AIRBORNE SIGINT RECONNAISSANCE REVIEW, 20 OCTOBER 1978

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00171R002300030003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: November 16, 1978
• Content Type: MFR

Approved For R e 2004/067 c 4- DP831V100171 300030003-7
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Airborne SIGINT Reconnaissance Review,
20 October 1978
1. In the course of OMB's review of the FY 1979 budget
submitted by the DCI to the President, it was recommended that
the RIVET JOINT fleet be reduced to eight aircraft. Two were ap-
proved for modernization in FY 1979, for a total of six modernized.
The President's decision on this issue was ambiguous at the time,
and subsequent efforts at clarification have left considerable
uncertainty. There has been provided no documented record of the
President's decision, which initially was communicated only as a
25X1 reduction of for POL. This was translated by 0MB as
equating to a reduction of four aircraft from the fleet of 12.
2. The Department of the Air Force informally requested
unequivocal clarification of the President's decision. They
were reluctant to take decisive action in the absenl'of definitive
guidance: Was the fleet, in fact, to be reduced, dr were they only
to absorb''a cut in POL dollars? Must the four aircraft be moth-
balled, or could they be placed in the reserves? Underlying the
aura of uncertainty was a sense of mistrust, shared by the Air
Force and the IC Staff: It was believed that the Presidential
decision on the RIVET JOINT fleet had not been explicit, but that
it had been implicit in his decision on a larger strategy to achieve
a specific funding level. The Air Force sought clarification because
they were reluctant to reduce the fleet, under the circumstances,
but they were also not willing to disregard a Presidential decision.
3. OMB finally (and reluctantly) documented the RIVET JOINT
decision as follows in the'Allowance Letter of 3 March 1978:
USAF review completed
111843-78 25X1
N o.J
Exen,x4 'r^m :.R,::-r-r.. ~