial Division
Editor
East Coast Bureau
Senior Editor
'German Bureau
Editor
.London Bureau
'Editor Senior Editor
Editorial Division Austrian Bureau
Senior Editor Acting Chief, USSR &
German Bureau EE Br., Editorial Div.
Editor Editor
Editorial Division West Coast Bureau
From
Typist, Radio Propaganda Division
Editor, Saigon Bureau
Chauffeur, West Coast Bureau
Analyst, Radio Propaganda Division (Retired)
Radio Operator, West Coast Bureau (Deceased)
in Headquarters
? en route from Okinaw ureau to Mediterranean
Baratta
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Director
' Foreign Broadcast Information Service
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