REPORT OF AD HOC PRISONERS INFORMATION SUPPORT COMMITTEE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00549R000300050011-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 12, 2002
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: April 23, 1957
• Content Type: REPORT

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23 April 1957
I N T E L L I G E N C E ADVISORY C O M M I T T E E
Report of Ad Hoc Prisoners Information Support Committee
References: IAC-D-101; IAC-D-101/1; IAC-D-101/2;
IAC-D-101/3; IAC-M-235, item 3
The attached report by the Ad Hoc Prisoners Information
Support Committee will be placed on the agenda of an early IAC
meeting for noting and appropriate action with respect to the
recommendations of the Committee.
25X1A
Secretary
OSD, DPMO Reviews Completed
OGA's reviews completed
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P
Y
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Washington 25, D. C.
25X1 A April 16, 1957
MEMORANDUM FOR :
Executive Secretary
Intelligence Advisory Committee
SUBJECT : Transmission of Report
Forwarded herewith is report on the activities of the ad hoc
.subcommittee created. by the IAC in April 1956 for the purpose of
studying the need for an organization to accomplish the collection,
evaluation and dissemination of intelligence in support of activities
directed toward: recovery of U. S. nationals held in Communist
countries..
The report has the concurrence of all members of the ad hoc
subcommittee.
/s/
W. H. GODEL
Deputy Assistant to the
Secretary of Defense
(Special Operations)
1 Incl
Report
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23 April 1957
REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP
TO STUDY THE NEED FOR AN ORGANIZATION TO ACCOMPLISH
THE COLLECTION, EVALUATION AND DISSEMINATION OF
INTELLIGENCE IN SUPPORT OF ACTIVITIES DIRECTED TOWARD
RECOVERY OF U. S. NATIONALS HELD IN COMMUNIST COUNTRIES
SECTION I. BACKGROUND
1. In November 1955 the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense
(SO) by memorandum to the JCS requested a special study by the Joint
Intelligence Group of:
a. Intelligence requirements for an effective prisoner
identification and repatriation program.
b. Requirements for the necessary organization to
accomplish the collection, evaluation and dissemination
of intelligence in support of activities directed toward
recovery of U. S. nationals held.
In response to this request the JIC approved a study of the
problem which among other actions caused the JCS representative to
the IAC to submit this matter to the Intelligence Advisory Committee
for consideration. It was pointed out that this action would bring to
the attention of the Intelligence Community as a whole the need for
intensified effort on the part of intelligence agencies in support of
operations for recovery or repatriation.
2. Based upon a separate and immediate need for intelligence
regarding unaccounted-for prisoners of war from the Korean War, a
separate memorandum to the JCS in January 1956 requested:
a, Such additional collation of existing information held
by the military departments concerning missing prisoners as
is necessary to put it in the most useful and meaningful form
for U. S. negotiators.
b. Review and revision as necessary of existing EEI's
concerning missing prisoners in order to provide appropriate
identification materials to intelligence collection agencies.
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c. An optimum interchange of missing prisoners
information between the military departments.
d. Collection of information on missing prisoners
from possible sources outside of the military such as the
State Department, FBI, American Red Cross, Veterans
Administration, etc.
3. Action on this latter request of January 1956 was held up
pending a reply from the IAC as to its action in response to the January
memorandum forwarded to the IAC by the JCS representative.
4. In February of 1956, the IAC requested the State and Defense
Prisoner Officers (a two-man committee formed earlier to monitor
activities in the repatriation field) to elaborate on their analysis of the
existing problem and their recommendations as to corrective actions.
5. On 2 March 1956 the State and Defense Prisoner Officers
provided a memorandum for the Chairman, IAC, which recommended
that the following arrangements be made within the Intelligence Com-
munity.
a. Determine which agencies of the U. S. Government,
both within and outside of the Intelligence Community, are
capable of contributing substantially to the collection of
intelligence pertaining to Americans believed held in
Communist countries.
b. Insure that all available intelligence resources are
utilized to locate and identify U. S. nationals held in Com-
munist prisons and to collect and disseminate pertinent
information to the Department of State in the cases of U. S.
civilians, to the Department of Defense in the cases of
United States military personnel, or both to both of these
Departments when it is not known whether the individual is
civilian or military.
C. Provide for the establishment of an interviewing
guide containing instructions for the collection of this type
of intelligence, with a supplement containing photographs,
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vital statistics and pertinent biographical material about
personnel possibly held and the history of their disap-
pearance or capture. This collection guide and supplement
should be reproduced in legible and compact form and made
available to all field collection agencies. The guide sup-
plement should permit more pointed and accurate reporting
from the field and facilitate feed-back from time to time of
intelligence available within the Washington area. In addi-
tion the guide supplement would provide essential background
material for use in negotiations.
d. To insure that effective procedures exist.within
the intelligence community for evaluating and collating
information collected to insure accomplishment of b. and
c. above.
6. In April 1956 the item was considered in the meeting of the
IAC. The IAC approved the recommendations of the two Prisoner
Officers and agreed to the establishment of an ad hoc working group to
cope with the problems identified by the Prisoner Officers. The De-
partment of Defense provided the Chairman for the working group. In
addition, the Departments of Army, Navy, Air Force, and State, the
JCS, the CIA, the FBI and the AEC were represented on the working
group.
7. In the meantime, in order to fulfill the requirement set
forth in paragraph 2 above, which was generated by Department of
State plans to enter into direct negotiations at Geneva with Chinese
Communist officials for an accounting on unaccounted-for U. S.
personnel held by the Chinese Communists, the Special Assistant to
the Secretary of Defense (Special Operations), in May 1956, requested
the military services to provide full documentation in each case (450)
covering the unaccounted-for military personnel from the Korean War.
The military services had all responded to this request by 1 July 1956
and the materials were turned over to the Department of State for use
by the U. S. Negotiator at Geneva (U. Alexis Johnson).
8. Because of the gaps in this material furnished by the military
services and their consequent inadequacy, the services were directed by
the Secretary of Defense on October 27, 1956 to initiate a program to
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screen exhaustively all files and records on each case in order to
provide as completely as possible the identification data about each
person, a complete account of the circumstances surrounding his
capture or disappearance, and any evidence which would demonstrate
when and where the individual was in the hands of the Communists.
A suggested EEI (see Annex "A" attached) was furnished to the
Services as a guide, and they were directed to make an initial report
not later than December 1956 and quarterly thereafter until further
notice.
9. This directed action has resulted in the production to date,
and forwarding to the Department of State for further forwarding to
Ambassador Johnson of detailed dossiers on 53 Army personnel and
9 Navy personnel (including Marine Corps). The Department of the Air
Force is carrying out a similar survey but has not yet furnished addi-
tional data beyond that furnished in mid-1956 which, however, was in
considerably more detail than that furnished by the other services at
that time.
SECTION II, CURRENT STATUS OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP
ESTABLISHED IN AGREEMENT WITH THE IAC
10. The Chairman of the working group left the Department of
Defense (Air Force Staff) in January 1957 and a new Chairman has not
been designated.
11. The committee has not met since July 1, 1956.
12. The committee is still officially in existence, not having been
dissolved or discharged by the IAC.
SECTION III, CONCLUSIONS
13. Within the Department of Defense, efforts to collect, collate,
and disseminate all available intelligence and information on missing or
unaccounted-for military personnel appears to be progressing satis-
factorily.
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14. The residual problem appears to center around taking
steps to insure that all agencies responsible for determining the
status of U. S. personnel missing and unaccounted-for formulate their
intelligence collection requirements in this area, and that the results
of subsequent collection and collation efforts be made available to the
Departments of State and Defense, the departments of primary respon-
sibility in recovery and repatriation operations.
SECTION IV, RECOMMENDATIONS
15. That the Ad Hoc Working Group (Sec. II) be dissolved.
16. That the IAC member agencies recommend to offices within
those agencies which are responsible for determining the status of U. S.
personnel held, now or in the future by Communist countries, or bearing
on otherwise accounting for missing personnel, as follows:
a. Review of intelligence collection requirements
related to such personnel actions.
b. Forwarding for IAC consideration such intelligence
collection requirements in this area concerning which it is
concluded that IAC action is appropriate.
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SUGGESTIONS AS TO TYPES OF INFORMATION REQUIRED
TO SUPPORT POW RECOVERY ACTIONS
IDENTIFYING DATA:
Name, Rank, Service Number:
Date, Place of Birth:
Photograph (where possible)
Distinguishing marks and characteristics:
CIRCUMSTANCES OF CAPTURE AND/OR DISAPPEARANCE:
Time and place of contact with enemy:
Description of engagement in locality:
Testimony of witnesses to capture, wounds, or abandonment:
EVIDENCE OF CAPTURE:
Testimony in affidavit form of witnesses who saw or
heard of individual as a prisoner, giving times,
places and circumstances.
Transcripts of communist radio and press admissions
concerning the individual.
Photostats of International Red Cross communications
pertaining to individual.
Other data which will support the U. S. charge that the
Communists have some knowledge about the individual.
INTELLIGENCE REPORTS:
Extracts from intelligence reports which are relevant to
the individual case.
References to each Specific Request for Intelligence
pertaining to each case.
INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATES AS TO:
Whether the individual is alive and held:
Where being held:
What exploitation of the individual by the Communists is
to be expected: . V
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