NOMINATION OF CARL DUCKETT FOR THE ROCKEFELLER PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00498A000500030010-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 20, 2001
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: April 7, 1976
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 20 ;P7937 . a DP79-00498A00050 01
fl,7
DDIA 76-1753
7 April 1.976
MEMORANDUM FOR. Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT
John F. Blake
Deputy Director for Administration
Nomination of Carl Duckett for the
Rockefeller Public Service Award
1. Consideration was given in 1974 by dir. Colby to
submitting Mr. Carl Duckett as a nominee for the Rockefeller
Public Service Award. This award is rather prestigious
and carries with it a 10,000 payment for each individual
so honored.
2. Mr. Colby decided to submit Mr. Duckett as a
nominee for the National Civil Service League Award in
lieu of the Rockefeller Award in 1974 and, simultaneously,
directed that Mr. Duckett be submitted at the next calling
for the Rockefeller Public Service Award. The nomination
time is now with us.
3. This Agency has previously submitted seven (7)
individuals 13 different times as nominees for the
Rockefeller Award and none has ever made it. Their names
are at Attachment A.
4. 1 feel under obligation to bring this matter to
your attention because of the history cited above and
because I know Mr. Duckett was aware of the commitment.
In the latter connection, Mr. Duckett has submitted the
names of four individuals he believes can testify to his
accomplishments. That list is found at Attachment B.
While.$ do not believe you are under any obliga-
Eg
tion to Mr. Duckett whether to proceed or not on this
matter, I a).so.believe the record should show that you were
advised.cog,
Atts
g`l`gne' :i John '. Blake
John P. Blake
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ip w ~J
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Distribution:
Original DCI w/Orig of Atts
X- DD/A Subject
J,- DD/A Chrono (Do Not Circulate
1 - JFB Chrono
DD/A:JFBlake:der (7 April 1976)
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41 ,
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Previous Agency Nominations
for the
Rockefeller Public Service Awards
1957
Otto E. Guthe
- 1960
Herbert Scoville, Jr.
- 1961
Richard Helms
- 1962,63,64,65,66
Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Jr. - 1963,65
Lawrence R. Houston - 1971,72
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References: Mr. Carl E. Duckett
Central Intelligence Agency
Persons well acquainted with Mr. Duckett and to whom
inquiries may be addressed by the Committee on Selection:
Dr. Henry Kissinger
Secretary of State
Washington, D. C.
20520
Office telephone:
202-632-9630
Dr. James Schlesinger
3601 North 26th Street
Arlington, Virginia
22207
Dr. Sidney Drell
Stanford
Linear Acceleration Center
Stanford
Stanford,
University
California
94305
Office
telephone:
415-497-2300
Dr. Edwin H. Land
163 Brattle Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Home telephone: [phone]
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L,
_?C= -
MEMO NDUM
PR MI
VIA.
ENE
of Mr.
Award i
States in war
to Ms. Ingrid W.
That you approve tti.e nomination
the Rockefeller Public Service
redefining the role of the United
and that u sign the attached letter
2. Basic Data or flack. round Rof.rent invited the
Agency to i6wf an gar the 1976 Rockefeller Public
Service Award by 30 April 1976, Under a now grant from John
D. Rockefeller 3rd, this awards program will now honor not
only individuals in the Federal Dove ent, but also persons
at the state and local ve ent level aag perso s outside
government. The now emphasis of the pro;
ordinary contributions to the improvement of kmerican society
through significant achievements in nine critical problem
areas. Normally five awards of $19,000 each are presented,
but this giber can vary. The 1976 awards preseat*tio"* will
take place in late fall, 1976.
f Central Into
V. W. M. Janney
Director of Pars
Deputy Director for Administration
Nomination of Mr. Carl V., Duckett for the
Roctefeller Public Service Award
Letter from Administrative Director,
kefeller Public Service Awards,
received in Exec Registry 15 Dec 75
gency has had no previous winners of the
Rockefeller Public Service Award. A list of former Agency
seas is attached for your information along with a list
the 1974 winners.
3. Staff ?ositioa 1r. Duckett was the Agency's choice
for a +o iaa r ~; owever, since he was a no inee for
the National Civil Service League Award at the some tine (and
an eventual winner that year), it was decided to delay his
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old in 197S. The attached nominating docusent
l y, the Ro cefelle
Mckefeller Awar
was prepared by D 4T staff members =4 has been reviewed and
in by representatives of the Cover and Co
nd the Office of security.
4. Rec ndation That You prove the nornin
r, D u c k e t t Ea ,f.11er Public Service Award and s
the, attached letter to Ms. Re,d.
P. W. M. J&nn*r
Distribut i
i* - Return to D/P*rs
I r DC!
I- ? DCd
}BAR
} ~. D
a D/Pens'
C/RSD
td
STATINTL OP/BS
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s. Ingrid W. Reed
Administrative Director
Rockefeller Public Service Awards
Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Dear Ms. Reed:
It is with great pleasure that I nominate Mr. Carl E.
Duckett for the 1976 Rockefeller Public Service Award for
his accomplishments toward a redefinition of the United
States' role in world order.
Mr. Duckett is my Deputy Director for Science and
Technology. His contributions to the United States
Government for more than twenty-eight years and to this
Agency In particular since 1963 have been exceptional.
He has fused a conglomerate of scientific and engineering
disciplines into a responsive and innovative intelligence
organization. In addition to his recognized professional
expertise, his facility in communicating with professional
experts and government leaders, both native and foreign,
has made him a national asset, particularly in the SALT
negotiations with the USSR.
All those who know Carl Duckett will be highly
pleased should his contribution to the welfare of the
nations of the world be recognized by this award.
cerely,
/ sf Ce"e"-rte' ,~us`]
George Bush
Director
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MS. Ingrid W. Reed
Administrative Director
Rockefeller Public Service Awards
Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs
Princeton University
Princeton, Now Jersey 08540
Page 2
APR irg
Originator:
ct01 O ersonnel
Concur*.-. ~.Dv.4 - 76 ? i Z76,
l a uty rector
for
Administration
Distribution:
4rig - Addressee
1-DCI
1 - DDCI
I - ER
- DDA
I - D/Pers
1 - DDSQT/Adnin
I - OPP - Carl B. Duckett
2 - C/BSD (I w/helot)
CP/BSD,gec (23 Mar 76)
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NOMINATION OF MR. CARL E. DUCKETT
FOR THE ROCKEFELLER PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO
A REDEFINITION OF THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD ORDER
PERSONNA VITAE
Name, Title $ Grade : Mr. Carl E. Duckett, Deputy
Director for Science and
Technology, EP-04
Organizational Location Central Intelligence Agency,
Washington, D.C. 20505
Residence 5409 Earps Corner Place
Fairfax, Virginia 22039
Education World War II Government-Sponsored
Engineering Program at Johns
Hopkins University in 1943
Length of Government Service: 28 years
Marital Status Married, three children
Date & Place of Birth 22 March 1923, Swannanoa,
North Carolina
Nomination Field Redefining the Role of the United
States in World Order
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CARL E. DUCKETT
Mr. Carl Ernest Duckett, Deputy Director of Central Intelli-
gence for Science and Technology (S$T), is the senior and most
knowledgeable administrator and advisor on SFT matters in the CIA.
He became one of the first experts in the field of missile intelli-
gence in the United States in a time when that technology was of
critical importance to his Government - the early days of World
War II. Since then his contributions to his country for more
than twenty-eight years have been many; several have been essential
to the security and welfare of the United States and the free
nations of the world.
Most significant has been Mr. Duckett's role in the planning
.and implementation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty which
was initialed on 26 May 1972 by President Nixon of the United
States and General Secretary Brezhnev of the USSR. In September
of the same year, when keynoting the twenty-fifth anniversary
of the Central Intelligence Agency, Dr. Henry Kissinger singled
out Mr. Duckett's contribution to that treaty as one of the most
significant achievements of the CIA.
Mr. Duckett truly personifies the "self-made" man. He was
born, the fourth of seven children, into a rural community ten
miles from Asheville in western North Carolina. This was a
lumbering center during the 1920's, and his father, remembered
by him as a "professional mountaineer", worked for the Berlin
Lumber Company as a train engineer hauling logs. He attended
grade and high school in Swannanoa, North Carolina. While
Mr. Duckett was graduated from high school not at the very top
of his class, his innate enthusiasm and wide-ranging interest in
all things around him carried him into many extra-curricular
activities. He still has a small gold medal which recognizes
him as the champion debater of his senior class.
There being no funds for Mr. Duckett to continue his edu-
cation, he took employment in a local grocery store as a delivery
clerk. Not long after, he decided that the nearby cotton mill
would provide a better future. He signed on, boarded the company
bus at 5:30 a.m. and faced an hour's ride. As he rode to the
mill-he became lost in his own thoughts. The more he pondered,
the more he realized that if he entered the mill he would
probably stay there and never expand his education or his huri-
zonS. It was 25 miles back to his home but he left the bus,
walked home, and turned to a different future.
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In the spring of 1942 the U.S. Army, desperately in need
of electronics technicians, started a crash program under the
Civil Service. Mr. Duckett applied and passed the competitive
examination for a six-months'cram course entailing both theory
and practice. He ranked in the top of his class and was sent
on to Johns Hopkins Univetsity for three months, during which
the classes covered nearly the equivalent of the first half of
a college engineering degree. The course whetted his intellectual
appetite; when he found himself momentarily over his head he sought
outside help. To get through calculus, for example, he would do
the soldering on the Ph.D. project of another student in return
for private tutoring. He finished well at the top and was faced
with a choice between Army Reserve and private industry. Taking
two weeks to decide, he chose the lower paying of two jobs in
industry. He had learned that Westinghouse in Baltimore had a
contract for a new radar system, the SCR 584, a fire control unit
which, incidentally, is still in wide use in the USSR. He
reasoned that in this new field he would be as well. informed as
anyone in the company and that he would be associating with the
best radar designers in the country. As at Hopkins, he grew with
the challenge at Westinghouse. He was picked as the assistant
instructor for military student technicians, sat in on theory
classes, and by the end of the third course was teaching theory
as well as the technical subject matter. All the while, he was
working in the final test department where each SCR 584 was
assembled and checked out. At 20 years of age he was supervisor
on the third shift.
In mid-winter 1943-44 the U.S. and U.K. were alerted through
intelligence to the advent of the V-1 buzz bomb. Westinghouse
was asked for a representative to join a nine-man team - three
civilians and six military - to take the SCR 584 to England where,
coupled with a 90-mm gun and an analogue computer, it would be the
most advanced AAA weapon available for defense against the V-l.
The other civilians were the chief MIT designer of the SCR 584
radar and an engineer from GE. It soon became evident to the
Colonel in command of the team that Mr. Duckett's training and
experience in the final test department made him more useful in
the field than both the designer and the engineer. Brigadier
General Timberlake, in command of the 49th AAA Brigade, asked the
team commander and Mr. Duckett to go into Normandy with his Brigade
which landed in France on D-Day +7. Radar was still a strange,
new device. Mr. Duckett continuously had to ensure that field
units were positioning the SCR 584 so that it could function
properly. Modifications to the system were many and were often
the result of recommendations from the field.
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When Mr. Duckett returned to Westinghouse, there was much
high-level interest in his experience. He was asked for a
detailed critique of the equipment, addressed the annual Board
of Directors' meeting in New York, and was even taken to dinner
by Winthrop Aldrich, the Board Chairman of the Chase Manhattan
Bank.
He returned to the U.S.A. in August 1944 and by October
he received his draft notice. Again he became involved with
advanced radar, this time in the MIT radiation lab. Promotions
took him to Master Sergeant rapidly: With the Kamikaze problem
plaguing the Navy at that time, he was sent to the Pacific to
install and test a moving target indicator kit on board ships.
.Japan surrendered, and Mr. Duckett returned to Westinghouse and
the SCR 584, ultimately deployed at the White Sands Missile Test
Range. Here he participated in the first U.S. launch of the V-2
and became associated with the earliest group of U.S. and German
engineers who were to develop U.S. missilery.
Between his discharge from the Army in 1946 and his recall to
active duty in 1950, Mr. Duckett was involved in the construction
of a Broadcast Station, WBOB, in Galax, Virginia. After passing
an examination for a first-class radio engineer's license, he
started as chief engineer. He later became general manager of
the station, and then, as secretary-treasurer of the expanding
corporation, he gained experience in planning, budgeting and cash
flow matters which stands him in good stead today as the adminis-
trator of a Directorate with seven separate offices and very
complicated budgeting and contracting procedures. He found that
the general manager of a local station became well known and'was
expected to be active in civic affairs. As a result, he founded
the local Jaycee Chapter and was elected vice-president of the
State Jaycee organization. He fully expected then to remain in
broadcasting.
Recalled to active duty in October 1950, Mr. Duckett applied
for and received a commission. This led to Signal Officers'
School in Fort Monmouth followed by a request from his old
associates to return to White Sands. Even as a 1st Lieutenant,
he wound up running the missile test range radar division, one of
the key instrumentation elements.
When he was released to civilian life, despite an offer of
a better position in the broadcasting company, he made a key
career decision to remain at White Sands. From 1953 to 1956
he had various jobs and responsibilities, all involved with range
instrumentation. As plans officer he discovered that, although
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he drew up the annual technical plan for instrumentation matters
on the range, the comptroller controlled the purse strings and
there was little similarity between the budget and his original
plan. At his suggestion he was allowed to unify the plans and
budget offices, a concept that ultimately was adopted throughout
the Defense Department. His first experience with general purpose
digital. computers took place with an early mobile version bought
by the Army through the Bureau of Standards and relegated to
White Sands.
In 1956 General Medaris, head of the team developing the
Army's Jupiter IRBM, asked Mr. Duckett to serve on a committee
to examine the adequacy of the U.S. test ranges on a national
basis. This gave him the dual advantage of a national overview
of the total U.S. space activity and direct personal contact
with General Medaris. His ability to interpret and analyze
aerial photography of the Soviet missile ranges required some-
one who understood the concepts involved. Mr. Duckett was
cleared for intelligence and began a frequent association with
Army Intelligence in the Pentagon. In the fall of 1957 Mr.
Allen Dulles, then CIA Director, called together a distinguished
group of outside experts to help in the analysis of the first
U-2 photography of the USSR's test range at Tyura Tam. The
group worked day and night for six weeks. Mr. Duckett was the
only Government representative. In 1958 he was picked to be the
intelligence community representative on a Returnee Exploitation
Group in Frankfurt, Germany, which was collecting, collating, and
analyzing information from the German missile experts who were
being released from the USSR.
By this time Mr. Duckett concluded that the Army needed a
permanent, full-time missile intelligence unit. He broached
this with General Medaris, who asked him to do a staff study on
the subject. He immediately set out to find what was being done
in the missile intelligence arena. He toured those industries
engaged in classified analysis for other Government components.
He concluded that there was indeed need for such a unit in the
Army and that it would be best situated in Redstone, adjacent to
the scientists and technicians who were working on missile
development. Mr. Duckett was the first head of the intelligence
unit and, as a civilian, was in the unique position of an assis-
tant chief of staff to the commanding officer. He was. called to
Washington at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis and found
that recent studies by his Huntsville Unit had a vital and imme-
diate influence on determining whether the USSR was indeed de-
ploying modern, intermediate-range missiles against the United
States in Cuba.
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Subsequently General Fitch, the head of Army Intelligence,
asked Mr. Duckett to comment at a United States Intelligence
Board (USIB) meeting on the National Intelligence Estimate on
Communist Chinese Strategic Weapons. Mr. Duckett felt the
thrust of the Estimate too negative, noted that despite with-
drawal of Soviet aid, reconnaissance plainly showed Peking
to be taking major and accelerated steps toward ultimately
acquiring strategic missile capability. As a result of his
comments, Mr. McCone, the CIA Director and USIB Chairman,
remanded the Estimate for recasting and directed that Mr. Duckett
be hired to set up a Foreign Missile and Space Analysis Center
in CIA and also to serve as Chairman of USIB's standing committee
on the guided missile and astronautics intelligence problem
(GMAIC). In this capacity Mr. Duckett soon became recognized
as the number one analyst on foreign missile and space matters.
Mr. McCone, an engineer by education and background, was
also bent on pulling together the complete scientific effort
of the Agency into one Directorate. He reasoned that only
through this approach could he attract the necessary scientific
expertise in the various disciplines to develop widely based
scientific and technical intelligence and also provide a proper
technical environment. Dr. Albert Wheelon was the first Deputy
Director for S&T. Mr. Duckett was appointed his Assistant in
May 1966, Acting Deputy Director when Dr. Wheelon returned to
private industry in the fall, and permanent Deputy Director in
the spring of 1967.
In this timeframe of the late 1960's the United States
Government was taking under consideration a proposal that
limitations on strategic armament be negotiated with the USSR
in order to restrict arms production and ultimately contribute
to the peace of all nations. In an open society such as the
U.S., of course, statistics on armament production generally
are made public and consequently are easily accessible to foreign
powers. Because of this, a reluctance existed in the top
echelons of the U.S. Government to participate in treaty
discussions in the belief that the negotiating power would
weigh heavily in the favor of the USSR. Recognizing the es-
sentiality of such a treaty to the welfare of the peoples of
all nations Mr. Duckett felt compelled to reassure the White
House and the National Security Council that, through the re-
sources of his Directorate, adequate checks on Soviet production
could be established and maintained and that we could negotiate
with the Russians in complete confidence. With unbounded zeal
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-6-
and great confidence in the ability of his employees, he outlined
a program for phased discussions with the USSR. Supporting
these with hard facts already in the hands of the Agency and
with clear and well-founded projections of what his people could
monitor and project in the future, he undertook an almost single-
.handed crusade to convince the United States Government that it
could effectively negotiate arms limitations and establish itself
as a peacekeeper for the world. Following a seri.es of discussions
with Dr. Kissinger and top officials of the Executive Branch, the
persuasion of Mr. Duckett was translated into acceptance by U.S.
policymakers and President Nixon became convinced that the
United. States could enter into. SALT talks with self-assurance.
Mr. Duckett's wisdom and perception readily became apparent
when initial discussions with USSR representatives proved that
CIA's grasp of the arms picture was more substantial than theirs.
It has remained so throughout subsequent years to the point where
this Nation and the free world can be confident that the Soviets
will not out-maneuver us in the fencing for arms limitations and
production in the future.
Other accomplishments attributable to Mr. Duckett's leader-
ship in the field of science and technology cannot be discussed
freely, but it can be added here that some of his Directorate's
technology, which has proven to be more advanced than that existent
elsewhere, has been made available to NASA in furtherance of the
latter's Earth Resources Programs.
In addition to his responsibility for the management of seven
major operating divisions of CIA, Mr. Duckett serves as the spokes-
man on scientific and technical intelligence matters for the
Director of Central Intelligence, both within and outside the
Agency. There are few people in the Congress and the Executive
Branch concerned with S&T matters whom Mr. Duckett has not been
called upon to brief personally. His depth of knowledge is
unquestioned both in Government and industry. Free people of
the world can look forward to further advances by his Directorate
with confidence that these will contribute as significantly to
the welfare and security of mankind in the future.
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References: Mr. Carl E. Duckett
Central Intelligence Agency
Persons well acquainted with Mr. Duckett and to whom
inquiries may be addressed by the Committee on Selection:
Dr. Henry Kissinger
Secretary of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Office telephone: [phone]
Dr. James Schlesinger
3601 North 26th Street
Arlington, Virginia
Dr. Sidney Drell
22207
Stanford
Linear Acceleration Center
Stanford
Stanford,
University
California
94305
Office
telephone:
415-497-2300
Dr. Edwin H. Land
163 Brattle Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Home telephone: [phone]
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ROCKEFELLER PUBLIC SERVICE AWARDS
x-452-4838
We are writing to ask for your cooperation and continued involvement
in the nationally-known Rockefeller Public Service Awards program.
Under a new grant from John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the emphasis now is on
extraordinary contributions to the improvement of American Society by individ-
uals at the national level, and the local and state level as well -- within
government or outside.
As part of the new awards program, nine critical problem areas have been
identified. It is anticipated that five awards of $10,000 will be made at the
end of 1976 to recognize the most significant achievements in these areas and
honor the individuals responsible for them.
The enclosed brochure describes the new program in detail, including in-
formation about the nomination process.
The outstanding work being done within the federal government deserves
wide recognition. As in the former program, we are soliciting nominations
made through the normal federal awards review procedures as well as nominations
made by individuals outside these channels.
Your interest is extremely important in identifying and. nominating persons
who have made outstanding contributions to public service meriting the prestige
and national attention of the Rockefeller Public Service Awards. Please don't
hesitate to contact us if you should desire additional copies of the brochure
or have questions about the new program.
We are very appreciative of your help.
Sincerely,
/ . d 10. 'Ct-.mil
Ingrid W. Reed
Administrative Director
Rockefeller Public Service Awards
IWR/bjk
THE ROCKEFELLER PUBLIC SERVICE AWARDS PROCRAM IS ADMINISTERED BY
Ap vo&ft Reloaser 2OO1!U8/27 r0A-RDW9*(49SA00060O@3QO40-2