REPORT OF MESSAGE CENTER OPERATIONS 1 - 30 SEPTEMBER 1954

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00499R000600040076-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 10, 2002
• Sequence Number: 76
• Publication Date: October 11, 1954
• Content Type: MF

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25X1A MEMORANDUM FOR:
25X1A
25X1A
SUBJECT
11 October 1954
: Report of Message Center Operations
I - 30 September 1954
. Cables Processed
a. The Cable Secretariat reproduced and distributed a total of 12,282
cables during the month of September 1954. This represents a 5% increase
in the total number processed over the August total, and an increase of
1,70? cables over the total number recorded for September of last year.
Tab A compares September totals with those of August and provides a
tabulated account of D13/I suspense items handled during the month.
b. Cables briefed for and furnished to the Director totaled 1, 121 or 11%
of all cables hatched. This figure represents a 2% increase over the total
furnished the Director in August.
. Personnel
a. In last month's report, we anticipated a shortage of personnel within
the Cable Secretariat. As predicted, this shortage now exists. The Cable 25X1A
Secretariat, as of 24 September 1954, had nine vacancies. This situation
was brought to the attention of I Personneli Office placement
officer for the Cable Secretariat. r was asked by 25X1A
o bring our personnel situation to the attention of . Mr. 25X1A
understands that a lack of personnel is impairing the efficiency of
Is Secretariat. He assured that the matter will be dis- 25X1A
cussed with and that they will do everything possible to fill our 25X1A
vacant slots promptly.
25X1A
b. In addition to vacancies our personnel strength for the month was
urther reduced in that we lost the services of the following senior personnel:
(I) Assistant Watch Officer was on annual leave
three weeks. I approved his leave despite our personnel shortages
ause a certain amount of his leave had to be taken this year or be
eited, and because he had advised me that he had arranged to be
married while on leave.
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(2) Assistant Watch Officer was placed on
extended sick leave for the entire month. is now in
the George Washington Hospital. He has undergone a major opera-
tion to correct a long standing and painful hip condition. The
operation was successful and when I last visited him he was resting
nicely. It is anticipated that he will require several months to
recuperate and in all probability he will not return to duty until
the first of the year.
(3) Chief ReproductIon, Mail and File
Section, suffered a painful injury to his knee while in a duty tatus.
He was placed on sick leave for the last three weeks of September.
The circumstance of his injury has been reported to the proper
authorities and he has received adequate medical treatment.
(4) Two of our senior Cable Analysts resigned during the
month. terminated three years service with
us to return to college for post-graduate work.
terminated a promising career with us quite suddenly as a result of
marital difficulties.
Thus we operated during September well over 20% under strength. Sep-
tember traffic volume, you will have noted, shows a 5% increase over the
prOVIOUS month. Frankly, it has been touch and go to get the daily volume
out, and until such time as the personnel office is successful in obtaining
additional personnel for us, it appears that I have no alternative except to
increase the amount of overtime used.
25X1A
25X1A
C. Currently we are using approximately 650 hours of overtime each
pay period at a cost of roughly $1,000.00. On 1 November 1954, new
overtime rates for government employees go into effect. As nearly as
can be estimated at this time, at the new rates our overtime will cost
25X1A
approximately $2,000.00. has asked
Office of the Comptrollers to advise of our understrength
25X1A
personnel situation and that our overtime requirements cannot possibly be
cut in half without serious deterioration of the service we render. Miss
assured that these facts would be made known to
s who, I understand, is engaged in coordinating the Agency's
policy on the use of overtime under the new rates. It may be possible to
work out a formula for making greater use of compensatory time off. At
this time, it still appears more economical to pay overtime than to hire
additional full time employees; however, I shall continue to study the prob-
lem and keep you informed. Too, it is quite difficult to get people to agree
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to work the late shifts and Sundays and Holidays in return for compensatory
time-oft. The hours and shifts, over an extended period, are just too
unattractive to get takers except for pay. (The Army doesn't have this
problem i)
25X1A ,d. a promotion t GS-12 became effective on 12 Septem-
ber 1954. He is the first of our CSDOs to attain the full grade for this
position established in our original T/0 of July 1952.
20(1A
s. have entered the zone of consideration
for promotion to Grade 12 and I have forwarded recommendations for their
promotions to the Personnel Office.
3. Emergency Planning
a. We have been long concerned over the question of Cable reference
files in connection with the Agency's Emergency Plan. As arrangements
stand now, the only cable Wes which would be available to the Signal
Center and Cable Secretariat in an emergency, are microfilm reels cover
ing cables up to a date approximately six months past. The Signal Center
Archives is engaged in a routine effort to microfilm all official cables in
their files. These files are organized by individual station and froze the
reels it would be possible to reconstruct a complete file of cables sent to
and received from a given station in numerical sequence. This routine
microfilming effort began several years ago and came into being for two
basic reasons, the first being to conserve storage space and the second to
provide a film file of official cables as a part of the Agency's Vital Docu-
ments Program. The Signal Center Archives microfilm the cables in
duplicate. The original film is stored in their vault and the duplicate copy
25X1A ia sent to the emergency Signal Center sfte as a vital document. Recently,
in discussing this matter with he stated that, in regard to the
routine effort to microfilm all cables, it is not practicable to anticipate
25X1A that the microfilming will ever be sufficiently current to provide for our
joint needs in an emergency. and I have tentatively concluded
that it will be necessary to construct and maintain a file of cables in hard-
copy form at the emergency site. This could be accomplished by pouching
25X1A one copy of all cables daily to the emergency site. Such action will require
the approval of the Director's office after being staffed out properly among
25X1A (Or Certranelat by 1--117i is to draft a paper on this proposalwill keep you informed concerning
the offices most concerned.
the development of this proposal. it is my opinion that this proposal should
be given priority consideration and a decision reached promptly. In any
real emergency, a useable current cable reference file is essential to the
efficient handling of cables.
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4. General
25X1A a. C* 20 September 1954 Mr. Chief of the Career
ice Staff of the Personnel Office visited us in connection with the Cable
etariat Career Service Program. This Program is described izt 25X1A
ILLEGIB CSSOP No. I 'attached as Tab B. 'assured us that the
personnel policy incorporated in the paper was ia accordance with the
approved policy of the Agency and he complimented us on the organisation
and presentation of the material. For your information, we have modeled
our procedure to a considerable extent along the lines of the procedure
covering the functions of the Communications Career Service Board. You
will recall that that Board served as our parent Board until 22 July 1953
when we were placed under the jurisdiction of the DIVA Career Service
25X1A Board. Copies of our procedure have been sent to I I
for the DD/A Service Board and to I Assistant
Director for Personnel. 25X1A
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b. A dumb-waiter has been installed between the Cable Secretariat
and the Signal Center. This eliminated the make-shift device we used so
long.
c. The Cable Secretariat has installed a receipting system to be
used to account for incoming cables passed from Signal Center to the
Cable Secretariat. While it is quite unpopular, I believe this system will
preclude any question as to the responsibility for lost or mishandled
cables such as in a recent instance explained to you verbally. We are
studying the system to see if some less burdensome systems can be devised
to meet our needs.
d. On 22 September 11:epresenting DIVI reviewed
one day's incoming traffic for September. found and discussed with us
four cables of interest to DI3iI. On the basis of our registered require-
ments 1)/31I15 interest was not evident to us. We are endeavoring to clarify
'Mira interest in the subject matter of these cables.
On 1 October 1954, Preliminary Dissetninatio PDs) will be
prepared by Reports Officers on our outgoing classified message forms,
Form No. 35-80 instead of on Form No, 35-7. There is no change in
format of PDs, however, this change will provide us for the first time with
a ready -made Hecto Master. This means that we will be able to distribute
copies of PDs to interested Agency components concurrently with the
Signal Gelder's transmission of the PD to outside addressees. We have
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experimented over the past six weeks with this procedure and have fo
that on the average we are able to distribute PDs between five and six
faster than was the case when For= No. 35-7 was used. Addftionall
the new method of handling, the Signal Center is relieved of the cryptographic
transmission of PD. to CCI except those desigaated priority. Signal
Center estimate. this a. a cryptographic /transmission saving of appro-
ximately 80 to 100 thousand words per mouth. We are coordinating with
FliRCIM in redesigning their PD form to employ a die-impressed Hecto-
graph Master similar to our cable form.
On I September 1954, a procedure was established and announced
in I which permits the pouching of out-
going cables to information addressees. Through this means seventeen
cables totaling approximately two thousand words were diverted from
electrical cable channels to pouch channels. The Field has been advised
of this procedure In l 'laded 12 August 1954. As yet
no station has used it to Headquarters.
g. We have placed a trial order for 1,000 Azog;raph Masters of
pe described to you in last month's report as being a clean reproduc-
tion master. The Asograph Master will be made up identical to our current
cable For= 35-80. It is our intent to place these clean masters in the hands
of a few offices throughout the Agency and to observe the material in day-to-
day use to deternibe if they are practicable in every respect. I believe
that should the practice testing of the material prove to be successful it will
do n.uch to boost the morale of everyone concerned with the handling of
cables all of whom now suffer to some extent from ditto contamination. I
also believe that conve.rsion to clean masters might do much to relieve
our difficulties in recruiting and keeping typists and other personnel whe-
have understandable aversion to working full time with ditto material.
Cable
Tab A
Tab B
c etary
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TRAFFIC SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER
CABLES PROCESSED
TYPE
September
August
INCREASE
IN Cables
8250
7.681
4
569
OUT Cables
4,032
3.999
4
33
TOTALS
12,282
11,680
4
602
PRELIMINARY DISSEMINATIONS
PROCESSED
September August
452 248
CABLES FURNISNED DCI
Cables briefed for and distributed to DCI totaled 1.121 or 11% of the t
volume handled. This compares to 1,039 or 9% for the month of August.
INCREASE
4 204
CABLES SUSPENDED OR FURNISNED DD/I
a . During September 1954, 262 cables were suspended for the D13/1. The
following actions were taken:
Copies distributed to DD/!, AD/Cl and FI/RQM 116
Preliminary Disseminations Prepared 97
Disseminated to OCI via TTY 19
Intelligence Furnished to DWI and OCI by action office 3
Filed without Dissemination to DIV1 (Incorrectly suspended) 27
b. A total of 1,707 cables and PD. was furnished DD/I during September.
This includes copies of incoming cables which were subsequently furnished
again as PD..
NET
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