OVERVIEW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP94B01417R000100270003-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 43
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: MISC

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OVERVIEW
The Foreign Broadcast Information Service inherited by R.
Evans Hineman in 1982 was poised for perhaps the biggest change
in its 41-year history. Hineman, while not the originator of
the FBIS Modernization Program, in the following seven years as
DDS&T influenced its scope and pace. During Hineman's tenure,
was spent modernizing FBIS, the annual
FBIS budget doubled, the number of FBIS staff employees grew by
20 percent, and the FBIS headquarters was moved from Arlington
to western Fairfax County. In the process, Hineman named three
new directors and four deputy directors of FBIS, including
automation experts from the Office of Research and Development
and the Office of Development and Engineering. By the time
Hineman retired in 1989, FBIS was a larger and more productive
service of common concern to the US Intelligence Community.
FBIS was also more integrated into the DS&T than it had
been since its transfer from the Directorate for Intelligence
13 years earlier. Nevertheless, FBIS in 1989 remained
different from other DS&T offices in several respects: It
dealt primarily, although not exclusively, with unclassified
information; it employed mostly liberal arts graduates; and its
overseas posts were not under cover, an anomaly in CIA
ascribable to the unique history of the monitoring service.
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HALF A CENTURY OF FOREIGN MEDIA COLLECTION
Looking Back
Prior to joining the DS&T on 22 November 1976, FBIS had
performed its mission for 35 years as a subcomponent of other
organizations. It was established by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) in 1941 to monitor, analyze,
and report on foreign radio broadcasts for the US Government.
Known during World War II as the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence
Service, FBIS disseminated information from Axis and other
radio and press agency transmissions to US war agencies.
With the cutback in governmental spending at the end of the
war, the FCC could not afford a service unrelated to its
domestic regulatory responsibilities. As a result, FBIS became
a temporary orphan while Washington officials attempted to
establish a post-war national intelligence apparatus to prevent
future surprises like Pearl Harbor. In this period FBIS was
maintained by the War Department (1946) and the Central
Intelligence Group (1946-47). When the National Security Act
of 1947 established the Central Intelligence Agency,
six-year-old FBIS, renamed Foreign Broadcast Information
Service, became a charter component.
Responding to CIA collection guidance, FBIS supplied a
steady flow of information on developments abroad from foreign
radios, press agencies, newspapers, and journals. By the start
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of Hineman's time as DDS&T, a network of 17 field bureaus
around the world supplied monitored information by teleprinter
to FBIS headquarters, located since 1965 in Key Building at
1200 Wilson Boulevard in the Rosslyn area of Arlington,
Virginia.
By 1982 FBIS had field bureaus in Vienna, Austria; Nicosia,
Cyprus; Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; Manama, Bahrain;
Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Mbabane, Swaziland; Okinawa, Japan;
Bangkok, Thailand; Hong Kong; Seoul, South Korea; Panama;
Asuncion, Paraguay; and Key West, Florida. London Bureau
operated jointly with the British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) Monitoring Service, with which FBIS has exchanged
monitored information since World War II.
_
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The bureaus, most situated at overseas US diplomatic or
military installations, employed foreign national linguists as
monitors under the supervision of staff editors. At FBIS
headquarters, field information was prepared for publication in
regional Daily Reports and for a 24-hour Wire Service to
intelligence watch offices. Also at headquarters, staff
linguists scrutinized thousands of foreign-language
publications, a task assumed in 1967 when the Foreign Documents
Division of the CIA's Office of Central Reference was merged
with FBIS. Material selected by the staff linguists was
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processed by freelance translators under contract with the
Joint Publications Research Service, an FBIS auxiliary in
Arlington. A small group of staff analysts in Key Building
read Communist media for clues to policy trends, and reported
their findings.
In the 1970s it was generally recognized that FBIS, which
had been maintained on a spartan budget in the Directorate of
Intelligence, had not kept pace with automation and other
advances in information handling. For example, a speech by a
foreign leader was typed at least three times before appearing
in the Daily Report: first by the field monitor who translated
it into English, then by a communicator who manually copied it
on a teleprinter keyboard for transmission to headquarters. At
Key Building, the printout was edited by pencil, then retyped
for printing. If the speech was also carried on the FBIS Wire
Service, it was retyped a fourth time. FBIS had long dreamed
of regenerating material by some mechanical or electronic
means. Experiments with mechanical means in the 1960s proved
unsuccessful, as did an effort in the 1970s to introduce
electronic text handling, Project RAPID (Radio and Press
Information Dissemination).
The failure of RAPID contributed to a perception that FBIS
was "all thumbs" when it came to technical matters. The
transfer of FBIS from the DI to the DS&T in 1976, part of a
swapping of several offices, was expected to help the
monitoring service overcome its technological shortcoming. The
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move took several years to bear fruit, however, with the main
benefit to FBIS of DS&T membership coming in the 19805 during
the Hineman era.
In 1980, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and
with US-Iranian
granted FBIS
relations in a crisis, Congress unexpectedly
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DDS&T Dirks authorized
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this windfall
to start a new FBIS headquarters automation
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effort involving the FBIS Wire
Report volumes.
Service and two regional Daily
formerly deputy director of
was selected to head the project under the
the Office of ELINT,
Office of Research and Development. Called MIDAS, for Media
Intelligence Dissemination Automation System, it was due to be
operational in 1982.
Meanwhile, the boost to FBIS capabilities provided by the
was followed in 1981 by the advent of
the Reagan administration, with William J. Casey as DCI. The
desire of the administration and Congress to strengthen US
intelligence and security capabilities -- reflected in
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increased defense and intelligence spending
exceptional opportunity to improve FBIS.
In these circumstances, FBIS Director
-- provided an
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ordered an internal study to assess the
situation
of FBIS
and
to identify its goals. Deputy Director
wrote 25X1
the report on the study. It pointed out
that FBIS had been
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performing in basically the same fashion since 1941, and
concluded: "Clearly we need to modernize." In particular,
FBIS needed to automate the handling of the material it
collected, expand its monitoring of foreign communications
satellites, and develop its own satellite communications
network. DDS&T Dirks endorsed the
spring of 1982, after which
Modernization Program" into
concept in principle in the
staff developed the "FBIS 25X1
a budget initiative for FY-1984 to
FY-88. The program eventually was extended through FY-1989.
Hineman Oversees FBIS Modernization
The FBIS Modernization Program was among the pending
Directorate projects when Hineman succeeded Dirks as DDS&T in
July 1982. The CIA Executive Committee in September 1982
approved the FBIS initiative as part of the Agency's budget for
FY-1984 and beyond. Throughout Hineman's tenure the
Modernization Program would be the main consideration in his
oversight of FBIS. It was the biggest, most complex, and most
costly undertaking in the history of the monitoring service.
FBIS managers did not assume they would be in full charge
of the modernization project. They did, however, want an
active role in determining its characteristics. They did not
want it imposed by outsiders unfamiliar with FBIS, regardless
of their technical expertise.
Hineman's response was to appoint experienced DS&T
technical managers to oversee the Modernization Program as
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director or deputy director of FBIS, letting FBIS managers and
contractors work out the details within agreed bounds. Hineman
explained later that this approach "probably takes a little
longer because you've got some people to train, but I think
you'll end up with a better end product and people more willing
to use the end product because they've been part of the
development."
Modernization Managers
The first appointment
finished his
assignment
veteran
opportunity arose early in
three-year stint as head
in the Directorate of
1983 when
of FBIS
deputy
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and left for a new
Operations. FBIS
for three years, wanted a
turn at the job before retiring
and
expressed
reluctance
to "train" another outsider to be
director.
was the author of the 1981 study that led
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to the modernization
initiative, but he lacked personal
interest in new technologies, as evidenced by his continuing
use of a manual
typewriter. After some hesitation, lineman
named
as director, but stipulated that his deputy had
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to be an experienced
manager of technical programs.
Chosen was
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previously deputy director of
ORD.
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their respective new positions
in January
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assumed
and February 1983.
expected to succeed
as director upon
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was
the latter's retirement at the end of 1984.
As it turned out,
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however, Hineman needed a new director of
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the Office
of
Technical Service in 1984 and considered
the best
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choice.
an
experienced
OD&E
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engineer/manager,
was named to replace
as
the FBIS
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deputy.
Because of this unexpected development,
asked
to delay his retirement a year. This
would give
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time to become familiar with FBIS before succeeding
as director.
25X1
and
replaced him as director on 3 25X1
..
agreed
January 1986, with
an FBIS careerist, as his 25X1
deputy.
had the distinction of
being the first
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Director
of FBIS
from elsewhere in the DS&T, the first
electrical engineer to head FBIS, and the Director with
the
shortest tenure. After eight months in the position
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retired upon
reaching
age 50 in September 1986.
With
abrupt departure, Hineman was compelled to 25X1
send to FBIS
a technical
manager new to the Modernization
Program. He needed a quick study who could take over the reins
of modernization while developments
proceeded apace. He chose
then serving
as Deputy Director of
25X1
ORD. Since leaving the aerospace industry
had served
in four DS&T Offices and on the DDS&T's staff, where as a
planner he had become acquainted with FBIS. At FBIS,
saw the Modernization Program through some of its most
challenging phases to completion in 1989.
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continued as
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Deputy Director under
and was succeeded by another FBIS 25X1
careerist.
At lower levels the Directorate assigned technical
personnel from other offices to FBIS to help carry out the
Modernization Program. Skilled personnel on rotation from
other Directorates also provided expertise.
until April 1988, when he retired 25X1
In 1985
created the FBIS Engineering Support
Group, consolidating technical efforts related to modernization
and conventional operations.
rfrom- the-Office of Cammunications, served as chr?iher-g-rotirp-
'IEom 19115 te-i-9-917;
Automation Gets Priority
Of the three FBIS modernization goals enunciated in 1981,
automation of the handling of collected material had top
priority among most FBIS employees. Information was the
business of FBIS and electronic handling would improve
efficiency, volume, and speed.
Further development of the MIDAS project, which in 1983
had introduced electronic word processing to the FBIS Wire
Service and two of the eight Daily Reports, was terminated in
1985. It was considered too limited to serve as the foundation
for computerized information handling, storage, and retrieval
throughout FBIS.
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In its place, the much more ambitious Automated FBIS
System (AFS) was designed to serve the varied information
handling needs of headquarters editors, linguists, and
analysts. To persons involved in its developmemt-r?AFS also
meant the who
jojned FBIS from the Office of Research and Development in
1983, spent the remainder of the decade on FBIS automation
efforts.
In June 1985 Lockheed Electronics Corp. was selected as
contractor for the AFS project.
AFS consisted of separate unclassified and classified
computer systems. The unclassified segment had subsystems for
handling electronic mail, editorial terminals, and editorial
composition, and was mainly used for preparing information for
publication. This segment went into service in August 1987.
The more complex classified system handled communications with
field bureaus, reference materials, and product data bases. It
became operational in January 1989.
In the field, automation began in June 1987 when Austria
Bureau started using personal computers for word processing in
translation, editing, and communications processes. Electronic
information handling was introduced among other bureaus as
funding permitted, but tight budgets precluded its introduction
worldwide until the early 1990s.
In lineman's view, automation was a major advancement for
FBIS, resulting from its move to the DS&T from the DI. The
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transformation of FBIS information-handling processes to
electronic means was "a pretty slick revolution" and "a big
achievement that I was proud of," he said after his retirement.
Move to Reston: Great Leap Forward
Automation developers initially assumed AFS would be
installed in FBIS headquarters in Key Building in Rosslyn. The
20-year old structure was ill suited for high-tech wiring and
air conditioning requirements, however, and the FBIS space was
already crowded, even with some components in two other
Arlington buildings. Computer engineers were daunted by the
prospect of maintaining MIDAS while installing AFS in such
quarters. In addition, rising rental costs indicated that FBIS
might have to relocate to a more suburban location.
favored moving sooner rather than later. He
wanted to find a new building to house all FBIS components, one
in which the new AFS equipment could be installed and tested
before it was occupied. In March 1986 he learned of the
availability of
Some FBIS employees expressed concern that the move to
western Fairfax county would isolate them from governmental
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analytical and policymaking centers. FBIS management pledged
to make special efforts to maintain customary contacts.
Following installation of the unclassified segment of AFS
in mid-1987, FBIS components began moving from
Rosslyn to the new headquarters. The FBIS Wire Service and two
of the eight Daily Report volumes began operating on
AFS on 20 August 1987 and by early October all FBIS components
were working there under the same roof. For the first time in
its 46-year history, the entire Daily Report was prepared for
publication on computer terminals by editors and compositors,
without need of typists.
The Age of Satellite Monitorina
Another part of the Modernization Program involved
increasing the initial capability of FBIS to monitor
broadcasts from communications satellites. When
outlined the need in his 1981 paper, FBIS had barely
foreign
entered
the age of satellites, although their potential as a source of
information had been recognized for years. The
funding in 1980 enabled FBIS to procure its first two
receive-only satellite earth terminals (ROSETs)
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The second FHIS Headquarters building, at 1424 K Street NW in
Washington, D.C.
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As part of the Modernization Program, FBIS developed plans
to install second-generation ROSETs at three other sites around
the world. Together the chain of five sites could cover the
entire geosynchronous plane, monitoring satellites parked at
any point over the equator. A high-capacity, two-dish antenna
was inaugurated at Panama Bureau in December 1984 and a similar
installation at Bangkok Bureau in December 1985.
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Smaller satellite antennas, however, were erected at
other bureaus for limited coverage, including Paraguay Bureau
in 1986 and Tel Aviv Bureau in 1988.
In addition to the overseas ROSETs, a 9-meter satellite
dish was erected on the grounds at CIA Headquarters in 1985 to
provide selected foreign television broadcasts to analysts.
To plan and coordinate field coverage in the satellite era
the seven-person FBIS Field Coverage Staff was enlarged in 1983
into Monitoring Operations Division.
Budget Constrains Communications Modernization
The most contentious proposal in the FBIS Modernization
Program called for the establishment of a satellite-based
communications network to link FBIS headquarters and field
facilities. Only a portion of the original proposal survived
repeated reviews by skeptics and budget managers who were
intent on protecting FBIS automation, which was seen by more
employees as more important.
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As envisioned by engineer the network, 25X1
called Internet, would have been a real-time, interactive
information exchange system linking 17 FBIS sites on five
continents. Each site would have a small dish antenna for
transmitting and receiving by way of leased Intelsat satellite
transponders. FBIS could send whatever signals it chose over
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this "pipeline," free of the message format and queuing
requirements of the teleprinter circuits used by FBIS since the
1940s. Besides carrying the texts of monitored information,
the wide-band network would introduce various new
capabilities. For example, field bureaus could send monitored
television broadcasts to headquarters and relay broadcasts
among themselves to share translation loads, while headquarters
could use the network as a command channel.
The primary obstacle to the establishment of Internet was
its anticipated cost, which approximated the entire
premodernization FBIS budget. Adding to the expense was an
international convention requiring the employment of
communications contractors to handle transmissions via
commercial satellites. Because of budget pressures, in May
1984 DDS&T Hineman and ADDS&T Hirsch limited plans for Internet
to FBIS headquarters and the five bureaus projected to have
ROSET satellite-monitoring facilities. A few months later, as
a result of another budget cut, Internet planning was further
reduced to a "Phase I" consisting only of FBIS headquarters and
London and Panama Bureaus. Subsequent phases were not
developed due to lack of funds.
The three-site Internet was established in 1987 after
communications contractors set up send/receive satellite
facilities at London and Panama Bureaus costing
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Envious analysts of Far Eastern and other countries had to
be told that while similar live relays from their regions were
technically possible, FBIS could not afford them. They had to
settle for FBIS field videotapes of monitored newscasts from
Beijing, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Havana, and Bonn sent by commercial
air courier, a service instituted at the request of the DDI in
1985.
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While the original Internet concept proved to be too
ambitious for FBIS in the 1980s, several other innovations
helped FBIS improve its communications capability at relatively
modest cost. These included computer-to-computer
communications using international direct-dial telephone
circuits, faster transmission speeds, and facsimile equipment
at each site.
Changes Wrought lay Modernization
The FBIS Modernization Program formally ended as a
separate budget category at the close of the 1989 fiscal year,
but FBIS in FY-1990 had a base budget
higher
than before the program started. Much of the increase was for
continuing annual operating and maintenance costs stemming from
the program.
lineman saw the modernization of FBIS as a process that
ought to continue indefinitely. "Once we get FBIS modernized,"
he said early in 1989, "we cannot afford to just stop. There
will be a continuous effort to be sure that each year we're
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"bringing more and more modernization in.... We now have to
keep up with the state of the art and bring in new and better
ways of doing business as we go along."
At the end of the Modernization Program in 1989, FBIS was
publishing monitored information at the rate of about 180
million words a year. About 113 million appeared in the Daily
Report, some 45 million more than in 1982. The FBIS Wire in
1989 carried approximately 19 million words, compared with -1-1AS42.4-42