i 

r 

· I - i 

i 

r-----

TOP SECRET 

APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

...,!;;\o#IL..I'\.;;,,,IFIED BY: C/IART 

ECLASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON 25. D.C. 

REPLVTO 

ATrNOF: AFCIN 

SUBJECT: "iSt-National Reconnai.'sance Office 24 January 1963 

TO: Secretary Zuckert and General LeMay "-

1. References 

a. DOD Directive TSSI05. 23, 8ame subject; 14 JUDe 1962~ 

b. Specially controlled documents supporting 'reference (a). 

2. The attachment depicts NRO organizational and functional relationships; 

the graphic portrayal is necessarily oversimplified. The charter documents referenced above are complicated and spell out various channels for 

technical management, financial management, 8ecurity, operations, format, 

and engineering analysis; most of the complexity comes from wording which 

preserves CIA prerogatives as Executive Agent under NRO for programs 

CIA was managing at the time of the agreement. 

3. The key features: 

a. The National Reconnaissance Program' (NRP) includes all overt and 

covert satellite and air vehicle overflight projects for intelligence, geodesy 

and mapping photography, and electronic signal collection. 

b. Director NRO answers directly to SecDef and DCI for management 

and conduct of the NRP. 

c. The NRO is to respond to -- and only to -- photo and elint collection 

requirements established by the U. S. Intelligence Board (USIB). (The 

COMOR - Committee on Overhead Reconnaisaance - is a subpanel of USIB 

which staffs requirements for USIB approval.) 

d. NRO has mi88ion scheduling responsibility for all NRP efforts but 

muat coordinate with CIA on "covert projects for which it is Executive Agent. " 

e. The Deputy Director (Research) of CIA is reaponsible for CIA '8 participation in the agreement. (Dr. Herbert (Pete) Scoville i8 the incumbent. ) 

4. A few personal observations may be of use: 

rep SfGRET 
i 

r 

T 

, 

i 

I 

I 

i () 

NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

DECLASSIFIED BY: CllART 

DECLASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 

a. An officer in NRO. formerly in AFCIN. advises me that six months 

were spent gettinl Pentagon facilities ready to accommodate operational 

elements of CIA which- were to be melded into the NRO staff; ten day. alo 

CIA balked at making the move aa acheduled. 

b. As I review the charter it seeml clear that Mr. McCone hal two --

possibly three -- votes to Mr. McNamara'a one. The DCI share. with 

SecDef direct aupervisory authority; wearing hi. CIA hat. he has control 

through the various provisos requiring coordination with CIA; -and wearing -__ 

his hat as USIB Chairman he can effectively control establishment of 

requirements and prioritiea. 

c. Many of the programs you mentioned this -morning - and explicitly 

the "0" program - are under CIA as Executive Agent. This cuts NRO out _ 

of direct supervision of technical management, funding, and engineering 

analysis -- and requires NRO to get CIA coordination even on mission 

scheduling. 

d. In my opinion. the horse lot out of the barn from a USAF viewpoint 

when the charter and agreements of May-June 196Z superseded the arrangements of September 1961.· The latter bad clearly stipulated use of the 

USAF both as management and operational Executive Agent for DOD; the 

new. charter doesn't even mention the USAF. In fact. the more I ltudy the 

1962 documents the more I think DOD itaelf ended up aplittin, with CIA 

the proverbial horae-and- rabbit stew while agreeing to furnish the horse. 

~R·~r"'vPEISER 1 Atch 

Major General, USAF Organizational Chart~ 

Assistant Chief of Staff. Intelligence 

c, 
. 'j>~!;f:'~!\'~'~"~' , .... ,. . •.. ~. -). 

~.,':.:;~'!'!.~'.,~';~' 

. .$ ... "i*' .:' 

:~:, . I . «.> .. 

· ... :·(Otl ,._---------1 .~~. '·/'1 

chairs US ,'B) 

, ~ 

Day-to-day 

D! RECTOR ~ ___ J~---- - -Intelligence. N'RO Support _ .... 

"c~vlI.mended ' , ." .~. I ~ NRO ;;,Sta!f. I L ______ Coordination- ...--_ u~r~ments (Liaison)., , ., , : anti ~" · ef' fill' 

t; rlor lies , " ., ';.~, I ",' 

'eOMOR' 

( Committee on 

Overhead Reece) 

'; ~ 

,,,j 

--~.--.. -.. -. 

. '-... 

re 

Peripheral Reece 

I programll Program Program 

Director Director Director 

A 'B C 

~ _M._._ . ___ . __ . 

~ 

" 

.:. 

W 

tn 

c( 

WI- ido:: 

o::~ 

o::o~ 0 .... :: 

u. >- Zi •. , ealO:; 

wee 

~!!:!!!:! ... E) 0:: u. u., 

a.. en u,;: a..tn(ll· 

c( :5 3'; 

000·: 

0:: w w. 

zeo . 

. .1" .~.:. 

0 

.._---------". . I 

l