DIGEST OF THE DIRECTOR'S 

STAFF CONFERENCE 

1 MARCH 1955 

TO: Chiefs of Off!ces and Staff Divisions 

FROM: Deputy Chief of Staff/Administration 

1. DCS/A 

Reminded the Staff ~nd Division Chiefs that we are only slightly 

more than half way through our Red Cross Drive. Some units have done 

exceptionally well; others are lagging and will n~ed an energetic finish 

if we are to meet our goal. To date, standings a.re as follows: 

P/P completed its goal 

SCHOOL " " II 

PERS 1/4 of assigned goal 

TNG 1/2 " 

LOG 1/3 II 

R/D 1/4+ II 

COMSEC 1/3+- " 

LIB l/4. JI 

SEC l/5 II 

PROD 1/2 II 

Fort Meade l/2 II 

PROD and Fort Meade are doing an exceptionally fiqe job. Those units that 

a.re of grave concern are R/D, COMSEC, AG, COM. R./D and COMSEC have large 

numbers of personnel and must meet their assigned· quotas if our drive is to 

be successful. During this week, all personnel will have a pay day. On 

28 February, the Army and Navy had a pay day. 3 March will be pay day for 

all Civilian personnel; 4 March will be pay day for all Air Force personnel. 

irI!IS IS THE CRITICAL WEEK. Your active personal participation with your 

Drive Captains and Keymen will make this a successful drive. 

Enlisted personnel have been advised that they will be asked to coa~ribute at their place of work only, and not at their barracks. 

2. DD/PROD 

a. Concerning the Red Cross Drive, PROD is making a fine showing 

with 731 contributions to date, averaging $2.54 per person contributing. 

With additional pay days this week, it is felt that PROD will go well over 

the quota established. 

b. Expressed concern with present t~lephone facilities between 

AHS and Fort Meade. The results of a recent study indicate that an ave~age 

delay of three to four hours is experienced. 

Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 05-27-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 

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3 • LOO ISTICS 

Announced a Supply Conference for RPO's and certain other supply 

personnel will be conducted 7 and 8 March: 

7 March, NSS, Room 202, Building 2, 1030 hours 

8 M'lrch, AHS, Boom ll7, HQ Building, 1030 hours 

.... 

"We would appreciate the cognizance of the Starr here eo that the appropriate 

level people will nttend this conference." 

4. TRAINING 

Announced that the Agency has been awarded one space for the 

Industrial War College on n pcrm~ncnt basie and one apace on a competitive 

basis. 

5. SUPPORT GROUP 

Announced that ~dditionnl personnel have been acquired for custodial 

services. Nineteen custodial personnel are now working at Fort Meade on 

the cleaning force. 

5. DIR~C'l'OR 

"I would like to revc>rt to our position of three years ago. In 

order to get ihings rolling the way I desired, we centralized a good many 

responsibilities by removing these responsibilities from the outlyin~ 

'bureau chiefs.' This was not an unusual procedmre. Organizo.tional·wise, 

when you have something that you nre pnrticuln.rly interested in, the fastest 

way to get it rolling is to take it under your own wing where you can 

support it by staffing it. 

''We took over n tremendous number of things hare in the front 

office in order to get them going. Soma of these things we have given 

back; further decentralization will follow. We are trying to decentrallze 

our COMINT operations world wide. I am no great believer in centraliza~ion 

for centralization's sake. I believe vary deeply that we must have a 

combination of centralization o.nd decentralization based on a pure efficiency 

yardstick. 

"I am not altogethP.r happy with some of these things. By and lar~e, 

operations won't run of their own nccord. Thay are run by individuals 

and you a.re rcaponsible for keeping your finger on the pulse of your 

operations. 

"Now we have some ro.ther definite long-range plans, and in a 

good deal of this decentralization, ns I have· said, some of our experiences 

have not been too happy. One of the reasons that I hnve these Tuesday 

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morning.conferences i~ t9 indoctrinate each an~ every one of you with my 

pai'ticula.r philosophy of management.·. I am,'to a certain.extent, a 

per'rect:i.onist. I·a.m also a.realist:, and I arp. willing to ,a.gree.·tha.t'.si,nce 

we hav~ to carry out our operations with individuals we orten·sattle rot 

something 3:-ess than .. perfection. 

''When we move into,oU.r new building, we are• going to be involved 

in a good deal more decentralization; however,, I will not tolerate any . reduction in efficiency, This me~ns,that a:considerdblc number of 'bureau 

heads' must take an active interest in a good many more thinsa'thnn.some 

of 'yau'·,arc'"taldng now. ·We may have to ceme buck !to some more centrs.l:lzed' 

methodology; however, I·don't want to do that; ·Whether or not w~ can do 

this decentralization will depend on whether,or.not we can indoctrinate 

our 'bureau chiefs ' o.nd I uni ta.lking a.bout th(~ h1era.rchy with the philoaophy 

of operations, which is a remoonable facsimile of· who.t I o.m lia.lking a.bout 

here in this room. 

"A tl'emendoua amount of our mano.gamcnt controls could go back to 

Bame of the 'bureaus •. ' I would like to 'send some of' thee~ controls back, 

but I don't hnve any intention or sen11ing them back without more than . reasonable assura.ncc they will work. The only wn.y I can tell the diff,erence 

between· two operations, one centrnlizccl and tho other decentralized·,· is to. ~valuate •. The man down the chain of command must.be able to say 'No' and 

the man 'above him must be nble to say. 'No' with the same· amount of finesse, 

but still so..Y 'No.' If you can do this, you a.re. ready. One of t.he easiest 

things to say is 'Yes,' You learn in executive development to say 'No' 

and make.the guy like it, but to any 'No' whether he likes it or not. I see 

.some evidence of 'thi's ·around here but you nt.i.11 h1we a long way to go." 

"We deal with individua.ls, no two ere o.hke; some develop rapidly, 

others at a slower pace. .I think we have a tcndebcy to be over-patient ' I 

with those who are not capable. ·some people will develop ro.pfdly; some 

slowly, but everyone ha.s his time. Everyone is entitled to his chance if 

you have.the time· to give him. Some or ua will hold' on to an individual 

long after we a.re convinced he i's not the m.a.n ror the Job. This is a 

tendency of all executives who have any concern fot their own ability to 

train subordinates. 

"No one ha.s e.n a pr:f.ori right to continue to work in· a specific 

place. This is not a ne"; PldloscVJ'.1'1 'lf'1 th. nic. I huve called this to your 

attention many times and shall con~inuc to dG so until I um batisfied . with your ro.te of improvement. There are peri0<1s ~n 1'e cii'ift n.l.brfg far 

months without reassigning or terminating people. I see some improvement, 

but it's far too little. You need more 'iron' in your souls. to help you 

make up your minds. 

"We operate a world-wide organization; the first echelons of 

both sides of our mission are a good long way from us. Too often we make 

decisions here based on what~ would like without giving theoretical 

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consideration to how these will affect the over-all operation. Having 

come up through the military yourselves, you should make a very definits 

point of educating yourselves and put yourselves in the position of the 

man who has to carry out your instructions. You, who know the problems, 

must educate those who are unfamiliar with the problems. Now I am very 

concerned with this Roint. We very often find ourselves in difficulty 

with the Services; this is our fault. It is a result of our inability 

01' cotnplete failure to place ourselves in the position of the people \fll~ 

must carry out orders. 

"! shall continue to tell you 'how' when and Where I think the . 'how is necessary for interrelated operations. In such operations that 

have a bearing on other operations, I think we can very largely leave the 

1how' to the fellow 1'Tho is going to do the job." 

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