REF ID:A57648 s ... ,.. ....... Jll!Betl\G 1 e 

S&QRE.P YaSa B'!ES 0Nli¥ 

SUBJECT NUMBER 

USCIB: 2S.l/7 Item 2 of' the Agenda for the 115th Meeting of' USCIB, 

held on 20 May 1955. 

Subject: Evaluation of' Plan ADVANCER (USCIB 28.1/6). 

The ACTING CHAIRMAN (General Cabell), noting that this matter had 

been placed on the agenda by the CIA member, asked if Mr. Sheldon 

wished to comment further upon the report. 

MR. SHELDON said that he had no connnents; however, he would like 

to amend the report in the following manner: 

1. On page 1, last paragraph, change the final period to a 

semicolon and add the following statement "however, this 

finding is not a definitive answer to the question." 

2. On page 5, 4th complete paragraph, change the period 

after the final word ( 11purposes") to a semicolon afld add 

"however, this finding is not a def'initi ve answer to the 

question. 11 

The above amendments were approved. 

GENERAL ERSKINE then ref erred to recommendation 11b11 in paragraph 9 

of the covering memorandum submitted by the CIA member (enclosure with 

USCIB 2S.l/6) and suggested that it be amended to read as follows: 

The CHAIR then recommended that the final phrase of General 

Erskine's amendment ( 11 ••• under the general coordination of USCIB11 ) be 

changed to read " ••• but with USCIB continuing to act as the central 

coordinating body." 

This recommendation was accepted. 

In view of this decision, Mr. Sheldon agreed to withdraw recommendation "c" on page 3 of the covering memorandum. 

USCIB: 2B.l/7 - 4 -

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Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 10-21-2014 pursuant to E.O. 1352e 
sBem!ff - a.s. E!EB em.¥ 

USCIB: 28.1/7 

~,f P\ ... IJ> : A5 7 6 4 ~ cnr.J e 

In response to the Chair's invitation :for :further comments, GENERAL 

CANINE raised questions concerning the purpose of continuing the 

Exercise, and the intended disposition of knowledge obtained. through its 

operation. He acknowledged that CIA has done a "workmanlike job" with 

regard to the four stations concerned, but said that he is not clear on 

what it is hoped to accomplish by continuation of the project. 

MR. ARMSTRONG traced the background of the project, explaining that 

the original proposal had been made by his Department in an effort to 

obtain assistance for the VOA program. He recalled that after considerable discussion in USCIB there was a compromise resulting in the 

authorization of a pilot operation under CIA auspices. He continued. by 

stating that the original objective has almost been lost sight of, and OGA 

that the project must now be evaluated in light of its value to other 

U.S. communications activities rather than to the VOA. 

The ACTING CHAIRMAN said that the principal use of the operation 

today is to serve our communications managers. 

GENERAL CANINE, agreeing with the Chair, said that action taken 

should, in his opinion, be based fundamentally on our intelligence interests. · 

The ACTING CHAIRMAN said that he felt reasonably sure that if the 

communications authorities of the Government were to agree unanimously 

that there is no further requirement for this type of information the 

Department of Defense would be glad to abandon the activity. 

GENERAL CANINE said that he thought it incumbent upon the Board to 

recognize, in its findings and recommendations, that the ADV.ANGER progrmn 

has swerved considerably from its original concept and now represents an 

effort akin to Weapons Systems Evaluation. 

CAPTAIN TAYLOR reviewed the Board's position in light of the 

original request by the Secretary of Defense, pointing out that USCIB had 

been requested to advise the Secretary of the results of the pilot 

operation and in the light of these results, convey its views on implementation of ADVANCER. It was his belief that the Board should now 

respond to this original request, and that the report before the Board is 

appropriate for this purpose. 

USCIB: 2S.l/? - 5 - (Corrected page) 

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Eo 3. 3 I h I I 2 I :melt'M' - tJ. s 0 ETffi emlt PL 86-36/50 USC 3605 

USCIB: 28.1/7 

GENERAL CANINE was of the opinion that the report is not responsive 

to the original question raised by the Department of State; he added,-

however, that we may now be relieved or that responsibility. 

CAPTAIN TAYLOR, commenting that this is probably true, explained 

that the original emphasis of the program was lost be.fore the Secretary 

of Defense became actively involved. 

GENERAL CANINE, reiterating his view that the Department o.f Stat·e 

is entitled to satisfaction, asked Mr. Armstrong if his Department would 

be satisfied with the proposed action. 

MR. ARMSTRONG replied that his Department is incapable of being 

satisfied because the original mission was incapable of fulfillment 

under present technical capabilities. He said that he considers the 

report an excellent job, and added his opinion that there remains a 

great deal further to be done in this field. 

G~ERAL ERSKINE said that he is not convinced that al lis not, 

or cannot be, used for transmission of communications and sugges ed that. 

the program be continued until this point can be cleared up. . The CHAIR then raised the question of assumption of the ADVANCER 

responsibility by the Department of Defense and asked when the trans.fer 

of such responsibility from CIA should be made. He suggested that a 

change-over date of 1 January 1956 be agreed, with the understanding 

that the transfer would be phased in advance to permit the Department of 

Defense to take over completely on that date. He explained that CIA is 

willing to continue beyond 1 January 1956 if necessary; however, it 

would be of great assistance to be able to look to that date to complete 

phasing out the program. 

In the absence of objection to this arrangement it was agreed that 

the details would be worked out in an exchange of letters between the 

CIA and the Department of Defense. 

DECISION: (20 May 1955) USCIB agreed to: 

(1) Note the CIA report on the ADVANCER/PILor operation as amended 

at this meeting. 

(2) Forward the re ort to the Secreta of Defense with its recommendation that 

'-----...,,....,,..,,..,,..,..........,,,.-----! with the Department of Defense taking over 

responsibility for such ADVANCER activity as is continued in the future, 

but with USCIB continuing to act as the central coordinating body. 

USCIB: 2S.l/7 - 6 -

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