RECOMMENDATION FOR MERITORIOUS UNIT CITATION - FBIS WIRE SERVICES STAFF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-00733R000200250019-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: October 25, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

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CLASSIFY AS AOPROPRIATE D/FBIS Chrono
STAT
STA
T T
RECOMMENDATION FOR HONOR OR MERIT AWARD (Sae HR 20-37)
(Submit eight copies with: description of performance or service
warranting award; biographic profile; and unclassified citation)
1. SOCIAL ;ECUPITY NO.
2. NAME OF PERSON RECOMMENDED (Leaf, Fir.vf, Middle)
3. POSITION TITLE
FBIS/Wire Services Staff
4. GRAI'#
1. vOB
9. sD
7. OFFICE OF ASSIGNMENT
9. EXTENSION
9. RECOMMENDED AWARD
Meritorious Unit Citation -
RF
FBIS
2942
FBIS/Wire Services Staff
I. INCLUSIVE DATES FOR WHICH RECOMMENDED
11. IF RETIRING. DATE OF RETIREMENT
12. POSTHUMOUS
1 October 1984 - 30 September 1985
YES
ND
I J. HOMF_ ADDRESS (,t,cludr ZIP CODE)
14. NAME OF SPOUSE
19. HOME PHONE
Have any other persons received or been recommended for an award for this service or act?
0 yes (If yes, attach list of full names and awards.)
D no
TIT
T E
CIAA
FBIS
"
~
Oe/- ,
DATE
HEAD OF RF CAREER SERVICE
fl~
5 ZL 198
2
(Career service of nominee)
,
DATE
Deputy Director for Science
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CAREER SERVICE
and Technology
TITLE AND SIGNATURE
DATE
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF OPERATING COMPONENT
REPORT OF HONOR AND MERIT AWARDS BOARD
The Honor and Merit Awards Board having considered the foregoing recommendation
on
0 recommends approval
o does not recommend approval
171recommends award of
REMARKS
APPROVED
SIGNATURE
TYPED NAME OF CHAIRMAN. HONOR AND MERIT AWARDS BOARD
SIGNATURE
DATE
TYPED NAME OF RECORDER
FOM 600 O$SO(UE PREVIOUS
1~S W EDITIONS
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FBIS-1461/85
2 5 OCT 1985
M 10RANDLN FOR: Deputy Director for Science and Technology
Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
SUBJECT: Recommendation for Meritorious Unit Citation - FBIS
Wire Services Staff
1. I recommend that the FBIS Wire Services Staff be awarded a
Meritorious Unit Citation for sustained superior performance over the
past year.
2. The Wire Service is FBIS' most visible point of contact with
the Intelligence Community and other high-level government and military
offices. It serves these consumers in three primary ways. As a
24-hour operations center, it utilizes the capabilities of the 15 FBIS
overseas bureaus to alert Community watch offices and other consumers
to crises or other events worldwide requiring their urgent attention;
it serves as the primary source for access by these consumers to
time-sensitive information monitored from foreign public media; and it
draws on FBIS foreign and domestic assets to respond to ad hoc and
often urgent requirements levied by its consumers.
3. The unusual number of significant events over the past 12
months, coupled with chronic staffing shortages, severely tested the
abilities and fortitude of the Wire Staff, many of whom began their
tour with relatively little experience. They responded in exemplary
fashion, coalescing into a smoothly functioning team of skilled and
dedicated professionals. Their efforts in all three areas of
responsibility have brought frequent and often effusive praise and
expressions of appreciation from consumers at all levels.
4. Typical of the various major events covered by the Wire in
this period were the terrorist hijackings of T-VA flight 847 in June of
this year and the hijacking of the Kuwaiti airline in December 1984.
Both events lasted several days and drew exhaustive coverage from FBIS
Middle East bureaus. In the latter case, Wire editors directed
coverage and provided a steady flow of primary source reportage to
Community watch offices and a State Department working group,
frequently beating Western press agency reporting by one to two hours.
Both the working group and the White House Situation Room officially
expressed appreciation, noting the paucity of information available
from other sources. The INA hijacking covered a period of more than
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SUBJECT: Recommendation for Meritorious Unit Citation - FBIS Wire
Services Staff
two weeks, and was followed by a short-fused weekend request from
State INR for a roundup of worldwide official reaction to the
hijacking to be included in briefing books for the Vice President and
Secretary of State. The reaction report and another in response to a
request from INR a week later for an update for Secretary Shultz were
coordinated, prepared and filed by the Wire in a matter of hours. In
response, Morton Abramowitz, Director of INR, expressed his "apprecia-
tion for a professional job well done." In a personal letter to the
Director, FBIS, Ambassador Abramowitz noted that "time constraints
notwithstanding, your Wire Service personnel came through with
first-class products that were accurate, timely and comprehensive."
5. The Wire Service provided significant input to the Community
in coverage of numerous similar events during the year. These
included the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Gandhi, during
which the Wire coordinated the efforts of the FBIS Bangkok Bureau to
provide last-minute updates for use by the DCI at a White House
briefing; the extended Chernenko "death watch," in which timely Wire
media behavior reports helped to scotch recurring unsubstantiated
reports of the Soviet leader's demise; and the inauguration of "Radio
Marti," during which Cuban media behavior reports and other reportage
coordinated and filed by the Wire were closely followed by consumers.
According to NIO Hal Ford, FBIS reportage carried by the Wire
constituted a significant portion of available intelligence on Cuban
reaction to the radio.
6. One of the Wire Services' most valuable contributions to the
Intelligence Community in the past year has been its ability to
coordinate the considerable FBIS resources in Headquarters and the
field to provide timely responses to urgent high-level consumer
requirements. Typical of these efforts were two requests from the
White House Situation Room, one for the transcript of a BBC television
program (not on regular FBIS coverage) purported to include a
classified U.S. document and the second for the translation of a
PRAVDA article criticizing the President's visit to Bitburg cemetery.
The latter request was relayed from "Air Force 1" and asked that the
item be on hand in time for the plane's arrival in the area. The
Wire's successful response to both requirements drew praise from the
11hite House Situation Room. A recent letter to the Director, FBIS,
from Douglas P. Mulholland, Special Assistant for National Security to
the Secretary of the Treasury, expresses appreciation for "outstanding
support." The reference is to Wire-coordinated responses to two urgent
weekend requests for field reports, one from Peru and one from Japan.
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SUBJECT: Recommendation for Meritorious Unit Citation - FBIS Wire
Services Staff
7. These are but a few of the many almost daily challenges to
which the men and women of Wire Services Staff have responded with
customary initiative and dedication. Their efforts have contributed
significantly to the activities of a wide range of offices involved in
shaping and implementing U.S. foreign policy. They have most certainly
enhanced the reputation of FBIS and the Directorate of Science and
Technology. In recognition of this sustained superior performance by
the Wire Services Staff, I recommend the awarding of a Meritorious
Unit Citation.
Deputy Director for Science and Technology Date
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 STAT
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A Meritorious Unit Citation is awarded to the FBIS Wire Services
Staff for sustained superior performance throughout the period
October 1984 - September 1985.
As the most visible FBIS component, the Wire Staff serves the
Intelligence Community and other high-level Government and military
offices as a primary source for time-sensitive information from
foreign public media. Over the past year it has handled an
extraordinary number of significant events with exceptional skill and
dedication, coordinating the efforts of the FBIS overseas bureaus and
Headquarters resources to provide alerts to Community watch offices
and to respond to urgent requests, while continuing to fulfill the
everyday requirements of all its consumers. The initiative and
professionalism displayed by the Wire Staff in dealing with major
events such as hijackings and assassinations and in reporting world
reaction to U.S. foreign policy decisions have brought frequent and
effusive praise from consumers at all levels.
The efforts of the Wire Service over the past year have
contributed significantly to the activities of a wide range of offices
involved in shaping and implementing U.S. foreign policy and most
certainly have enhanced the reputation of FBIS within the Intelligence
Community.
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DDS$T/FBI
Distribution:
Orig $ 9 - Addressee
2 - DDS$T
1 - DDS$T Registry
1 - SA/CD
Y- D/FBIS Chrono
15 - C/P&TB for 201's
1 - C/DRD
2 - C/Ops
180ct85)
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