MONTHLY REPORT--LONDON BUREAU--JULY 1988

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: August 5, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
CO I'S -2
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Monthly Report --
-London--Burpau
FROM:
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
Chief, Operations Group
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
C/MOD
C/ESG
C/FED
OFFICER'S
INITIALS
C/ADD
9.
C/HED
C/Computer Operations
12.
I Retain/Destroy
.79 M 610 ~EDITIIONNSS s
July 1988
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
5 August 1988
FBIS-4422-88
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH : Chief, Operations Group
FROM : Acting Chief, London Bureau, FBIS
SUBJECT : Monthly Report -- London Bureau -- July 1988
1. The bureau enjoyed some relief on the monetary front when the
dollar continued to hold its own against the pound at an ROE of
$1.70 for much of the month. This freed up some bureau funds
for unfunded FY-89 projects, including a healthy start on the
PMU furniture replacement program. The weather, unfortunately,
did not offer such sunny prospects with England recording the
wettest July in half a century.
2. The Monitoring Service has announced progress on plans for
establishment of an Operations and Engineering Department which
will consolidate all current engineering functions with the
operational aspects of Reception Department, including the
cruising and dish control functions. BBC Chief Engineer David
Wilson will head up the new department when it is established.
3. On the BBC nnel front, Editor for News and Publications
returned to Caversham on 1 August following a
6-month rotational tour at Bush House.
A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. The month began on an upbeat note with the conclusion of
the long-awaited CPSU Conference and a congratulatory
message from Acting Chief, Operations Group on the bureau
handling of this major event in Soviet history.
2. The sigh of relief emitted by the bureau at the conclusion
of the CPSU Conference proved to be premature when the
month turned out to be the busiest July in bureau history.
The 6 July downing of the Iranian airbus, Gorbachev's 11-14
July visit to Poland followed by the Warsaw Pact Summit,
extensive coverage of the Supreme Soviet Presidium session
on the NKAO situation, Gulf War developments and the
Gorbachev speech at the 29 July CPSU Central Committee
Plenum all contributed to an extremely heavy file of urgent
traffic. Numerous party and government meetings in
Yugoslavia to deal with the worsening relations among
various ethnic groups added to the already heavy workload.
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
3. MWR writer and company received a n of STAT
congratulations from AG Division Chief for STAT
the "consistently high quality" of the i e East and
South Asia Review.
B. Coverage
1. BBC lost Armenian capability on 12 July when its retired
contract monitor terminated his ad hoc arrangement with the
Monitoring Service to take a long-planned holiday. Azeri
capability was also temporarily lost from 21 July through
28 August when the sole remaining Azeri linguist was
scheduled for leave.
2. London/BBC assumed coverage of Moscow Radio Peace and
Progress in Persian and Tehran Domestic Service early
morning casts from 29 July through 15 August during
Nicosia's monitorial leave. Arrangements were made for
Nicosia to feed the Tehran 0430 GMT newscast, which is not
available on frequencies monitorable at Caversham.
3. In an attempt to cope with the increasing output from
Soviet radio and TV as a result of the Gorbachev era and in
the wake of the CPSU Conference resolution to expand live
or recorded coverage of the deliberations of senior CPSU
and national forums, BBC has identified 14 hours and 25
minutes of Moscow Domestic Service Class B/C programming to
be relegated to irregular coverage only when weekly
previews indicate something of interest may be carried.
C. Communications
1. The highlight of the month in the Communications Center was
the installation of the London Commo Upgrade equipment the
week of 18 July. Thanks to advance eparations by the
Engineering Section led by and operator training
super by Communications Section Deputy Chief
the GE and Lockheed contractors working wi
FBIS personnel were able to complete the entire upgrade in
4 days. Bureau is now awaiting software modifications from
Lockheed to resolve a time-consuming truncation problem
affecting 4 to 5 percent of all outgoing wordage. All
members of the Communications Center deserve a standing
ovation for adapting to the installation disruptions and
new procedures while maintaining a daily average output of
110,000 words during the week work was in progress.
STAT
QTAT
STAT
2. Communications Section Deputy Chief
on
3
STAT
July assumed duties as systems mana2e r the burea
u
co=nuni
ns software
has tak
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.
en over
7
responsibility for the Commun
ications Secti
on
SIAI
portion of the Internet system.
3. Internet: The bureau Internet operators began regular
7-day operations on 2 July with the start of weekend fe
eds
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
of all scheduled Soviet and West Europe TV transmissions.
In addition to expanding regular operations, the bureau
also provided Headquarters with a total of 21 hours of
overnight feeds of Soviet TV at the request of the MOD TV
Center. Bureau Internet operators were commended by Chief,
MOD for their "excellent effort and close coordination"
during the CPSU Conference.
D. Technical
1. Chief Engineer and his staff were deeply
involved throughout the month in preparations for and
installation of the London Commo Upgrade equipment and
associated e. In addition to work on the actual
system, also completed the wiring and switch box
to handle WANG-produced Tabs and PMU traffic on the new
system as well as developing and testing software for a
modified queuing system for the same traffic.
2. The bureau received the Cologne Unit surplus IBM XT, which
will be converted to full 240V for use with the IDD
system. Cologne Unit also passed on one U-Matic and one
VHS VCR, both of which will be incorporated into the
Internet system. The VHS recorder will give the bureau
added flexibility to handle both VHS and U-Matic tapes.
3. Islamabad: BBC resumed remote tuning of Islamabad feeds on
14 July after a frustrating several weeks of attempting to
diagnose tuning problems. Fixes to the system included
installation of a new Delta Remote Control Unit at
Caversham, replacement of a line amplifier in Islamabad and
installation of new line cabling by the Pakistani PTT.
III. ADMINISTRATION
Personnel
Assistant [Courier on 18 July, thus restoring a continuous flow
of traffic between the London Admin Office and the bureau.
t
con
ract, employment errective 1
3. Chief, PMU began interviewing and testing candidates for a
Hungarian monitor vacancy in Vienna. Meanwhile the Admin Staff
has been involved in obtaining the necessary clearances for four
Vienna TCN's offered positions as the result of an earlier
recruiting campaign.
4. The four Pressfax operators were presented with Special
Achievement Awards with cash emolument during a 29 July ceremony
in the bureau chief's office. The awards were presented in
recognition of their dedication, flexibility and professionalism
over the past year in dealing with the long, irregular Pressfax
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9
hours as well as expanded tasks related to West Europe satellite
feeds.
was promoted to GS-12 effective 3
STAT
July.
6. Former PMU Russian linguist
passed away on 1 July.
who retired in 1977,
unit's third employee.
To the bureau: Headquarters analyst on 12 July for
briefing and orientation; Budget off r my for
b 1 e discussions; (ADD)
,
and week of 18 Ju v or London rnmmn
Upgrade.
To Islamabad: Ambassador heading a State
Department inspection team, for discussions on unit operations.
cc: Chief, Austria Bureau
Chief, Islamabad Unit
Chief, Okinawa Bureau
STAT
STAT
STAT
CTOT
CAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/09: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200310020-9