REPORT ON THE COORDINATION OF COLLECTION OF INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61S00750A000700060031-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 24, 2000
• Sequence Number: 31
• Content Type: MF

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SEC RRto,T
DR A ti -f attach. to ER7-7481
MEMORANDUM FOR: ire chi Centr Ixxteili e e
SUBJECT: B&t Caerdination 21 Collection
Inge Ii nfexm i
1. You requested that in consultation with the., representatives of
the other agencies I undertake a review of the existing provisions for
the development and coordination of information requirements and
collection tasks in conformity with established Priority. National In-
telligence Objectives.
2. While there are many details which bear. upon this subject
matter the following are major factors which help us to put this problem
in perspective:
a. Priority National Intelligence Objectives DCID 4/4 have
been approved by the IAC. They indicate the fundamental direction
which our intelligence efforts should take in regard to the
national security,
b. In many cases departmental objectives which arise
from departmental . needs are coincident with the priority ob-
jectives, though, of course, not in all cases.
c. The. IAC now has a well established procedure for the
approval and review of annual and quarterly programs for the
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production of National Intelligence Estimates, provision
being made for flexibility to meet the changing and urgent
needs of the National Security Council, Gaps in intelligence
in NI.E?s are highlighted thru the post-mortem procedures
d. There already exist mechanisms, such as the
Economic Intelligence Committee and the Scientific Estimates
Committee with their various respective subcommittees, which
make it possible to develop coordinated research programs
on subjects required to support the estimating program or
other security programs of interest to more than one depart-
ment and in some cases mainly relevant to a single department.
These coordinated research programs also provide collection
guides, where necessary. In addition, it should be recalled
that each of the intelligence producing units among the IAC
agencies has a research program designed to fulfill its various
responsibilities to community or national programs as well
as departmental needs,
3, It is reasonable to inquire whether there is a need for greater cen-
tral direction or coordination and more detailed accounting in the deployment
of research resources in respect to Priority National Objectives, I do not
believe so, except as special problems arise. In such cases we should deal
with them as necessary, Furthermore, I believe no new overall machinery
is required in the coordination of research for the purpose of providing
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better guidance for the collection of intelligence information,
4. Associated with each research office in the intelligence agencies
and centrally for each agency there are well established units with quite
similar procedures.for acquiring the raw data and intelligence information
which the intelligence producers need by levying requirements on appropriate
reference or collection facilities, "Requirements" officers are in a sense
'riddle men who are essential because of the size of our research organiza-
tions and our collection organizations as well as their remoteness from one
.?Ther. The requirements officers must understand the needs of research,
?.; cresources available and problems of collection, Their procedures are
i.oned to provide a clear request to the collectors for intelligence infor-
Y .. Lion needed for research, to guard against duplication and to work out
proper priorities with the collectors. It should also be noted that collectors
collect information which they have not been specifically requested to obtain,
eoane of which when disseminated may give rise to requests for additional
collection along the same lines. A fuller description of the coordination of
requirements is submitted at Tab A.
5, I have discussed this matter with the IAC representatives concerned
at some length. After consultation with the heads of their agencies they
advise me:
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a. That their respective agency's requirements are
responsive to DCID 4/4 although, of course, their responsibilities
also include requirements not covered by that Directive.
b. That in their view the existing arrangements for
the coordination of requirements, where necessary among the
agencies, are adequate, and
c. That, in their opinion, no new overall coorcYnation
mechanism or procedures are required.
6. In these discussions it was recognized that there are specific pro-
blems in the coordination of requirements which arise from time to time such
as the need for guidance on the part of the director of NSA or such as has re-
cently been the concern of the IAC with regard to defectors. It was recognized
that individual collection administrators are plagued from time to time with
shortages of funds and personnel or other weaknesses. It is believed that these
can be best corrected by being dealt with as specific problems, as indeed in
certain cases they are or have been.
7. Another aspect of improvement in collection is the coordination of
assets available to the US missions abroad as they proceed to act on the require-
ments served from Washington Headquarters. A review of reports from the
Chiefs of Mission to the Department of .State indicate that coordination in the
field is generally effective and that systematic efforts are being made for im-
provement.
-4-
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8. Recommendations:
a. That no new overall mechanism be established for
the coordination of requirements for the collection of information.
b. That as specific requirements problems arise they be
treated directly,
C. That, insofar as the regular procedures of the agency
or the IAC do not seem suited to deal with a given problem, you assign
an officer to make a special investigation with a report and recommenda..
tions to you, or to the IAC when appropriate,
Special Assistant to the Director
for Planning and Coordination
25X1A9a
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COORDINATION OF REQUIREMENTS
FOR
COLLECTION OF IN EL 1GENCE INFORMATION
1. What is Meant by the Coordination of Requirements?
Judgements on the following questions are required before requirements
for field collection can be said to be adequately coordinated at headquarters.
The eventual responsibility for making these judgements falls n 4t upon
researchers but upon middlemen known as "Requirements Officers's in
research offices or upon similar officers associated directly with the
managers of the collection facilities,
a. Can the Answer to the Requirements be Found in Washin ton?
Requirements Officers. in research offices normally seek as urance
from researchers that the information requested is not available in
finished intelligence or in .existing literature in Washington, both. un-
classified and classified or in possession of other Government agencies.
The IAC has in the lad.t several years established the advisory committee
on NSCID 16 to insure. full collaboration of the agencies in developing more
adequate reference facilities for finding intelligence information in foreign
literature as well as for the recovery of intelligence information already
received from collectors, to insure the more systematic and ade mat
procurement of foreign language publications and to insure the ma imum
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effective utilization of lingusitic assets for the exploitation of foreign
language publications:, All of the foregoing cannot obviously guarantee
at requirements will not be levied on collectors regarding which in-
formation may be available at headquarters but it does reflect that,
at this juncture, the machinery exists for concentrating our efforts to
prevent unnecessary levying of requirements on collectors,
b. Have Requirements for the Same Information Already
Been Levied?
Requirements Officers in the research offices have established
procedures for screening against possible duplication. The collection
facilities have "requirements officers" with procedures for making a check
against requirements previously levied on that particular facility. Addition-
ally, procedures exist. for rescinding requirements once collection has been
accomplished, though the human element involved no doubt accounts for error
in some cases. // r
04 central register in CIA of its requirements regardless of what collec-
tor has been requested. to collect, in order to assure against duplication.
It is possible, of course, that the same requirement may be placed with
more than one collector, though again the procedures of requirements
officers as well as those of collection facilities operate to reduce this to
a minimum taking into account that in some cases placing the same require-
rents on more than one collector may be justified either in terms of the
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importance of the subject mater, or the fact that varying capabilities
exist,
C. Which Collection- Facility Should Receive the Assignment?
The research analyst by experience has a useful judgement to
make on this questions His suggestion is checked by the requirements
officers and will be tested by the staff of the administrator of the
collection facility to which it is assigned. Each agency understandably
thinks first of the capability of its own collection facility. Among those
whose fields of collection responsibility are identical with their re-
search responsibility this. of course makes sense. Requirements
officers' judgements, however, will be affected by their experience and
their knowledge ability of. the collection capabilities of the various
facilities as well as by. the response which they get from the collectors
when they attempt to levy requirements. It should not be overlooked
that the collectors themselves affect the requirements they receive
in that collectors collect. on their own initiative as well as by direc-
tion and their reports are frequently the stimulus for a request for
additional information from the same source or on related matters.
Thus, the administrative connection between research offices and
collectors is indeed a two-way street and the actual process has elements
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of pure chance and coincidence as well as elements of plan ling, and control,
Clandestine collection, because of its hazards and expense is normally
not undertaken until collection. from overt sources rail Lrur? can be reasonably
anticipated to fail and the matter is of importance, Exceptions arise where
clandestine capabilities have been developed and should be utilized since
they exist even though the. subject matter is of secondary importance. In
certain of such cases: coordinated requirements have been developed.
The machinery exists: for providing the necessary overall direction for
clandestine collection. in. order that its major effort may be responsive
to the Priority National Intelligence Objectives as stated in DCID 4/4. as
the agencies seek to meet their individual intelligence production res-
ponsibilities in, that r
d. Does the Itesuirement Reflect the Immediately Related Needs
In the main, such correlation, it any, is a responsibility shogglderc-d
by the requirements officers or the staff of the given collection, facility
itself, Some improvements in this regard have been made as a result
of advances in the coordination of research. Thus, requirements which
take account of related needs may emerge, for example, from the Watch
Committee, the EIC,.. the JAEIC and from the NIS program and,.. stated in
broader form, from the IAC post mortexn procedures managed by ONE,
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In addition, in the last year a statement has been made of requirements
for intelligence information for support of propaganda and pay-warfare
activities of the Government.
e. Is the Requirement Properly Handled in Keeping With
Its Importance and the Capabilities of the Collection
Facility to Which it Has. Been Assigned?
This is frequently called the "priorities" problem and is one
which has proved fascinating to explore theoretically. There is no
IAC machinery that assigns priorities directly and explicitly to all
requirements for intelligence information. Priority National Intelli-
gence Objectives DCID 4/4 is the authoritative overall guidance on
critical intelligence matters relating to national security. Where
indeed real competition develops in the handling of comparably im-
portant requirements on which the collector has capability, DCID 4/4
provides a guide for reaching decisions explicable to all concerned.
This is notably true in connection with clandestine collection.
In trying to apply Priority National Intelligence Objectives usefully
in establishing priorities among requirements for intelligence informa-
tion the following comments should be kept in mind:
(1) That National Intelligence Objectives are, in the
main, more meaningful to the researcher than to the collector.
(A proper translation by the researcher of the national intelligence
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objectives eventually into collection requirements which
exclude intelligence already collected or produced, is the
way in which objectives become meaningful to the collector. )
(2) That a collection facility may have relatively
little capability at the time of receipt to collect on require-
ments directly related to national intelligence objectives.
(3) That a collection facility may have great capability
on matters not directly related to national intelligence objec-
tives (Those analysts working on subject matter which is
readily identified with major national intelligence objectives
thus may seek to impose the theory that such objectives
should guide all collection, although when they find their own
work to be related to a subordinate objective they may be in-
clined to point out the importance of exploitation of "incidental"
capabilities while major objectives are being pursued. )
(4) That a low priority might properly be given to minor
supplementary information on a high priority item than to major
basic information necessary to a low priority item.
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