HANDWRITTEN NOTE FOR THE DIRECTOR FROM(Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00171R001800150009-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: April 9, 1976
• Content Type: NOTES

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 T`atxvtivc Pe.gtitiy
9 A-t?ril 1976
[i'C"k '1'11" DIR.ECTQl3.
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D/DCI _
You will recall a number of recent references
at Morning Meetings to the.subject of the Mayagti-e;z
post--mortennr and its. release by the NSC Staff to
a, Elouse~ Subcorni.mittee-on- International, Political,
tnd Military Affairs,
In the course of considering this subject,
we wanted to make certain that the- NSC Staff was
aware of corrective actions taken following
is.suanc.e, of the,IC. Staff post-mortem. Accord-
ingly, a blind. memorandum describing these
actions has. been prepared and is being made
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I,aniimpx:ess.ed:by .the..number of corrective
actions taken and wanted to share with you this
knowledge. Attached are copies of the Mayaguez
past-morten-i and the memorandum concerning
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INFORMATION
OSD & NSC
review(s)
completed.
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Copy No.
2 April 1976
Community Corrective Actions, Post Mayaguez
In its Post Mortem of the Mayaguez Incident, the Intelligence
Community Staff identified certain problems and deficiencies adversely
affecting the Community's performance during that crisis and made
specific recommendations to correct them.* The corrective actions
taken since then--either in direct response to those recommendations
or, indirectly, as a result of the impetus provided by the Mayaguez
situation--are summarized below:
Post Mortem Recommendation: Existing procedures for
handling critical intelligence should be revised and clarified
so as to ensure appropriate action on the part of the various
Actions Taken:
-- A revised and expanded version of Director of Central
Intelligence Directive concerning the
I Iwas prepared by
e Intelligence Community Staff and approved by USIB
in December, 1975. This Directive defines critical
information as information concerning foreign situations
or developments which affect the security or national
interests of the US to such an extent that it may
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*Post-Mortem Report, "An Examination of the Intelligence Community's
Performance Before and During the Mayaguez Incident of May 1975," 25X1
published August 1975.
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WARNING NOTICE
SENSITIVE IrITE1_L;;=;lcE SOURc.ES
AND P11ET1I0 `SPUD or
watch and operations centers, to make certain that
messages are disseminated simultaneously to appropriate
addressess, and, in general, to clarify other aspects of the
system's procedures.
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require the immediate attention of the President or
other members of the NSC. The DCID clarified and improved
the procedures governing the recognition of critical
developments abroad, the transmission of information on
those developments to appropriate operations centers in
the Washington area, and the passage of that information
to senior officers of the Government.
A new document--the "Handbook of Standard Operating
Procedures for the Reporting of Critical Information"---
was developed by the Intelligence Community Staff in
conjunction with the Departments of Defense and State
and the principal USIB member agencies. This document
expands on the material presented in
n orma ion and w is are handled on a ig es -priori y
basis), and provides guidelines and instructions applicable
to all elements of the government concerned. The Handbook
has been approved by USIB and will be published as an
Attachment to A condensed,
uncl -.ssi fied version of these rocedures has also
been prepared and will be given wide dissemination
throughout the U.S. Government.
. Recommendation: The standard operating procedures of the
various watch and operations centers (specifically those concerned
with external communications,* including telephone conferencing)
should be revised to establish a set of common Community-wide
standards.
Actions Taken:
-- USIB has approved revised operating procedures for the
National Operations and Intelligence Watch Officers
Network (NOIWON), the system designed to provide for
simultaneous conferencing and exchange of information
among the seven key watch centers in the Washington
area. The new procedures now require that the NOIWON
be activated upon receipt
alert advisory.
-- CONTEXT (Conference Text Editing)--a unique computerized
system combining secure voice and a visual text capability
in a remote conferencing mode--is expected to become
operational in 1976 with terminals at CIA, NSA, DIA,
and State. The system facilitates analysts' preparation
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of time-critical intelligence products, such as a
crisis situation report,'and also permits emergency
Intelligence Community meetings, including those at the
USIA level, to be convened in a remote conferencing mode.
CONTEXT will eventually be enhanced by a remote display
capability which will allow presentation of maps and
other visual displays at each location.
Recommendation: The Community should establish effective
communications channels with all elements of the Government that
are from time to time involved in crisis monitoring and management.
Specifically, it should maintain contacts with systems that issue
warnings to merchant marine vessels and commercial aircraft.
Actions Taken:
Under the direction of an interagency ad hoc group,
a number of special and improved procedures and systems
were developed for providing warnings to U.S. flag
ships and aircraft. These include, for example, the
development of a U.S. Flag Merchant Vessel Locator
Filing System (USMER) to provide reporting of port
arrivals/departures and the at-sea positions of all
U.S. flag merchant ships engaged in international
trade; and implementation of new procedures to ensure
that upon issuance by the Defense Mapping Agency of
a special warning to U.S. ships, the Maritime Administration
(MARAD) also notifies shipping owners and operators of
the warning in order that these companies may issue
alerts on their communications facilities. These and
other measures constitute the first effective means of
linking the Intelligence Community's warning apparatus
with other U.S. departments and agencies such as the
Coast Guard, the Maritime Administration, the Defense
Mapping Agency's Hydrographic Center, and State Depart-
ment's Office of Maritime Affairs, which share responsi-
bi l i-ty for air and marine 'safety:
At the request of the Intelligence Community Staff,
the NSC Staff asked each. government agency to furnish
information on the functions of any watch/operations
centers it maintains (here and abroad). The results of
this survey are now being compiled into a directory which
should improve communications between all concerned
government elements, including those which normally have
no need to communicate with each other but which might
have to do so under crisis conditions.
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Recommendation: The flexibility of technical collection
systems, such as satellite photography, should be increased so
as to permit more rapid and more effective ways of acquiring
information during rapidly breaking crises.
-- Planning has largely been completed to make maximum
use during crises of new technical collection systems.
For example, under the direction of the USIB Committee
for Imagery Requirements and Exploitation (COMIREX),
a new staff (manned on a 24-hour basis by DOD and CIA
personnel) will provide the means for rapidly tasking new
imagery collection systems and disseminating the results.
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The Lfense Department's Collection Coordination Facility,
which is expected to become operational late this year, will
permit consolidation of DOD time-sensitive requirements
and more efficient.tasking of technical. collection
systems.
Recommendation: Contacts between the operational and intelli=-
gence communities should become more frequent and open, especially
at the working level. The responsibility for developing a better
way of exchnaging appropriate information should rest in the
first instance with the Intelligence Community, especially the
Intelligence Community Staff and the National Intelligence Officers
(NIOs).
Actions Taken:
-- The Intelligence Community Staff has inaugurated semi-
annual conferences of the heads of Community and non-
Community operations/watch centers to encourage closer
cooperation among operational and intelligence elements
and to discuss and resolvq matters and problems of
mutual concern. Two such conferences have been held
since the Mayaguez incident and a third is scheduled
for June of this year.
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-- The Pacific Command has established in Korea an all-
source "fusion center"--which seeks to combine both
operations and intelligence functions in one location--
to provide more effective support to Commander, U.S.
Forces,-Korea, especially during crises. This center
will colocate J2 (intelligence) and J3 (operations)
personnel and provide for the immediate use of information
on US and allied force operational data in the intelli-
gence and warning process.
-- DIALINT--a system now being developed--will provide
operational and intelligence personnel and policy makers
with immediate access by secure phone to the latest
intelligence bulletins on current developments.
Modernization of the National Military Indications
Center (NMIC) and the National Military Command
Center (NMCC) facilities will, when completed, allow
for much closer coordination between the operational
and. intelligence functions of the military and permit
them to provide more effective support to national
authorities. .
-- Other measures--such as the development of the previously
mentioned CONTEXT and NOIWON systems--will also contribute
to effective exchanges of information between the operational
? and .i ntel 1 i gence communi ti es.
Recommendation.: .The way in which the Community issues warnings
of impending developments to NSC members and other national consumers
should be improved. The Alert Memoranda system should be refined
and become the firmly established Community vehicle for alerting
top-level consumers to the existence of potentially serious threats
(other than strategic threats) to US interests.
Acti ons-?=Taken :-
At the DCI's request, the Intelligence Community Staff
prepared a comprehensive study of Alert Memoranda, which
concluded, inter alia, that these memoranda serve as an
effective instrument of warning for decision makers.
Revised, expanded, and improved procedures for the prepara-
tion, coordination and issuance of Alert Memoranda were
developed by the Intelligence Community Staff and were
approved by USIB on 15 December 1975.
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-- Within the Defense Department, Alert Memorandum distribute
tion procedures have been revised to ensure more rapid
delivery of AMs to key policy makers.
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