.. 24 

USCIB: 9.3/32 

11 March 1955 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE MEM§ERS OF USCIB: 

Subject: Master Requirements List. 

Reference: USCIB 9.3/30 of 4 March 1955. 

1. It had been the intention of the Acting Chairman of the Board 

to propose the adoption of the enclosure herewith in lieu of TAB A to the 

reference had time permitted discussion of the latter at the ll3th 

Meeting of USCIB. 

2. Accordingly, the enclosure is circulated for information. 

3. On the assumption that USCIB would have directed USCIBEC to 

continue its consideration of subject problem and unless a Member of the 

Board should indicate an objection to such action, the Executive Secretary 

'Will include the enclosure in the continuing deliberations of USCIBEC 

and will submit a further progress report at the next regular meeting of 

the Board. 

4. Attention is invited to the Reconnnendation under paragraph .3b. 

of the enclosure. The Acting Chairman did not intend to convey the 

impression that further steps by USGIB in implementing the plan should 

await IAO app+oval of the USGIB GCMINT Requirements List. Quite the 

contrary, he feels that the action to seek IAC approval of that list 

should run concurrently with the additional steps being ta.ken within 

USCIB to present the Director, NSA with the information he needs to 

f orm.ulate an Implementing Plan. If present wording of the enclosure 

conveys the wrong impression on this point action to alter that wording 

would create no problem. 

Enclosure 

a/s. 

USOIB: 9,3/32 

Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 04-01-2014 pursuant to E. 0. 1352B 

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DRAFT 

1. The Executive Committee is of the opinion that the Cc.MINT 

Requirements List should meet the five criteria listed below in order 

to be satisfactory as basic guidance from the Board to the Director, NSA: 

a. It should be based on, and be in consonance with, the most 

recent expression of National Intelligence Objectives. 

b. It should ee~ ~~~ segregate requirements for inf'ormation 

whioh are beyond, or inappropriate to, CavIINT1 s potential capability to 

produce from those which are within its capabilities. 

c. It should not include requirements for information for 

which Intelligence needs can be reasonably satisfied by other sources. 

d. It should include requirements for information which could 

be obtained from COMINT which is needed to complement, supplement, or 

corroborate that from other sources. 

e. It should indicate the relative importance attached to the CC.Mil~T-produced information pertinent to each requirement, by division 

of the List into categories of OCMINT priority. 

f. It must be quickly and flexibly responsive to changes in 

National Intelligence ~~emeB~e ,Qbjectives. 

2. To produce a GCl4INT Requirements List whioh would meet the 

criteria listed, several operations must be performed. Starting with an 

authoritative list of Priority National Intelligence Objectives, these 

successive steps are involved. 

:S.r ..€!... Integrating in~e ~k~e all Departmental Intelligence requirements. 

eT ll.. Eliminating iPem -t;ftie ~ie~ those requirements which can be 

fulfilled to the satisfaction of the Intelligence .Agencies by other than 

COi!INT sources of information. 

ST .£.. Evaluating the potential of CCMINT as a source of information 

in satis£ying each remaining item, and eliminating those which are beyond 

the capability of or inappropriate for C()1INT to satisfy or which do not 

serve to complement, supplement, or corroborate other sources of information. 

I 

eT .si... Dividing the resultant list into categories of relative 

importance in order to indicate the priority which the Director, NSA 

should accord to each. 

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3. The Executive Committee has considered the several ways in which 

the above-listed steps could be accomplished, and makes the recommendations 

indicated after the discussion in the following sub-paragraphs. 

a. To produce a list of »&triefta}:-ilttre1:l-igenee COHINT Requirements 

from the current list of Priority National Intelligence Objectives (DCID 4/4 

of 14 Dec 54) requires that some provision be made for requirements in 

support of non-priority National Intelligence Objectives, which are defined 

implicitly in DCID 4/4 as those which do not "warrant priority in relation 

to normal coverage." If this can be done without expending the time.: 

consum:i.ng effort involved in spelling out a list of the non-priority 

objectives themselves, it would appear profitable to adopt such a course. 

Recommendation: USCIB stipulate, in the carrying out of the 

succeeding steps in this process, that any requirement for National o~ 

Departmental Intelligence which does not clearly and directly relate to 

one of the Priority National Intelligence Objectives be considered to 

rela.te to a non-priority objective. 

b. The Committee feels that ideally an authoritative translation 

of DCID 4/4 into Priority National Intelligence Requirements should be made 

by a suitable body at the direction of the Director of Central Intelligence 

in collaboration with the IAC ,11gencies. However, this ha.s not yet been 

done, and, since there are other means of accomplishing the desired end 

result, the Committee questions the need for delaying implementation of 

this plan until an authoritative list is available. The CIA member of 

USCIBEC is prepa.ring a doci..unent from which it is hoped e'l:left-&-t..P&B~~ 

a COMINT Requirements List can be ma.de. 

Recommendation: USCIB note that USCIBEC is preparing a draft of a-Na~~es&1:-~:e:te~~~eeaee-ie~~P9Hle:e:~e-~ie~-~e-ee-a~~e:eaea-as-;~B-G-te-t5li:e 

Pepe~T--;a~s-~Pa&~.,.-w&ea-eem~•e6ee-w~~~-ee-&ePWaPeee-~e-USCi~-iep 

e,~P~-ea-a-lilsse-,P&JB-WA~eA a CCX~INT Requirements List~ wi~~-ee-&ePi.¥9&. 

S&!!W!'Pe:B:tri!:,-7 It would be anticipated that USCIB would seek IAC approval 

ot the USCIB approved aP&,~-~&~ieae~-•a~e~~~~eaee COMINT Requirements List.Jo 

when completed. eat-Be~-e'-~~e-G~•~~-ie~~Pemea~s-~~-easea-'&AePee&r 

c. As the next steps iD. the process, it is necessary that He:~ie:e:~-~4,e~~i~eBM CCM.INT Requirements in support or non-priority 

National Intelligence Objectives be added to the list adopted as a result 

cf the preceding recommendation, and that any requirements for information 

needed for the production or Departmental Intelligence (NSCID #3 

paragraph d 1) be integrated with them. 

Reconunendation: USCIB request each IAC agency, through its USCIB 

member, to submit a list of its requirements which fall within these 

categories •.• •·w 

~ee8Jt'Bleftti&~~eft+-..ijgQ~~ee&-~fte-Q8S~~W~-~e-eemeifte-6heee 

±ie~e-~ft~e-8l't~:i:e~~-ee-~efi-4te-~-Pr~er~~-N&~~eftei-;ft~ei~~e 

ieEt~3:Peme:&t-&-I,!i:fi.-ibft-eMeP-'&e-ff:&aift-erH e;:,te:P&Y;~-e&l:!Me-*Ri-e~i§eMe 

Re~~Pem~&-~~&...,_ 

2 

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• I I • • E§k~pA5730 • 

d. In order to tailor this list to fit the potential capabilities of 

COMINT as a source, a body competent to assess the potentialities of all 

sources of information is needed. The individuals comprising this body must 

have in aggregate not only a thorough knowledge of the peculiarities of' any 

particular source of information, but also a thorough knowledge of the degree 

to which each source· may be expected to fulfill a given requirement. The 

Committee does not feel that it is necessary that this body be empowered 

to assign collection tasks to other sources than COMINT, or even to recommend which specific Non-COMINI' source{s) be utilized iB fulfillment of any 

requirement. Their task is primarily to compare COMINT versus all Non-COMINT, 

and determine those reqUirements for which COMINT is properly the primary, 

a complementary, a supplementary, or an inappropriate, source. 

Recommendation: tBCIB designate a committee of individuals having the 

specified competence, t~ ~eview-:t;fie~l-eeii!"ee-irN;e3:3:igeftee-Ret:tti!::PEHMtR4;e 

±>:i:B-'47-aee ensure tlyl.t. in the premiration of COMINI' reguirementij. steps are 

taken to: {l) eliminate therefrom all requirements which COMINI' has not a 

potential capability to satisfy or for which COMINT is not an appropriate 

information source; (2) eliminate therefrom all requirements which potentially are wholly within the capability of a Non-COMINT source to satisfy; · (3) indicate those requirements for which COMIIIT is not the primary informa.-

·tion source, but rather is used to complement, supplement, or corroborate 

information from other sources; and for each the degree to which COMINI' . information is needed for this purpose. 

e. The end product of the operation discussed in the preceding 

subparagraphs will be a list of ~ft:f;e%~eB~e COMINT Requirements properly 

assignable to COMINT as a source of information. They will be grouped into 

four categories of intelligence importance, in accordance with the categories 

of priority of the objectives to which they relate. Those for which COMINT 

is not the primary source of information will be identified, and for each 

of these the degree to which fulfillment is dependent upon COMINT-produced 

information will be indicated. In order to meet the specified criteria, 

those requirements for which COMINT is~ the primary information source 

should be evaluated and compared with the others, in order that each can 

be weighed in terms of the relative amount of COl1INT effort which is 

warranted on it, and that it can be then assigned, if necessary, a new 

category. At this point it may be desirable, or even necessary, to 

establish sub-categories of COMINI' importance within one or more of the 

four categories of intelligence importance. 

Recommendation: tBCIB designate tBCIBEC to carry out this operat~on. 

£. The final list should be authoritat~vely reviewed and approved 

before delivery to the Director, NSA, as basic guidance. 

3 
.. . .. .. ~7303 • 

Reconmendation: USCIB review, and approve the completed COMINT 

Requirements List. 

4. Provision must be made i'or changes in the COlUNT Requirements 

List which are necessitated by changes in the fundamentals from which this 

basic guidance is derived, and which will probably not occur at the same 

time as the recommended periodic revision. Such changes will be of the 

following types: 

. a. Changes in the IAC list of Priority National Intelligence 

Objectives, either in substance, such as addition of a new objective or 

deletion of an objective, or ooth; or in priority. 

b. e. "Crash" requirements - usually of an interim or temporary 

nature, which do not result from or in changes in Priority National 

Intelligence Objectives e~-4B-~e::l;ieBQ*-:i.a:l;e~:l:i.geftGe-R8Cf:~~ffleflil;e. 

Recommendation: USCIB approve all changes in the COMINT Requirements List necessitated by revision of the Priority National lntelligence 

Objectives 6!1-el;-Ne4;ie~-~ft.:(;;e~~igeRee~eGi-l&~eeeat6T of the nature 

described in sub-paragraphs ta) and lb) above •. 

Recommendation: Each USClB member lor his alternate) be required . to approve any 11 crash 11 requirement, of the nature described in sub-paragraph 

{c) above, which his agency imposes upon NSA, and concurrently submit this 

requirement to other USGIB members for apprcval. In stating such a 

requirement its priority in relation to the COHIHT Requirements List must 

be indicated, and, if possible, its probable duration. 

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