NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 1 July 1967 

SPECIAL HANDLING 

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING 

Dr. Flax's memorandum on Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program Management, dated 23 June 1967, revises the management structure of the MOL 

Program by bringing the covert portions of the program under the 

Director MOL. As directed in paragraph 5, "Management Responsibilities, 

Relations, and Procedures," of Dr. Flax's memorandum, the plan agreed to 

herein has been developed to maintain absolute security in the covert 

program. Actions to be taken during this restructuring of the MOL Program 

are designed to protect the fact that SAFSP has been associated with MOL 

and that the primary mission of the system is overhead reconnaissance. 

At present there are 20 people assigned to the 23 authorized manpower spaces allocated to the DORIAN Program Office, This 

office has been co-located with the MOL SPO but with no apparent 

association between the two. The majority of these people 

are well known in the Air Force and industry as SAFSP personnel. If 

were to be transferred en masse on 1 July to the MOL SPO, 

there would almost certainly be a compromise to the security of the 

DORIAN Program. TO preclude such a compromise, the transfer of people 

and manpower spaces will be accomplished in small increments during the 

coming fiscal year. A list of projected effective dates for personnel 

transfers is attached for planning purposes. Alterations to this list 

can be made on a mutually acceptable basis. 

First, those personnel actions which can be accomplished without 

drawing attention to changes within SAFSP or the MOL SPO will be 

accomplished on 1 July 1967. At present, only Lt Colonel Roy is not 

known to be associated with the DORIAN Program and he will be transferred 

immediately. In addition, two vacant manpower spaces assigned to SAFSP 

will be released to MOL on 1 July. These spaces include a Lt Colonel and 

a Captain. 

The second step to be taken in transitioning the DORIAN Program from 

SAFSP to MOL will involve the periodic transfer of 18 well known SUS? 

people to MOL during FY 1968. This transfer, which will be carried out 

in groups of three or four people each quarter, will be designed to draw 

little or no attention to the personnel changes within SAFSP. During 

the year of transition, it will appear that the personnel involved and 

their manpower spaces are remaining within SAFSP until each individual 

is openly assigned to MOL. TO the outside world, there will be no program 

changes evident. In reality, these 18 people will be detailed full time 

to the MOL SPO beginning 1 July 1967; they will be responsible to the 

Deputy Program Director and their OERs and civilian ratings and indorsements will be prepared within the SPO, but to maintain the cover they will 

be signed in SAFSP. Travel performed in support of the DORIAN Program 

will be under TDY orders prepared by SAFSP at the request of the Deputy 

Director MOL until such time that an traveler is overtly reassigned 

to MOL. SAFSP travel funds will be cited in the TDY orders from resources 

provided from the NRO. 

DORIAN -SEGRET--- 

SPECIAL HANDLING 
HN L. TIN, 

Brigadier General, USAF 

Director SAFSP 

NROAPPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

The SAFSP personnel included in this year long transition and their 

respective public transfer dates are listed in Attachment 1. Colonel 

Coleman who is chief of DORIAN procurement. and Colonel Knolle who 

is chief of the DORIAN Program Office, will remain in SAFSP until 

the summer of 1968. These two officers are scheduled for reassignment 

at that time in accordance with the currently approved control list. 

The retention of these two officers in SAFSP until the completion of 

their tours is based on the security consideration that they are the heads 

of their respective offices and their transfers would pose a greater 

security risk. When they are reported for their normal rotations, manpower spaces will be transferred to MOL for recruitment action by the MOL 

SPO. Both Colonel Coleman and Colonel Knolle will be directly responsible 

to the Deputy Director MOL from 1 July 1967. Their OER's and indorsements 

will be prepared in the MOL SPO. However, they will appear to be an SAFSP 

resource until transferred from the Los Angeles Air Force Station. Their 

OER's will be signed in SAFSP to maintain the cover. 

The steps outlined in this memorandum are designed to execute the 

MOL/DORIAN Program realignment with minimum disruption to the program. 

At the same time, the security cover for the covert portions of the 

program will be maintained. Changes will be made discreetly in•order to 

call as little attention as possible to either SAFSP or the MOL Program. 

DORIAN Program personnel will continue to manage the covert program; 

however, they will come under the direction of the Deputy Director MOL 

and their activities will be quietly integrated into the main MOL management structure. Personnel losses within SAFSP will be fragmentary and, until 

physically transferred to MOL, DORIAN personnel will retain their SAFSP 

identity. 

When this memorandum is approved it will be directive upon all 

and MOL personnel. 

APPROVED: 

JOSEPH S. BLEINAIER 

Major General, USAF 

Deputy Director MOL 

2 

DORIAN SECRET 

SPECIAL HANDLING 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

SPECIAL HANDLING 

Projected Effective Dates for Personnel Transfers: 

1 July 1967: 

Lt Col Roy, Robert W. 

Lt Col 2916 VACANT 

Capt 2895B VACANT 

FR22332 

WB73 2306 o468 

wm73 2306 2321 

1 October 1967: 

Lt Col Benschine, Edward, Jr. FR36932 

Mai Eskridge, Richard FR45144 

Maj Racht, Gerald E. FR31068 

Capt Baty, Richard S. FR72594 

Capt Dumond, David L. FR78360 

GS-13 Lampert, Harry L. 

GS-5 Yee, Esther 

1 January 1968: 

Lt Col Marker, Herbert J. FV702309 

Lt Col Wallace, John T. FR18567 

Capt MacNab, Forrest W. FR67285 

Capt Morris, Jon P. FR78044 

GS-5 Klein, Loretta 

GS-4- Simpson, Mary 

1 April 1968: 

Lt Col Stange, LaVerne G. FR20362 

Maj Burke, Robert F. FR51157 

Maj Trainer, Jerry D. FR57508 

GS-5 Gilchrist, Laura 

GS-4 Kachevas, Pam 

(Note: Manpower authorizations will be identified at time of 

transfer of each incumbent.) 

Attachment 1 

DORIAN --SEGET-- 

SPECIAL HANDLING