ADDRESS DELIVERED BY MR. JOHN MCCONE AT THE THIRD ANNUAL LONGEVITY AWARDS CEREMONY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-06087A000200030036-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 20, 2001
• Sequence Number: 36
• Content Type: SPEECH

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ADMINISTRATIVE INTERNAL USE ONLY
ADDRESS DELIVERED BY Mr. JOHN McCONE AT THE THIRD ANNUAL LON1JEVITY AWARDS CEREMONY
(from a tape recording)
Members of the Central Intelligence Agency, I am exceedingly pleased to be
here today on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the establishment of this
Organization. It takes me back to my very early connection with the establish-
ment of this Organization in 1947 and 1948 when I was working very closely with
Secretary of Defense, Forrestal, and witnessed from his side some of the diffi-
cult problems that confronted him in the establishment of this Organization in
which he had such great hopes. Hence, it has been a great pleasure for me to be
associated with it during its maturity and to know the excellent product that re-
sulted from his imagination and effort. I congratulate all of you who have been
with this Organization for an extended period of time. I know your work has
been rewarding and satisfying, and I am as equally confident that the years ahead
will be of even greater satisfaction to all of you.
In a way, this is another anniversary for me as it is almost two years ago
that President Kennedy convinced me that I should give up the relaxed and com-
fortable life that I was enjoying and accept his very flattering suggestion that
I become Director of Central Intelligence. Since that time,I have devoted all
of my waking hours to the affairs of the Intelligence Community and most particu-
larly the Central Intelligence Agency. And, of course, no one sees this Agency
regardless of their position in Government or in private life except those who
are actually in the Agency. And therefore I suppose it might be an appropriate
question for you to ask me: What are my impressions after two years of active
association with this very unique and very capable Organization.
Of course, my impressions are manifold. I am everlastingly impressed with
the dedication to duty on the part of the members of this Organization, both
here at Headquarters and abroad. I am equally impressed with the depth of anal
ysis, the skillful appraisal of difficult situations, the unique and daring
operations that are sometimes planned and executed in the most skillful way,
and dozens of other accomplishments that have led the Central Intelligence
Agency and its members to positions of great esteem throughout the Government
and among all those who are familiar with the products of this work.
However, there are three matters that are outstanding in my mind: they are
first, the professionalism that exists in this Organization; second, the impres-
sive educational and intellectual background of those associated with this Organ-
ization; and third and finally, the security that surrounds this Organization
(and which I believe is of paramount importance for reasons that are obvious to
all of you.)
The term professionalism is impressively applied to the number of men and
women who are today receiving ten- and fifteen-year certificates. It is equally
impressive to know that the sixty people in top command positions in the Agency
enjoy an average of sixteen years of work in intelligence, and thirteen years
of this service has been with the Central Intelligence Agency. I think this is
a very happy and a very unique situation in Washington or in any agency of the
Government. More than eight hundred senior professionals are with the Agency
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today who were with the Agency in 1911.7. Station chiefs in - major posts
average sixteen years in intelligence and thirteen and a half years with the,
Agency. These figures, these statistics, and a great many others which I will
not attempt to repeat have given me a conviction that in this Organization there
is a degree of professionalism that exists no place else in Government. This is
what I tried to impress upon policymakers in this Government and upon all with
whom I am inclined to discuss the affairs of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Turning now to the educational background which I spoke of, and which I
believe to be so impressive, out of the top six hundred people in the Agency,
60% of them hold master's degrees or above. I could give you a 'number of stat-
istics on the educational background of the people of this Organization and I
could compare it with the educational background of all other departments of the
Government, and I think it would amaze you to find that here in the Central Intel-
ligence Agency is the greatest concentration of highly educated men and women of
any place in the Government. A recent article in the Saturday Evening Post
quoted me in this regard, and I would. like to repeat what I told Mr. Stewart
Alsop when he asked me a question regarding my impression of the personnel in
the Central Intelligence Agency. I said to him this: "In all my life, I have
never been associated with a group of men and women where I have found the educa-
tional and intellectual background that exists in this Organization. I don't
think it exists in any department of the Government nor do I think it exists in
any major private enterprise."
Finally, may I say just a word on the question of security. This is a matter
of great concern to me because of my responsibility which charges me with the pro-
tection of intelligence methods and courses. The Central Intelligence Agency, I
am convinced, maintains with meticulous care the best personnel security system
that exists in Government.. True, at times, this is an annoyance to some of us.
On the other hand, it is a badge of responsibility in which all of us take great
pride. We would not have it otherwise. There are several organizations in
Government that are today reviewing their personnel security arrangements because
of some unfortunate event of the last year or two. I have been called in to dis-
cuss these arrangements with representatives of other departments of Government,
and I can assure you that when representatives of other departments of Government
observe the careful and meticulous manner in which our personnel discharge their
responsibilities, not only by the Security Office itself but by all of you, it is
a source of great satisfaction and a considerable amount of pride that such a
system operates. And this is your responsibility, not only to observe what is
there but to improve it, and to expand it so that the Central Intelligence Agency
with its responsibility for development and the handling of the most sensitive
information-that exists throughout Government can say with great pride that des-
pite the fact that we are the No. 1 target of the KGB and the Foreign Intelligence
Services of a great many of the Communist countries, nevertheless, every measure
is being taken that can possibly be taken to protect the information of a sensi-
tive nature so important to the security of this country. And though we are proud
that we are doing it and it is one of the reasons why our morale is good, it is
something that we must always respect and build and improve.
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So, in closing, I am complimenting you on this 16th birthday, and I am com-
plimenting all of you who are receiving ten-year and fifteen-year awards on this
day. I want to repeat that the three matters which I have briefly spoken of --
the educational and intellectual background, the professionalism, and the recog-
nition of security -- are perhaps three of the most important assets in the
Central Intelligence Agency and are three assets that you all can be very proud
of because they. are part of you.
After distributing the certificates, Mr. McCone made this remark: "We
hope you will not consider these diplomas but that you will continue the good
work."
Approved For Release 2001/07/12 : CIA-RDP78-06087A000200030036-8
ADMINISTRATIVE INTERNAL USE ONLY