COURIERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00780R000200120015-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2002
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: October 5, 1962
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 4'_ tfFn)E"flWf
M O
P 5 OCT 1962
MEMORANDUM FOR :
SUBJECT
D
Without getting deeply involved in the specific recommendations of
the0report, it seems to me the place for us to begin now is with
the correspondence procedures of the Agency. Nearly all of the problems
we have with couriers and registries have grown out of varying independent
and dispersed attempts at developing procedures and techniques to control
and protect classified documents. We have never had any real effort to
establish uniformity in Agency correspondence procedures because people
recoil at the notion, calling to mind immediately all of the exceptions that
must be tolerated -- such as cryptographic, SI, TS, cables, dispatches,
etc., etc.
It seems to me conceptually at least, that it should be possible to
develop a correspondence control procedure which can apply throughout
the Agency, and which would provide for the fact that unclassified mail
is the only real exception in this organization and the others are only
variations of the same kind of thing.
Going one step further, control of correspondence is really nothing
more than good management. It is just as important that management
controls are established sufficient to ensure that appropriate action is
taken, recorded, and the record preserved with unclassified as it is
with classified matters. Varying degrees of security and sensitivity
may impose additional restrictions on the system, but fundamentally
it is nothing more than good management to be able to know at any time
what has happened to your mail.
If this premise is accepted, the development of a reasonable system
for correspondence control will clearly show how extensive the need for
registries really is, and should indicate where they need to be located,
how they should function, etc. Having this information,, it should then
be possible to determine what the delivery requirements are, and what
the courier system should be.
( FII) TIA
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassiticatlen
Approved For Release 2003/04/29 : CIA-RDP84-0078OR000200120015-3
 Approved For Release 200-3/04/2 CI 4-0078OR000200120015-3
U.", - _fUr
If the correspondence control system is reasonable and satisfies the
various requirements of components as well as their special security
problems, it should be much easier to determine and sell what changes
in registries are really indicated as well as point up the degree of centrali-
zation needed to provide an effective courier system.
If this seems to be a reasonable approach, erha s you should call
a meeting of and yourself for
the purpose of getting agreement upon this approach, or some facsimile
thereof. Then you might designate me to study the DD/S with some help
from a. Security guy, maybe ]might assign one of his Indians together
with somebody from ould give us a couple
of somebody's, possibly one from OCI; and we might even get to hang
around for this working exercise. IfOcomes in, maybe you should
chair the working group, if he doesn't, perhaps I could chair it.
However the group may be composed, I would suggest that it begin
by defining and describing the controls that are really needed to properly
manage correspondence in the Agency. With this definition we could then
proceed to look at the existing systems to find out where they deviate and
come up with proposed changes.
Out of this exercise we should be able to get a correspondence
Regulation and Handbook to satisfy most requirements.
The degree and method of controlling correspondence should then,
optimistically, show us fairly clearly and obviously who needs what
registries where, and how many people are going to have to run between
them.
Deputy Director (Support)
peciai Assistant to the
(O FU )EN IAL
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Approved For Release 2003/04/29 : CIA-RDP84-0078OR000200120015-3