THE ROLE OF SUPPORT IN A CONTINGENCY SITUATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP63-00309A000100030004-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 8, 2000
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: April 4, 1977
• Content Type: SUMMARY

} Approved for ReleiW
Class. CHANGED
^ DECLASS
The Role of Super in a Contingency SituationDDA Memo,
TS
4 A 7
7/1763
"We have the people
the expertise
the ca
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5or successful task-force operation. The missing link in the chain has
been training," Colonel Lawrence K. White, deputy director support, told
the class in the Task Force Operations Familiarization Trainipg Pro,U4m during
a half-hour talk on 2 May 1 0.
The subject of the task force has been kicked around a lot, Colonel
White said. The trouble has been, though, that the stuff so far has not
been put on the front burner until the operation started. Then a wild
look for persons and support got under way. To remedy such confusion,
Colonel White said that he was glad to see task-force training starting and
to see his support people included in the instruction. With the support load
!nczeing and personnel being cut, making his people available for the course
was difficult; but he wanted to make any contributions necessary.
People in support are a good group, he said. There is, however, no
substitute for training in learning to apply expertise.. One thing he remembered
from his. Fort Banning training as a second lieutenant was always to establish a
base fire and maneuver. This.principle he found himself unconsciously apply-
ing:-later in combat; the application had become second nature. Too often
people in the Agency have taken the attitude that they know all about a
matter because it is set down in a book and. they have read the book. The
need. is for training, not from a book, but from application. of principles
through practice until the. appropriate courses of action become automatic.
Colonel White expressed delight. that OTR is about to do something in
supplying such training in the task-force field. Suggestions for planning and
training task forces have run from one extreme. to another,.-.from a mere list
of names to the establishment' of a cadre. No work from a list of names is
possible. A self-training cadre would become static.- Something between the
two would bathe answer., This course is not. the answer, but. it is a start.
Closer teamwork between operations and support people is essential,
Colonel White said. Operations people should know support capability and
support limits. Support has a reservoir of competent persons in cocmaunications,
logistics, training, finance,-security, medical, and personnel areas. These
persons, though, are not ready to start operations without knowledge of them
and of their objectives.
Too often there is a misconception. on the part of the operations people
that information on operations cannot be given to anybody on the support side
of the house because of danger of the information's fanning out. It is
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desirable to keep the operation __ P know. Tell the
support people what we want, but 4of what we are d ng has sometimes
resulted in danger to security in an unwitting person's'atumbling on
information without any indication of its significance and need for
protection. It is necessary for the support-office head to designate
one representative for operations people to deal with. If he is to
see to it that full available support is ready, he must know what the
operational objective is. Bringing in'the right support persons early
helps to insure sound security.
The necessity of taking support people into the operations team was
stressed by Colonel White. No one officer knows about all matters in a
contingency task-force operation. A commander has his hands full with
directing the operation proper; it is impossible for him to keep his finger
on all matters of support. But his support helpers must know the operations
objective to deliver promptly what is needed.
Colonel White left the class with the oldest and most needed of
educational warnings: the student gets out of any training only what
he puts into it.
.
CON 1DLIVTI
AL
SE-C-R-ET
Approved For Release 2001/04/0QF63-00309A000100030004-9