SWITCH PLATE TASKING/REPORTING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00789R002100340003-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 17, 2000
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: CHART

Approved For Releas -007898004 100340003-9
S~1'ITCH PLATE TASKING f REPOI~TI
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Approved For Release :CIA-F~DP96-007898002100340003-9
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.(CLASSIFICATION) ,
_:Requestor ID
.Requestor4 Task # ~_~__ __
Request received.. by DSCINT
Request received by SWP"
Project Officer -as~~ign~d~~~<
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ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INFORMATION REQUESTED IN ORDER OF PRIORITY
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COMMENTS ---------------------------------------...______--
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tCLAS3IFIGATIGN) t
REPORT OF REQUESTED INFORMATION
Requestor Task # _____________
~DSCINT Task #
Date to Pro,i . Of c.
~'sSSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INFORMATION REQUESTED IN ORDER OF PRIORITY
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PROJECT OFFICER'S COMMENTS
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f
t CLASS I~' ICAT ION J
EVALUATION OF INFORMATION PROVIDED
12equestcir~- Task # ,_
DCS;I`NT Task #
~~OURCE # EE I
.. .
2.
3.
EVALUATOR'S COMMENTS:
Mai
Sig.
Q
0
C~
0
High
Val.
__
Value
Low
Value
No
Value
0
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C~
0
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Q
0
0
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0
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0
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Q
Q
0
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0
C~
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0
-~
0
0
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STIPPLED Nn!-r!RN
SPECIAL ACCESS RE9i~.....~
INFORMATION ABOUT SWITCH PLATE TASKING/REPORTING/EVALUATION
The information provided by SWITCH PLATE sources is obtained through a
unique and highly sensitive collection technia~.ie. Your care in evaluating
this information will insure that we are be:,.?_ "_e to assess and/or modify
the technology to provide you, the customer. a.,r a better product.
information gathered utilizing t.hi- ?~... - ~ is likely to consist of a
mixture of correct, incorrect, and irrelevant or apparently irrelevant data.
You should be aware of the following facts:
1. Experience has shown that the Sour- 's raw data, unedited, tends
to be of more value to the customer's Anal~r- 'nr_e it is more accurate
than someone else's summary of what the Source has said. The Project
Officer, however, may add his/her comments to the report as a separate
entry.
2. A more experienced Source will usually provide raw data only,
while a less experienced Source may be inclined to "pre-analyze" the
information when reporting it. While it is the Project Officer's
responsibility to assist in preventing the "~ ?rom doing this,
operational necessities such as criti~v'ity o r;crting speed, violation of
item 1., above, or other constraints may allow some "pre-analyzed"
information to be forwarded.
EXAMPLE: Amore experienced source may describe the target (a submarine
un=F,r ccr,struction) as a hugF metallic ob~iect..
pointed on one end. A less urce may report the
object as "...It looks like some kind of a rocket".
An analyst familiar with this new i.~.~;;;,..~~."_ and recognizing that this
has happened, will "back analyze", to determine what raw data caused the
Source to report such seemingly inaccura`~ -,id in a more complete
understanding of the Source's short an~w~?; _ , ,. .~, ~ ~; summary, with sketches,
will be attached to the reporting sheet.
3. Sources, like all humans, tend to be attracted to aspects of the
target which attract them, personally. Thev also tend to ignore or gloss
over aspects which do not attract them. Th=- ;;etimes leads to widely
varying descriptions of the same target si'~ .,r old illustration serves as
an example:
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EXAMPLE: Four blind men were tasked to report the shape of an elephant.
One stood in front, felt.the trunk, and said that an .elephant ,is
actually a huge variety~of snake. Another felt the ear and
described an elephant as being like a living leaf,-another felt
the tail, and reported that it is like a long, hairy rope. The
C ,,. Veit one leg and reported that an elephant is a tall,
v~?~+:.ical animal, shaped like a tree trunk.
4. Sources may, at times, correctly answer a question in the wrong
terms. This is ~~~!~ally due to the Source's "pre-analyzing".
EXAMPLE: Returniicg to the Source who incorrectly labeled a submarine under
construction as a rocket: The Source might then report that it
will "k~last off for the first time on May 10". While the identity
of the object is incorrect, the date given can be understood by
the Analyst. as a prediction of the submarine's maiden voyage.
5. The Customer must always be mindful that Sources using this
technology tend saver questions very literally. Vagueness in questions
will cause vagueness in answers. Questions/tasking must therefore be
carefully formulated. The Customer must understand that the more precise.
he/she words a question, the more exact the Source's answer will be. The
rule of t.h~~r,! ask a question which, to the best of the Customer's
knowledge, will crave only a single, exact answer. Several examples may be
used to illustrate this:
EXAMPLE: Time sans should be as exact as possible: "Where will Mr. X be
neat. Thursday at 3PM`?" is ir,finiteiy preferable to, "Where will
Mr. X week?" The Customer should avoid questions
containing phrases such as, "On or about...". A worst possible
example of this would be, ""Where will Mr. X be within an
actionable period of time2" If the Customer wants to know where
I"ir. n wlli be throughout the span of next week, it would be
infinitely better to ask many questions of exact time: "Where will
X be at 3PM Monday`?", "Where will X be at 3PM Tuesday`?", etc.
EXAMPLE: Locations should be as exact as possible: "Describe the den of
X's home" is, on the surface, an exact question requiring an exact
~Swer. If, however, the Customer knows that X has several homes
and continually moves between them, it would be better to task the
Source with, "Describe the den in X's Los Angeles home."
EXAMPLE: The best results are obtained when only one answer is expected to
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k 'tom
each question; ~~It is better -to :task the'`.Source Fwith -~.".Will X be at
location A on>Moriday?", "Wi11:X be at location B on Monday?".,.etc.
than to ask "Which of 5 known locations will X be at on;Monday?"
(X may, in reality,?visit several or none of them on Monday.)
Again, the rule of thumb is: Ask a question- which, to the best of .your
knowledge, will have only a single, exact answer.
~. The Customer should be aware that, for reasons of security and
operational effectiveness, Sources are not always given the background data
which the Customer provides with the tasking questions. Therefore, Sources
may tend t.o report extraneous data in their Summary Reports, which are
at}-=~',~ `he main Reporting sheet. The Summary Report usually contains
much it ., r, ;, information, but may also contain choice tidbits of untasked
information of possible value to the Customer's analysts, and may stimulate
further tasking.
A separate reporting package is returned to the Customer from each
Source. 'Phis package will include the .Source's reporting sheet, the
Source's Summary page, and the Project Officer's comments.
~;~ ..,_ ~CCeiving Analyst reads the answers and uses the information in
whatever way necessary, the EVALUATION WORKSHEET should be kept at hand. As
each answer is read from each Source, the Analyst can mark the evaluation
sheet to show the degree of usefulness that answer has been to him/her. The
evaluation criteria have been kept very simple:
High
Value
Low No
Value Value
When all Source Reports have been received and evaluated, please place
a xerox copy of the evaluation into the self-addressed stamped envelope
provided with it, and mail it to DCSINT.
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Approved For Release 2000/08/08 :CIA-RDP96-007898002100340003-9