LETTER OF INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: April 25, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

4 ? t
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
NI, N.0 a
S-E-C-P-E-T
25 April 1966
MEMORANDUM FOR: Bureau Chiefs
SUBJECT: Letter of Information
GENERAL
1. CPSU Congress Coverage: The London Bureau's well-organized and
expeditious handling of TASS and Moscow radio materials on the 23d CPSU Congress
proceedings from 29 March through 8 April enabled the FBIS Wire Service and the
USSR/E2 Daily Report to provide consumers with exceptionally prompt and thorough.
coverage. London's efforts were complemented by the Austrian and Mediterranean
Bureaus' contribution of amplifications and texts of many of the delegates'
speeches. The complete proceedings of the congress and related materials were
published in 14 Daily Report supplements which totaled 425,000 words. A final
index to the supplements was published 27 April. Advance copies of all congrene,
material received in Headquarters were forwarded to high-level consumers by
special messengers.
Moscow radio reported the congress proceedings to world listeners in
54 languages and to domestic and European audiences via all USSR radio stations,.
the Soviet Central television network, Intervision, and Eurovision. (FOR
OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
2. Indonesian Crisis: Despite its limited Indonesian staff, the Okinawa
Bureau was able to provide full coverage of Djakarta radio's entire domestic
output during the March crisis period. Western press service transmissions
from Djakarta and Singapore and ANTARA casts in morse were exploited to
supplement Djakarta and regional radio reports of the tense events leading up
to the violent student demonstrations and the subsequent radical realignment
of political forces in Indonesia. The bureau was commended by the BBC for its
thorough coverage. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
3. Special Services: The Okinawa Bureau provided the Commanding General,
3d Marine Division, and the 1st Counterintelligence Team, Fleet Marine Force
I/MAC, with tape recordings of a statement on Hanoi radio purportedly made by
a U.S. Marine captured by the Viet Cong. The Okinawa end Saigon Bureaus
supplied military requestors with tapes of alleged statements by the two U.S.
pilots broadcast by Hanoi radio. A letter from the CO, USAF 6315th Operations
Group at Naha, commended the work of Okinawa Bureau monitors who translated
into Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean a pamphlet on emergency procedures for the
C-130. (CONFIDENTIAL)
Group 1
S-E-C-R-E-T Excluded from Automatic down-
grading and declassification
, Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 :CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Nri NSF
S-E-C-R-E-T
Subject: Letter of Information, 25 April 1966
4. Research Services: A speechwriter on Vice President Bumphrey'S staff
was supplied with Liberation Front radio comment attacking South Vietnam labor
leaders. Agency and State Department components were given information on such
subjects as notes exchanged between the CPR and Indonesia, the volume of Peking
broadcasts about Japan and Thailand, Peking propaganda treatment of the Burmese
"White Flag" communists, the beaming of Chinese Communist polemical articles,
content and beaming of Soviet comment on the recovery of a U.S. nuclear bomb
from the Mediterranean, and Soviet propaganda treatment of Fidel Castro's 13
March speech and Cuban delegate Armando Hart's CPSU Congress speech. RPD
also answered many queries from high-level consumers about Peking's reaction to
the Congressional hearings on Communist China. (CONFIDENTIAL)
5. Lateral Services: During March the Saigon Bureau began providing
JUSPAO with carbons of communist broadcast materials and the USIS mission in
Vientiane with Pathet Lao program sumiaries. According to information received
by the Saigon Bureau Chief, material supplied by the Okinawa and Saigon Bureau:,
to the American Embassy, Bangkok, are redistributed to the American consulates
in Udorn and Chiengmai and to all regional USIS PAO's. In mid-April, with
Headquarters' concurrence, the Saigon Bureau began direct wirefiling of the
Saigon-Cholon press review to USIA, Washington. In response to the
Mediterranean Bureau's effort to provide the American Embassy in Teheran with
more material from the clandestine National Voice of Iran, the embassy cabled
the bureau its appreciation for the "excellent coverage." Upon request, the
embassy at Cairo is receiving wider coverage of Cairo radio's Voice of
Palestine. During a recent visit by the Chief of the Key West Bureau to Miami,
recipients of FBIS material there stressed the importance of FBIS reporting on
Cuba, particularly the refugee evacuation and the recent spy trial in Havana.
Recipients of the FBIS-monitored WHO epidemiological bulletin now total 36.
(CONFIDENTIAL)
6. Use of FBIS Materials: FBIS-monitored items cited in recent State
Department and embassy cables included AFP and other reports that Guinea was
massing troops on its border with Ivory Coast, a Moscow radio assertion that
a hydrogen bomb lost by the United States in Mosquito Bay, Panama, was causing
radiation sickness among Nicaraguans, and a Mogadiscio radio attack on Kenya
President Jomo Kenyatta which U.S. Ambassador Thurston brought to the
attention of the Somali Prime Minister Abdirazak as an example of broadcasts
which harm Somalia's image abroad.
Ten percent of the items appearing in the OCI Digest during March were
based wholly or in part on FBIS-monitored materials. (CONFIDENTIAL)
7. Briefings and Visits: U.S. Ambassador Taylor Belcher and Mr. Renos
Solomidhis, GOC Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Communications and
Public Works, visited the Mediterranean Bureau 29 March for a briefing and
discussions with the bureau chief. American employees of the bureau held a
2
S-E-C-R-E-T
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Nei Near
S-E-C-R-E-T
.Subject: Letter of Information, 25 April 1966
buffet supper for members of the University of Texas Chamber Singers who
performed in Kyrenia 15 March under State Department auspices. Maj. Gen..
Kanshi Ishikawa, Commander of the 2d Wing, Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces,
was briefed on operations at the Hokkaido Bureau 15 March. On 27 March the
DCM in Tokyo, John K. Emerson, and the American Consul in Sapporo, William
Clark, visited the Hokkaido Bureau following a luncheon at Kuma Station.
Several naval intelligence officers from COMKWESTFOR recently visited the
Key West Bureau for familiarization, and military personnel from DIA, the
Navy's SOUTHCOM in Panama, and 5th Air Force, Fuchu, Japan, recived briefings
at Headquarters. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
8. Saigon Situation: The Saigon Bureau kept a close watch on the Hue
ahd Da Nang radios following their takeover by students calling themselves
the "Popular Struggle Force for Revolution." The Embassy was kept informed
of current developments, including strongly anti-American and anti-GVN state-
ments, by phone and through special copies of monitored material. As during
past crisis periods, Vietnamese troops were stationed around the U.S. Embassy
and its annex. To help Saigon Bureau cope with the extra work of covering
dissident-controlled radios and staffing difficulties stemming from the Ky
regime's temporary imposition of en early evening curfew in Saigon, the
Okinawa Bureau temporarily took over some of Saigon's coverage.
During the first week of March the Saigon Bureau chief visited
Vientiane and Bangkok to test Thai/Lao monitor prospects. (CONFIDENTIAL)
9. Mediterranean Bureau Developments: After discussions with local
government officials, the American Embassy informed the State Department that
it hoped by late April or early May to conduct serious negotiations with the
Government of Cyprus leading at least to an exchange of letters spelling out
the American radio stations' new statua and establishing the conditions for
their continued operation.
There were no concrete developments in the question of a Karavas
bypass which might encroach on the monitoring station, but the Cypriot Acting
Minister of Communications and Public Works indicated in talks with U.S.
officials that a bypass will be necessary. The minister also said that,
regardless of the outcome of the bypass question; FBIS would eventually have
to make way for a projected coastal highway around the island. Plans to
extend and complete church-owned buildings at Moutti, on the north side of the
bureau's antenna field, appeared to pose no threat to the bureau operation.
(SECRET)
10. Caribbean Bureau Progress: Construction of the Caribbean Bureau's
operations building by the Arden Construction Company began on 21 April.
(UNCLASSIFIED)
- 3 7
S-E-C-R-E-T
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21: CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Ale Nit
S-E-C-R-E-T
Subject: Letter of Information, 25 April 1966
11. Cuban Coverage: Between 9 and 16 March the Latin America Daily
Report published 120 pages of materials on the Havana trial of alleged U.S.
agents and a 35-page Castro speech processed jointly by the Key West and
East Coast Bureaus. The 72-page Latin America book of 14 March was the largest
published in recent years. Audio tapes of the trial were provided by Key West
Bureau for two Agency consumers. The bureau also obtained and sent to Head-
auarters on a priority basis editions of the Cuban Communist Party organ Gramma
containing the trial proceedings. (CONFIDENTIAL)
12. M2y Day Slogans: An analysis of Soviet May Day slogans for 1966 was
published in Radio Propaganda Report CD. 266, issued 19 April. The report
notes among other things the "demotion" of slogans on the CPR and Albania and
deletion of references to implementing the CPSU Program adopted at the 22d
Congress under Khrushchev. The presence of greetings to Syria for the first
time, indicating approval of the new Baathist government, and the dropping of
post-Nkrumah Ghana from the ranks of countries struggling for "social progress"
are also noted. (CONFIDENTIAL)
13. Field Trips and TIDY: Editorial Division Chief
visited the West Coast, Panama, Caribbean and Ke West Bureaus 6-30 March on
an inspection trip. Tokyo Bureau Chief was on TIDY at the
Okinawa Bureau 28-31 March for briefings an of mutual problems
with bureau staff officers. Executive Office visited the Systems
Development Corporation in Santa Monica, California, and the Stanford Research
Institute at Menlo Park to look into possibilities for independent research to
increase FBIS operational efficiency in general, and in the case of SRI to
review progress on work already being done there on automating editing and
publication of the Daily Report. SRI is making encouraging progress in
developing procedures based on cathode-ray tube display of computer-stored FBIS
material. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
50X1
50X1
50X1
14. FBIS Anniversary Party: Some 225 persons, including many former FBIS'
employees and their wives from points as far away as Chicago and North Carolina,
renewed old friendships at a cocktail-party held in the Fort Myer Officers Club
on 15 April to mark the 25th anniversary of FBIS. (UNCLASSIFIED)
15. Vietnam Casualty Information: The following supplements instructions
contained in the 24 March Letter of Information: All information on U.S.
military casualties in Vietnam should be addressed to BUPERS, Washington, D.C.
(RUECH); USAF Military Personnel Center, Randolph AFB (RUWTFJA); ONI, Washington,
D.C. (RUECW); and Code DNA, Washington, D.C. (RUECEM). While emphasis should
be on Vietnam casualty information, all of these consumers have a continuing
interest in specific information about or statements by U.S. servicemen in any
overseas area. (CONFIDENTIAL)
S-E-C-R-E-T
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 :CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
%NO %log
Subject: Letter of Information,
S-E-C-R-E-T
25 April 1966
FIELD OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING
16. Trans-Atlantic Communications: To protect London-Washington
communications during the 23d CPSU Congress, FBIS arranged with DCA for the
temporary upgrading of restoration priorities assigned to London Bureau's two
allocated cable circuits. The cutting of one cable by a trawler off the U.S.
coast on 31 March resulted in a 15-hour loss of one circuit, which was rerouted
via a cable from France, but the other two circuits were not affected.
(CONFIDENTIAL)
17. London-Frankfurt Circuitry: After months of negotiation with DCA,
FBIS in mid-April obtained an allocated military circuit between Croughton,
England, and Pirmasens, Germany, to replace the previous commercial link with
the common-user relay. An estimated $17,000 a year will be saved through the
new arrangement. (CONFIDENTIAL)
. 18. Bangkok Communications: Tentative arrangements have been made with
DCA and the State Department to provide communications for the projected
Bangkok Bureau. It is planned to use am allocated circuit between Bangkok and
Saigon, where traffic will be relayed to Washington by the direct cable and to
lateral addressees via the common-user circuit. (CONFIDENTIAL)
ADMINISTRATION
19. Entertainment Vouchers: In preparing entertainment vouchers
particular care should be taken to insure that only the word "operational" is
used to describe the purpose of the entertainment. (CONFIDENTIAL)
20. Regulatory Issuances: The following regulatory issuances have been
disseminated: (SECRET)
- 5 -
S-E-C-R-E-T
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 :CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
New
Subject: Letter of Information, 25 April 1966
GENERAL
1. Administrative Message References: The bureau or Washington symbol
.should be used when referring to a previous message in the body of an
administrative message. Thus "RE PR200" or "FURTHER WA100" leaves no doubt
as to the origin of the message cited, whereas "REUR 100" or "REOUR 200" is
easily confused by garbles and is particularly ambiguous when a message is
addressed to more than one recipient.
2. Photo Display: Headquarters now has a display board for photographs
of FBIS installations, housing areas, or any other subjects which are of
interest to employees. Again bureaus are requested to submit appropriate
photographs for display.
3. Home Leave Address: Employees returning to the United States should
as soon as possible provide Headquarters with an address and telephone number
where they may be reached during home leave.
4. Travel Messages: Messages requesting travel orders and proposing
itineraries for PCS transferees should be addressed to the Chief, Administrative
Staff, instead of to the Director.
5. Language Training: Wives of Staff personnel overseas are encouraged
to acquire at least a courtesy knowledge of the language of the host country.
Costs incurred for language study at Embassy or other organized language
courses will be reimbursed by FBIS.
PERSONNEL
6. New Employees
Assignment
Teletypist,
Teletypist,
Editorial Division
East Coast Bureau
50X1
7.
Reassignments From
To
Watch Officer
Watch Officer
50X1
East Coast Bureau
Caribbean Bureau
Editor
Senior Editor
Editorial Division
Caribbean Bureau
Teletypist
Teletype Supervisor
Editorial Division
Caribbean Bureau
EditOr
Editor
Editorial Division
. London Bureau'
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1
Nu,
Subject: Letter of Information, 25 April 1966
8. 12R arations
. Safe Drivin wards. Ok
From
Editor, East Coast Bureau
Watch Officer, East Coast Bureau (Retired)
recently
received letters of commendation and cash awards for accident-free driving
in 1965.
-T
ting Director, FBIS
50X1 ,
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/21 : CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260020-1