REPORT URGES SECURITY CRACKDOWN TO CURB SPYING AT U.S. INSTALLATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000301850006-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: November 22, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/21 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000301850006-2
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PHILADELEHIA INQUIRER
22 November 1985
Report urges security crackdown
to curb spying at U.S. installations
By Aaron Epstein
Inquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON ? A high-level Pen-
tagon commission, seeking to plug
leaks in the government's security
system, has recommended rewards
for informants who report spies and
an expanded use of lie-detector ex-
aminations, briefcase searches and
background investigations at both
military and civilian defense instal-
lations.
, Defense Secretary Caspar W. Wein-
berger, saying he was "quite
pleased" by the commission's report,
Which was released yesterday,
promptly ordered military chiefs to
carry out one of its 62 suggestions a
."top-to-bottom" inspection to pin-
point security lapses under current
policies.
"While no system of security can
provide foolproof protection against
espionage, it can make espionage
more difficult to undertake and
more difficult to accomplish without
detection," the report said, adding
that the Defense Department's secu-
rity program "falls short of provid-
ing as much assurance as it might
that the nation's defense secrets are
protected."
The commission, set up by Wein-
berger in June after the Walker fam-
ily spy ring was discovered, said that
"some commanders and supervisors
show a clear disdain for security,
leaving compliance to clerks and sec-
retaries" while security officers are
"buried" deep in their organizations.
The report called for travel restric-
tions on U.N. personnel from Soviet-.
bloc nations, more severe penalties
for security breaches by civilian
workers and military contractors,
fewer security clearances and inten-
sified rechecking of individuals
cleared for particularly sensitive
jobs. A total of 3.8 million people
currently hold security clearances of
some sort.
Retired Army Gen. Richard G. Stil-
well, the commission chairman, said
that the government's security sys-
tem was "in reasonably good shape"
but that it contained serious flaws
that had led to "very, very damag-
ing" losses of U.S. military secrets.
A key recommendation, he said,
was to improve methods for investi-
gating people seeking security clear-
ances and detecting potential secu-
rity risks, including- research into
ways of determining an individual's
motivations and vulnerabilities to al-
cohol and sex.
The commission's four-month
study, titled "Keeping the Nation's
Secrets," was the result of the Penta-
gon's embarrassment over the Walk-
er spy ring, which went undetected
for 17 years.
John A. Walker Jr., a former Navy
chief warrant officer who headed
the espionage operation, pleaded
guilty last month to turning over
Navy codes and other secrets to the
Soviet Union. His son, Michael, also
admitted his guilt, and his brother,
Arthur J. Walker, was convicted of
espionage in August.
Arthur Walker has been sentenced
to life in prison. Under a plea-bar-
gain agreement, John Walker also is
to get a life sentence and a 25-year
term is expected for Michael.
Had the commission's recommen-
dations been in effect years ago,
John? Walker probably would have
been caught sooner, Stilwell said;
though he acknowledged that past
recommendations to improve secu-
rity had been ignored. But because
of the Walker case, the recommenda-
tions of his commission stand a bet-
ter chance of being carried out, Stil-
well said.
He said that the commission in-
cluded top-level officers and officials
with security responsibilities and
that their views were unanimous.
To overcome the reluctance of De-
fense Department and defense-indus-
try employees to "inform" on fellow
workers, the commission suggested
that Congress be asked to start a
program to reward those whose in-
formation led to the arrest of spies.
Such information could be reported
by way of "drop boxes, postcards or
designated telephones," the commis-
sion said.
Stilwell said that the benefits
would be worth the risk of getting
false and damaging reports about
employees from "nuts" and "people
with an ax to grind."
The recommendation for an ex-
panded program of lie-detector test-
ing is certain to be controversial in
Congress, where members have ob-
jected that the tests are inaccurate
and intrusive.
But Congress has authorized the
Pentagon to give 3,500 polygraph
tests this year for counterintelli-
gence purposes, and 7,000 next year.
The commission wants to enlarge the
program and make it permanent, ar-
guing that the polygraph is "the pri-
mary technique currently available
... which offers any realistic prom-
ise of detecting penetrations of ...
classified programs by hostile intelli-
gence services."
The security report also called for
more frequent searches at military
facilities, where classified informs-
tion often is taken home and "files
bulge with unauthorized and often
needless copies."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/21 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000301850006-2