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THE NRO STAFF 

-fStNATIONAl RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

MEMORANDUM FOR MR. PLUMMER 

SUBJECT: Phase-out of Program D 

_14 0 

6 June 1974 

The memorandum at the right for the Chief of Staff 

outlines the phase-out of Program D. It cites your desires 

for the continuation of support to the NRO and the specialized management of the U-2 and SR-71 programs and solicits 

the Chief's thoughts. 

I envision the process as proceeding in a step-wise 

fashion. Following an Air Force acceptance of the memorandum in principle an initial implementation step would be to 

transmit BYEMAN letters signed by the Chief of Staff to the 

Commanders of SAC, AFLC, 1'1.AC and AFSC. These letters would 

outline the scope of the phase-out and express the need for 

continued support of the NRO and the U-2/SR-71 programs 

through the revised management scheme. Concurrently, normally 

classified correspondence relating to the U-2/SR-71 realignment would be signed to the various commanders praising the 

support given to AF/IGJ and requesting continued support. 

Underlying the correspondence would be the theme that the 

various activities conducted by AF/IGJ for the NRO and the 

Air Force will continue as they have in the past, but under 

different authorities. 

The transition phase should be accomplished over a 

limited period of time. This period would permit the various 

relationships to be stabilized both within the NRO and the 

Air Force for the required levels of support. In addition, 

the time would be used for assuring a smooth transition of 

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the financial activities associated with the phase-out of 

OSA as well as the realignment of Program D. I suggest the 

earlier date for completion of the phase-out and transfer of 

functions be October 1, 1974 and the latest date January 1, 

1975. 

I have attached comments from Colonel Bailey, 

General Bradburn, and Les Dirks. 

' J Brigadier General, USAF 

Attachments 

1. Col Bailey's comments 

2. I I comments 

3. Request to Brad & Dirks (WHIG 0674) 

4. Brad's answer (CHARGE 4228) 

5. Dirks' answer (PILOT 8321) 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE-AIR FORCE 

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

7 June 1974 

MEMORANDUM FOR LT COL COYLE 

SUBJECT: Realignment of NRO Program D 

Reco:;:;:nnend the following changes be incorporated into 

the Memo for CSAF. 

Revise paragraph 4 as follows: 

Colonel Bernard L. Bailey, the Director of NRO Program 

D, also has a second, and openly acknowledged, job title as 

head of AF/IGJ on the Air Staff. In this capacity he reports 

directly to me as the Under Secretary of the Air Force. AF/IGJ 

provides specialized management of the Air Force U-2 and SR-71 

programs and is designated officially the OPR for the Air Force 

U-2 and SR-71 programs. Special Air Staff reviews are conducted for both the U-2 and SR-71 with respect to programming 

and budgeting. These reviews are tailored along the same line 

as the specialized management structure which assures rapid 

response and a high degree of flexibility from both weapon 

systems. In support of these two specialized management efforts 

is a U-2 depot at Robins Air Force Base which has 100 people 

assigned and an SR-71 ~---------------~which has 

200 people assigned. Both of these depots are administratively 

assigned to AFLC; however, they fall under the direct management responsibility of AF/IGJ. 

Revise paragraph 7 as follows: 

As far as realignment of responsibilities and management 

of the U-2 and SR-71, it is clear that special management 

arrangements have been advantageous and their retention .:i..s- ·' • -'.'' 

necessary if these systems retain their role in national crisis 

management and intelligence collection. However, I would prefer 

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that the direct reporting responsibility be changed from 

the Office of Under Secretary. The present arrangement 

under AF/IG has been working very satisfactorily, however, 

you may want to consider other arrangements. To assure a 

responsive system and retain the specialized management concept it is essential any realignment be at the senior Air 

Force office level. 

In addition to the two paragraph changes recommended 

above the following proposal relative to Area 51 support is 

submitted: 

Security interface with the DoD for logis :cs and ajrlift 

activities for CIA programs includes support o~ and 

the AFSC Have Glib projects. Lince NRO present=y nas no specific 

interest or programs involving I recommend this portion 

of support be transferred from the NRL denot Jo the SR-71 depot. 

The majority of support and effort at~---~is for Air Force 

efforts, i.e., U-2, SR-71, and Have Glib. With the advent of 

AFCOR and the amount of Air Force interest inl I it would 

appear more feasible to transfer responsibility ofl Ito 

the Air Force special projects office along with the U-2 and 

SR-71. Presently, Air Force support tol lis averaging 

over 2.SM annually. The specialized management structure and 

responsibility could be transferred intact with the realignment. AF/IGJ would continue to interface with the CIA and AFSC 

with respect to support of 

., "-:~'-- ·:-

L. BA LEY 

Colonel, USAF 

Director, Program D 

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6 June 74 

Comments on Proposed Memorandum for the Chief of Staff Re Realignment 

of NRO Program D 

1. The opening paragraph has a planning assumption which is not 

presently factual. CIA has no specific date yet established for an 

actual transfer, and is relying on 11no specific agreements with the Chinese, 

a new ambassafor, etc." as reasons for delays. As of 1 July 74, the 

budgeting and funding responsibility will transfer, and Mr. Duckett has 

recently asked that the contracting be transferred, but in the meant:i.me 

CIA has requested six: months of FY 1975 funding for Idealist support (the 

four aircraft involved) from Air Staff funds, which indicates CIA planning 

to continue with U-2 operations beyond 1 July, and that when a transfer 

date is set, there will be months of effort involved. I suggest that 

"On July 1, 1974" be deleted, and "during FY 1975 11 be substituted, and 

that the later "program" management be changed to "budgeting/frmding 11 

management. 

2. With respect to para. 2, Mr. Plwmner said that NRO Staff should 7 

be in small letter "staff. rr Suggest also wording changes from "I have 7, 1 • , \ ·' 

decided Hrn 11 to "I am considering elimination of Program D as an NRO entity. 11 

with similar modifications to succeeding phrases. Also, part of the I I 

~------~supports aircraft and drone considerations, which shouJ.d be 

moved out if a transfer is to be effected, and also provides some NSA support, 

so the statement as a total depot entity is not factually correct as supporting 

the NRP. 

3. Re para. 3, while Attachment 1 is supposedly intended to keep the 

Air Staff paying for airlift for satellite support, it would not be long 

before the Air Staff uncovers this, and insists that we pay our own ~ay, 

at about $1M per year, plus other normal Air Force support. I estimate we \ 

could be faced with $3 to $4 million additional costs. 

4. Re para. 5, add a sentence "These responsibilities will be financed c 1<-

entirely by the Air Force starting in FY 1975. 11 

5. Not addressed in the memo, but certainly to be considered, are 

the present responsibilities of Director D for such areas as Oxcart/ . 1 ,.., t· 1 

a storage,I !sharing, fuel support thru a local detachment "t,i' •·3 J•· t • 

etc. As In ve said before, sunnnary tables should be developed, " 

c SUillllla.rize each of Director D1 s present responsibilities, with columns ,:', 

for Budgeting/Funding, Contracting, Audit, Logistics Support, Operations, '. 

etc., and another chart or two that indicates what would happen to each 

under reorganization arrangements. Another facet is the :imminent initial 

fund approvals for FY 1975, presently directed to Director Dor IGJ (for 

U-2 1s), early contractual actions for Imaging Radar, early instructions 

to the depots for FY 1975 support, etc., which could be changed significantly 

by reorganization. In view of all the sort-outs necessary to move logically, 

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I suggest an objective date of 1 July 76 (tieing in to fiscal years) for 

effecting reorganizational changes, with concentrated planning and establishment of a firm Idealist aircraft transfer date to be established shortly. 

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