REMARKS AT THE RETIREMENT DINNER FOR LT. GEN. LEONARD H. PERROOTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00777R000302530002-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 14, 1988
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/29: CIA-RDP99-00777R000302530002-0
Remarks at the Retirement Dinner for Lt. Gen. Leonard H. Perroots
William H. Webster
Director of Central Intelligence
Arlington, Virginia
December 14, 1988
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Thank you, Gordon.* Len, Mrs. Perroots, distinguished guests and friends,
I'm delighted to have a chance to participate in this evening to honor a distin-
guished general and a distinguished intelligence officer. And I have to say that
those were some of the finest viewgraphs I have seen in my brief experience in
military intelligence.
I've tried to imagine a waiter commissioned by the GRU to report back on
the activities of the Intelligence Community here tonight. And I know that it would
only spread fear and trembling if they could see how efficient and determined and
lacking in humor and how serious we were this. evening.
So, I'm tempted to tell you of a reputation that we already have-at least at
one agency. The President is telling perestroika stories he collects. They are
supposed to be authentic, although Howard Baker says he makes them up. The
President confronted me the other day and said that Gorbachev had directed the
KGB to find out how perestroika was working in the Urals. And the KGB officer
went out into the Urals and visited the hamlets, the small villages. In each case he
would go to see the mayor. And in one village he started off by asking how things
were in the village. And the mayor said, "Everything is fine in the village." He said,
"What do you think of perestroika?" "We like perestroika." "Are you prospering?"
"We are prospering." "Are there any television sets in this village?" "Yes. There
must be a television set in every hut in the hamlet. Some huts have more than one
television set." "How about refrigerators?" "Oh yes, there's a refrigerator in
every hut in the hamlet." The KGB officer leveled his eyes at the mayor and he
said, "Do you know who I am?" And the mayor said, "Of course, I do. Who else
but a CIA agent would come into a village with no electricity and ask questions like
that?"
Well, I am delighted to have a chance to participate in this program, and, in
deference to our honored guest this evening, I shall not use a single acronym.
The program we've just seen has made one thing pretty clear. Wherever
Lenny is, there's a lot going on. He's taken care of projects and people. And when
he's in charge, those around him will tell you that they have a good place to work.
That is because Lenny makes sure that those who work for him have the
information they need to get the job done and the training they need to do the job
better. And if they don't know what they need to do the job better, Lenny can tell
them that too. Lenny has never been accused of lacking for words. But tonight our
words are for Lenny, rather than from him.
STAT
executive Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
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When he retires on the last day of this year, Lenny will retire from the high-
est position in military intelligence. In his 33 years of distinguished service to the
Air Force, the Intelligence Community, and the country, Lenny has made a lasting
contribution to intelligence. He has strengthened the quality of our product, the ca-
pabilities of our intelligence officers, and the integrity of our profession. Perhaps
that may be his most abiding contribution. With these accomplishments, he's
made intelligence a more vital and valued part of our nation's defense and national
security policy.
As Director of DIA, Lenny has set the highest standards for intelligence
collection and analysis. And he has not been shy in communicating this to the
troops. "If your intelligence reports are lousy,".he told a class of new defense at-
taches this past spring, "sending a mountain of them is not going to help.
Likewise, I assure you, that if you send fewer reports, but of better quality, no one
will complain, especially not me."
The intelligence that Lenny demanded also had to be free of personal or po-
litical bias. And I have seen this again and again. Lenny and I share the opinion that
the credibility of our analysis depends upon the objectivity of our product. Early
this year, Lenny told a group of defense attaches, "You have to keep the guy who
needs the intelligence away from the guy who is collecting it." And he has told his
analysts to keep a similar distance from policy concerns in developing their
judgments to protect their independence and the objectivity of the results.
Lenny's willingness to stand behind the analysis of DIA and of the
Intelligence Community has earned him our admiration and our respect. He has re-
sisted pressures to change his counsel, and he has both defended and insisted
upon the analytical integrity of his organization. From time to time, Congress spots
apparent errors in competitive analysis. And I have been asked to reconcile
apparent differences. I know on one occasion they had to think a while when I told
them that I felt that the methodology used was correct and that the conclusions
reached, while they differed from others in the Community, were to be accorded
the highest level of respect. And they said, "Well, what do we do about this?"
And I said, "Well, take the worst case between the two and make your policy
judgments accordingly." And I think that's what they did.
Under Lenny's leadership, DIA has won high marks, not only for the quality
and integrity of its intelligence, but for its ability to meet the intelligence needs of
its consumers-from the operational commanders, to the Joint Chiefs, to our
allies.
Providing and enhancing intelligence support to operational commanders
around the world has been one of his top priorities, and he has done a whole lot to
eliminate the gaps, the redundancy, and the incompatibility in the communication
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of intelligence both between services and from the intelligence producers to the
tactical commanders in the field. In 1986, the Defense Intelligence Agency
received the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for the intelligence support it
provided-especially to operational commanders-during the Libyan air raid, the
Achille Lauro incident, and the hijacking of TWA Flight 847-all in just a short peri-
od of time.
At the request of Secretaries Weinberger and Carlucci, Lenny has spoken
with foreign heads of state, briefed ministers of defense, and addressed foreign
parliaments on U.S. defense intelligence concerns. In fact, he returned from a final
and very successful briefing tour only last week. And he was good enough to call
me while he was away. He has probably briefed more chiefs of state and chiefs of
defense than any other living American.
I know that he is especially proud of his work with the Defense Intelligence
College. And this is an exciting, dynamic time for the College. It's attracting and
serving more students than ever before-students not only from the intelligence
agencies, but from all parts of the armed services and the federal government.
Thanks to Lenny's efforts, the Defense Intelligence College has expanded its
faculty, broadened its curriculum, and become a center for research and learning in
the intelligence field.
His efforts to strengthen defense intelligence have benefitted the entire
intelligence process. Under his leadership, the Defense Intelligence Agency has
played a strong, respected role in producing national estimates-managing many
estimates and contributing significant expertise to others. DIA is always in there
when we have our meetings before reporting to the President.
I also think we've seen people get along a little better with each other in the
Intelligence Community during Lenny's tenure as Director of DIA. More analysts in
different agencies are working with each other, rather than against each other.
And without in any way sacrificing the principle of competitive analysis, we are
producing complementary analysis. We've made some real progress, and I think
Lenny deserves a good deal of credit for this.
Under his leadership, DIA is now providing more and better support than
ever to our nation's defense and security policy. Intelligence is now a regular, val-
ued input at every stage of weapons development and procurement-from the
definition of need through the design of a particular weapons system to its
eventual retirement and replacement.
Arms control is another very important challenge. In early November, I
awarded a unit citation to DIA's Strategic Negotiations Branch for its superior
defense intelligence support to our strategic arms control talks with the Soviets.
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And the Defense Intelligence College has been charged with training our
U.S. inspectors and escorts for the INF treaty. The first class of inspectors was
ready within three months of the treaty's signing.
The late General Max Taylor, whom many of you knew as I did, once
recounted a conversation he had with a hard-bitten and highly decorated Sergeant
Major when he was conducting an Army study on leadership. General Taylor
asked the Sergeant Major if he could give him a brief definition of leadership. The
old soldier replied without hesitation, "Leadership is when your leader tells you he
is going to take you to hell and back and you find yourself looking forward to the
trip."
The toughest job of any leader is to inspire and motivate his people. And I
think this may be Lenny's greatest talent-his great ability to communicate his vi-
sion, his enthusiasm, his energy, and his commitment to others. And his
dedication and loyalty to his people have been returned to him many times over.
Lenny, through your many accomplishments and through the dedication and
service you have inspired in others, you have done much for the intelligence
profession and for your country. Whatever you choose to do in the future, you
have our best wishes for your success and our gratitude and appreciation for your
distinguished service to our profession and to our country.
Thank you.
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