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On VIA REM SYSTEr ONLY

THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

WASHINGTON 25. D.C.

6 October 1964

Dear Cy:

At recent NRO ExCom meetings (September .lst and

September 10th), statements were made by the D/NRO that CIA

contracting and other participation in the CORONA program was I,'

so dispersed that it required him or his staff to contact several -if.` : offices and individuals to obtain information essential to him for . .1 .,', r !;. -

the proper direction of the CORONA program. • ojr,-*A

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T advised you, without commenting on theyaltatz,of this

statement, that we would place a senior staff project officer

(Mr. Crowley) on the West Coast in General Greer's organization

and responsible to General Gragz and that this project engineer

would be in charge of all of CIA's contracting and other activities

in connection with the CORONA program. A: the same meeting it

was agreed that the veto concept of the Configuration Control

Board would be dispensed with and the Board would act in an • tie advisory capacity to General Greer, who would be responsible for

final decisions subject, of course, to the direction of D/NRO. • ;

/-4 Dr. McMillan would be responsible re3aFilirconduct 1

of the program.

I agreed to prepare a memorandum for the Executive Committee

and for Dr. McMillan proposing a working relationship between

General Greer and Mr. Crowley and those assigned to assist him, and

the purpose of this letter is to outline my concept of the arrangements.

1

Basicallr,Ivir. Crowley will be assigned to General Greer and

will considii himself a part of General Greer's organization. He

would be authorized to communicate with the Office of DD/SkT in '

CIA in Washington Headquarters to obtain advice, -guidamos and •

assistance from the staff here. .it4.e4e

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BYIE 36370-64

Copy if 17 . of 8 copies

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1ILIDLE Y:A BriZIN STSTM

In examining CIA activities in connection with the

contracting and security of the CORONA project, it is to be noted

that the areas of responsibility are those indicated in the attached

schematic diagram which I think is familiar to you. Every phase

of the CIA activities encompassed in the orange square on the G

attached chart would become a responsibility of Mr. Crowley under

the direction of General Greer. The contracts would remain as

CIA contracts, which I believe essential to preserve security and.

continuity, and appropriate funding would be arranged by D/NRO .

through Program B to carry the program forward with9ut t e •

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Mr. Crowley, operating under G irection„.-1-t

would be specifically responsible for the following CIA activities: ; • •

Cand-would-providerar single-point-of-contactiwhich-appears •

dooirrable7-1-re-r)

The payload contracts (Lockheed, ITEK, and

GE) via the CIA contracting officer who would be

located with him in General Greer's area.

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The security of-ther..payload-through a CIA

security man located in Los Angeles.

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Two CIA technical people, who would be /

assigned to him to work in CORONA. •

The assembly, integration and checkout

process and facility at Palo Alto where the

payloads are assembled and tested.

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In addition, Mr. Crowley, because of his background of

experience together with the competence of the men who would be

assigned to his staff, would I believe strengthen General Greer's

organization and the NRO.

As I mentioned in our meetings, I believe that this organization

must be usefully employed, otherwise it would be an extravagance and

a waste of talent to assign them to General Greer. To accomplish

this, I would suggest their participation should include, but not be

limited to:

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a. Participation in all contractor/supplier

meetings, across the system interfaces, such that

the team •no•spezisible-foas-payload-domelopmentremains fully cognizant of total system status.

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Sincerely,

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irector

• • • •

Recognition by the Aerospace Corporation

of Mr. Crowley's role in the pyload-a-pear, j

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Participation in the Configuration Control

Board, or whatever coordinating mechanism is

established to coordinate the system.

- •

It is my considered judgment that the concentration of these

activities in the hands of a man of Mr. Crowley's competence and

under the direction of General Greer would significantly improve

the satellite reconnaissance program and would be a further stop in

the utilization of the unique resources and skills capable of contributing to this program, which is a fundamental concept of the NRO.

You can be assured of our enthusiastic support of this arrangement.

Attachment - Diagram

Honorable Cyrus R. Vance

Deputy Secretary of Defense

Department of Defense

Washington., D. C.

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October 15, 1964

Dear John:

7.3tan:::. you for your memorandum of October 6 in which you proposed

to consolidate under General Greer the CAA responsibilities for security.

cent:acting. and technical assistance in the CORONA program. The

centralization of these functions under General Greer's immediate directlon wia be an important move in improving the management structure

faat now exists on this critical project.

Tie are in full agreement that there must be a single authoritative Program L'irector to whom we can assign responsibility for the successful

conduct of the CORONA program. The consolidation that you propose

will znal.ze it possible for General Greer. subject to the policies of the

-15-YDN'a0, to exorcise complete technical direction as well as over-all

management control. Aerospace Corporation, as previously agreed,

will perform the General System Engineering function.

Vic agree with your suggestion to form a CORONA Advisory Committee.

We would propose to establish Colonel Paul ilet-an. CORONA Project

Director. as a:at:roan. and ask Mr. Crowley to serve as Senior CIA

ropresentztive; this C.onarzirtee should also 'have one government reprecenti.tive from the A/ P facility and one-(e)- Staff representative.

ad‘dr.o. ry participation as apprcpriate could include CIA

-104.drtarters. NPIC, ACM, AILS, etc.

agree that all proposed changes to the CORONA Erf j....1=4 should be

re!erred to the CORONA Advisory Committee for evatL.-.:ion and approprk.te recommendations to General Greer. who will be responsible for

approval or disapproval of minor changes. We believe t major

cl-amges should be reviewed and approved by the 4-9)- =IRO before any

directive action is taken. Technical directions on approved changes

mould be prepared by the CORONA Project Director and forwarded to

the contractor(s) involved through the appropriate contracting officer(s).

"../ ... .

• . • • : • A BY=1.i.AN

..::' THE DEPUTY SECRETARY OF EPr .sr

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The °M et of these arrangements would be to insure that. 2.3 we agreed

on October ;), there will be a r.in;le authoritative representative of the

Covernment for technical direct:oz. on the entire CORONA system

13e-entry Vehicle, Camera, Sub-structure, Agezta, Zooster. STC. e.nd

rtecovery Forces). This will be C-aneral Greer's responsibility. in

addition, consolidation of the CIA functions under Mr. Crowley. reporting

.iirectly to General Greer, will insure fully effective application of CIA

resources.

-.1e ...area that your proposed plan for realignment of management centre::, of the CORONA program describes a positive step that we should

take without delay.

:Vith your concurrence, the {-S, DMA° will meet with Mr. Crowley -.tad

Cenral Greer and inmate with them preparation of detailed arranzetnent.....

Sincerely,

Cyrus R. Vance

The I:onorable John A. McCone

rArector of Central Intelligence

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