REPORT OF CABLE SECRETARIAT OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 1966

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00499R000600020063-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 17, 2001
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: January 12, 1967
• Content Type: MF

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1Z January 1967
MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Director-Comptroller
Report of Cable. Secretariat Operations
for the year 1966
1. Cables Processed
A. For the calendar year 1966 the combined work units of CIA and
non-CIA cables totaled 690,891 items, broken down as follows:
CIA Ins
Z44, 349
CIA Outs
94, 548
Miscellaneous
50,396
Non-CIA
29Z, 450
Archives
9, 148
TOTAL
690,891
This represents a workload of 8% more than for the same period 1965
(633, 859) and 2S'jo more than for the base period 1963 (552, 244).
B. CIA In and Out cables totaled 338, 897 for the period January-
December 1966, clown 1%%,% compared to the same period in 1965 (343, 717).
and 91a more than the base period 1963 (309.233).
C. Non-CIA cables for January-Decerrxber 1966 totaled 292, 450, an
increase of 24% over the Dame period in 1965 (236, 300) and 6876 more
than the base period 1963 (174, 1 56).
D. Our Monday-Friday average for: 1966 was 2, 204 items. Including
Saturday and Sunday. we completed an average of 1.893 items each 24
hours, for an average of 1.3 cables completed every minute.
I. In1966, 14.650 or 2% of all CIA and non-CIA cables were
furnished tca.the Director as compared to 20, 181 or 3.5% in 1965.
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A. At the close of 1966 the Cable $ecretariat had an on-duty stren tll
of M persona. ten short of our T I0 of
B. During the year we lost 25 persons: six to accept outside employ-
rrent, three to return to college full time, four transferred to other parts
of the Aency, one deceased, five to the military, two L,ViCP for a year,
two for personal reasons, one for maternity, and one to become a full tine
housewife. Offsetting our losses we gained 22 persons. We also employed
eight Summer employees.
C. Quality Step Increases were awarded to 3 persons making a total
of 22 Cable Secretariat personnel to have earned this award. The average
years of service with Cable Secretariat for this group is 10 years 7 months.
3. T raining
A. Agency training facilities appropriate for our personnel accounted
for five Cable Secretariat personnel having attended one or more training
courses during the year. In addition, seven persons successfully completed
our Cable Analyst Training Course. Nurznal on-the-job training given to new
personnel is not included in the above figures.
B. Four of our Offset Pressmen attended the AU AM school in Cleveland,
Ohio. This is a course designed to familiarize and tea ch offset pressmen to
rnake adjustments and minor repairs on the multilith machines.
A. The Cable Secretariat received notice that the Bureau of the Budget
had taken - from FY 68 budget for automation of information process-
ing within the Cable Secretariat. No reclama was made. V IC are preparing
in conjunction with Director of Communications requirements for a total
syatey. and are counting on money being available in FY 69. The Director,
Office of Computer Services, recommended that the automation of the Cable
Secretariat made an Integral part of the system planning for automating the
signal Center. Combining the Cable Secretariat requirements with the
communications plan should result in economies in time and money.
B. The renovation-.of the mail room has been completed. This included
putting acoustical tile on the walls; and the installation of double doors in our
supply room, thus eliminating temporary storage of skids of paper and other
unsightly objects in the corridor.
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C. We continued to make reductions in Cable Secretariat processing
times for both CIA cables and intelligence information cables (TD's).
(1) Processing times for Priority and higher precedence CIA cables
averaged in November 24 minutes as compared to 32 minutes in
April.
(2)
Processing times for Priority and higher precedence Tit's
averaged 34 minutes in November as compared to I hour and
53 minutes in March.
(3) Processing times for Routine TD's averaged in November 45
minutes as compared to 3 hours and 10 minutes in March.
(4) The basic system of placing reproducible master material in
Signal Center teletypes to eliminate the necessity of creating
masters by other methods such as Xeroxing, typing or by
flexowriter was jointly developed by Signal Center and Cable
Secretariat in 1965 to meet the needs of Headquarters. In April
1966 with close cooperation anofg Signal Center, the Intelligence
Watch and Cable Secretariat staffs, the system was extended to
the processing of TD's resulting in the sinificant reduction in
Cable Secretariat processing times given above. In addition to
our reduction in tirne. IW Is processing time was reduced an
average of 10 minutes per TI3. We understand that word of the
basic method has spread overseas and that Bangkok Station is
adopting it in the processing of their cables in order to achieve
savings in time and labrar. Much of the credit for these gains
must go to the Office of Communications Signal Center Staff
for their active cooperation and extensive efforts in modifying
formats and transmission procedures without which this signi-
ficant saving in time could not have been possible. The extension
of the method to j D'a resulted in two additional benefits. It
enabled Cable Secretariat to discontinue the use of flexowriters
for the preparation of TD masters saving us several hours of
labor per day and it relieved the Signal Center of an unknown
amount of labor involved in the furnishing of 60-75 paper tapes
each day for these items.
D. We are now using a Xerox Model 720 as our primary means of making
masters of non-CIA cables. The Model 720 copier is twice as fast as the 914
Model and has greatly improved our capability to process these messages
quickly. The meter charge for the 720 is approximately I~ less per ima e
than we have been paying for the 914. The reduced meter rate resulted in
savings of approximately $500.00 for the month of December. the first full
month in which we used the new equipment.
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E. We are still awaiting formal coordination of the Headquarters and
which I understand
is largely completed. Final approval and authentication is expected to be
a 'aadc in ;a.nuary. We began informal coordination of a first draft of these
publications in JFur-i of 1964. followed by a second draft in Au;ust 1965.
Coordination of this draft was completed in March 1966. Publication which
might have been possible at that time was interrupted to permit extensive
revision necessary to incorporate policy and procedural changes recommended
by the-Committee in April. Additional changes became necessary in
July as a result of the change in organizational cryptonyma used throughout
the field versions of both regulation:: and handbooks.
F. The procedure of spelling out the names of addressee stations began
in May 1966 as a recommendation of the-Cornrnittee, has worked well
from the start and I believe the address line of both. In and Out cables is now
much clearer to everyone.
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