RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE (SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION BETWEEN (Classified)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00274A000200130030-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: November 29, 1951
• Content Type: MFR

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29 November 1911
Subject: Responsibilities of the Office of Sci
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(Summary of discussion between
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1. The coordination and production of scientific intelligence was
found to be very deficient in the Federal Government by the Dulles Committee,
the Hoover Commission and the Eberstat Committee who surveyed the intelligence
program of CIA and other Government agencies during the latter half o7 1948.
To correct this deficiency, in January of 1949 a small scientific division of
the Agency was elevated to Office stature and appropriately named the Office
of Scientific Intelligence. Staffing and organizational provision for this
Office consiierably exceeded like provision in the other intelligence agencies.
2. Subsequently, Agency competence in the scientific area was also
strengthened in the other Offices of the Agency. A scientific branch was es-
tablished in both the Contact Division and the Foreign Documents Division of
the Office of Operations. The Technical Guidance Staff of the Office of Special
Operations was given new emphasis. The Biographic Register of the Office of
Collection and Dissemination assumed responsibilities assigned to the Agency
under NSCID no. 8 relating to maintenance of Scientific Biographical data.
3. From its inception, officials of the Office of Scientific
Intelligence have broadly interpreted the responsibilities of the AD/SI to
include coordination of the total scientific intelligence effort in the Federal
Government and all steps of the intelligence process. Coordination was listed
as the primary responsibility with production taking second billing. Attached
are statements prepared by SI officials in the first year of OSI's existence
which express their thinking on the role of the Office of Scientific Intelligence.
4. The management tool employed to effect coordination within the
intelligence community was an. interdepartmental committee under the chairman-
ship of CIA. This act was formalized by DCI 313, dated 28 October 1941). To
maintain control of the Committee and its sub-committees, OSI established it-
self as the point of contact between the other intelligence agencies and CIA
on all matters of scientific intelligence including requirements and collection.
Direct exchange between the operations offices of CIA and other intelligence
agencies on scientific and technical matters was discouraged.
5. While OSI was busy negotiating with the other intelligence agencie:s
to obtain their cooperation, it assumed that its leadership in scientific matters
within CIA was understood. However, O5I's role as the programmer and only point
of contact on scientific intelligence matters has not been fully accepted by
the operations agencies of the Agency. Present Agency policy has permitted
direct exchange between Agency collection offices and other intelligence agencies
on requirements and collection matters. Also, each collection Officer has been
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free to program its effort independently taking into consideration in such pro-
gramming the requirements of all its customers and adjusting its program to pro-
vide maximum service to a.11 customers. Both OSO and 00 do not feel that the
scientific portion of their activities should be treated differently, namely,
tailored to OLI's needs which are set forth by 0 I as representing the intelli-
gence community. Also, the collection Offices do not want to be cut off from
direct contact with customers in the other agencies as OSI proposes.
6. Now, OSI feels that its prestige and leadership in the intelligence
community is being undermined and the coordination it has achieved through the
Scientific Intelligence Committee may be destroyed by ineffectual Committee ac-
tion unless it is recoized as leader and only point of contact' on scientific
matters within the CIA.
FOIAb3b
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