AN INTERVIEW WITH ADMIRAL TURNER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000300040009-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 9, 2007
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: August 7, 1979
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000300040009-9
RIS, INC.
Good Morning, America
WJLA TV
ABC Network
August 7, 1979 7:00 AM
,An Interview with Admiral Turner
Washington, D. C.
DAVID HARTMAN: It's 17 minutes after 7:00 right now.
If you've been reading the employment section of the Sunday
papers in the past month, you might have come across this
ad: "We are looking for you special men and women who sti l l
have a spirit of adventure." Unquote.
The Central Intel I igence Agency has been runn ing
that ad in newspapers al I across the United States. And
this morning Stansfield Turner, who is the Director of the
CIA, is in our Washington studio with Steve Bell to talk
about the agency's recruitment program. Admiral, welcome
back.
DIRECTOR STANSFIELD TURNER: Good morning, David.
HARTMAN: First of all, you're looking, according to,
the ad, and I'm quoting again, for "bright, self-reliant, self-
motivated people." You're looking really, it seems, for the
best and the brightest.
In the past ten years, with the reputation, the image
of the CIA sullied, damaged, diminished, if you will, in part
during this period, why should the young people, the best and
the brightest, consider going to work for you?
ADMIRAL TURNER: Because we have tremendous opportu i-
ties to offer young people today. We provide opportunities to
I ive'overseas, to serve our country, to be involved in the sig-
nificant events in our country and in our time. And most of
a l ?I ', we provide people an opportunity to serve their country
and to serve it wel I .
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spies?
HARTMAN: Are you looking for spies, Admiral , covert
ADI4IRA L TURNER: We're looking for several kinds of
people, David. We're looking for people to go overseas and
collect information for us. But we're looking for people also
to be here in our large research department in Washington, D. C.
-- research in scientific, political, economic areas. It's a
very challenging intellectual environment.
STEVE BELL: Admiral, what if I were a young person
who said "Yes, I want to serve my country, and I'm fascinated
by these overseas prospects, the excitement, and so forth. But
from everything I've heard about the CIA over the ten years as
I was growing up, I'm concerned that at some point the CIA might
ask me to do something that I wouldn't feel, morally and ethi-
cally, I could or should do."
Tlow i f somebody comes to you and expresses that feel-
ing, what would the response of the agency be?
ADM IRAL TURNER: Steve, we are very conscious of our
moral and legal responsibilities, and they are very tightly con-
trolled. They're controlled by presidential directives. They're
controlled by laws of the Congress. And we have mechanisms to
oversee that they're being carried out the way we want. There's
an Intel l igence Oversight Board, set up by the President. There
are two oversight committees of the Congress. And I, for instance,
have put out a clear order to all of our employees that if any of
them think they see something going on that's wrong, they can
either come and see me or communicate with me directly.
BELL: If the person came and expressed those concerns,
you wouldn't just say "Well, thank you very much. Don't call us;
we'll call you."
ADMIRAL TURNER: Absolutely not. I'm most interested
in any allegation of impropriety.
BELL: One other thing that would concern me 1f I was
this young person: you fired more than 800 people just two years
ago, many of them the kinds of people you're asking now to join
up. Another 250 people, the Post says a month or so ago, have
resigned in frustration over the direction of the agency.
Why would a young person want to become a covert opera-
tor, make all the sacrifices, family, that go with that, to face
that kind of prospect in the longer-run future?
ADMIRAL TURNER: Wel 1, as usual, the media's got it
mixed up, Steve. Those numbers are all wrong. We asked 160
people to leave. And we did so to make opportunity for these
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younger people coming along. The agency's just over 30 years
old, and we were a little top-heavy. Now, in the last two years,
we've had more promotions; we've advanced the opportunity for
the younger people coming along. It's an ideal time to join
up.
HARTMAN: Admiral, President Carter, back in January
of 1978, called for a reorganization of the CIA, suggesting that
perhaps he wasn't totally satisfied with the performance of the
agency. On the other hand, you're criticized, as you just sug-
gested, by the press. You're criticized by a lot of people for
immoral deeds, for illegal deeds, whatever they might have been,
in the past.
What shape is the agency in now? Is it possible for
the CIA ever again to really do the job that you've been assigned
to do, given the kind of criticism you get from both sides?
,ADMIRAL TURNER: I t certainly is. And we're doing it.
We're doing it well today. And we're doing it with a greater
consciousness than ever before of our responsibilities to the
country to perform in ways that wi l l not endanger the rights of
American citizens, in particular. It's always a difficult, deli-
cate balance between restraints and freedom to collect information.
And I think we're finding that balance today in a way that lets
us get the information that's vital to conducting the foreign
pol icy of our country and yet gives the people of this country
assurance against any possible abuses.
BELL: Do you covertly hire college students these
days? I mean secretly hire students. The school doesn't know
about it. Their parents might not know about it.
ADMIRAL TURNER: We recruit openly on 300 campuses
across this country. And I have particularly emphasized the
openness and putting our shingle out with all the other people
who recruit on those campuses.
HARTMAN: Admiral Turner, thanks for joining us this
morning.
ADMIRAL TURNER: Pleased to be here.
HARTMAN: Thank you, Steve.
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