• REF ID:A67154 • HEADQUARTERS 

ARMY SECURITY AGENCY 

WASHINGTON 25, D. C. 

WDGSS-14 18 March 1946 

SUBJECT: Personnel Board 

TO: Acting Chief 

Army Security Agency 

1. In reviewing the problem of setting up a Personnel 

Board, I have studied the file of the old Personnel Control 

Committee, of which I was a member. One of the chief difficulties encountered by that committee was the lack of proper 

representation from the operating divisions. Another was 

its lack of facilities to study any particular problem. A 

rather extensive paper was prepared on this subject by the 

committee and was presented before an ASA Staff meeting (See 

Tab A). As a result, the committee as constituted was dissolved, and another committee composed of the Assistant 

Commandant, Control Officer, and Chief, Personnel and Training Division was set up (See para. 1 or Tab B). The newly constituted committee never functioned as such, but papers 

·were routed to each member. Matters dealt with were primarily those of allocating bodies where needed moat. It is believed 

that the Personnel Control Committee has never been formally disbanded. 

2. In the minutes of the Intelligence Division Executive 

Committee meeting for 28 February 1946 (see para. 4g of Tab C), 

there is given a rather complete view of the proposed Board 

from that Division's standpoint. 

3. Taking all these factors into consideration, I have 

drawn up a tentative draft of an order setting up such a 

Board, which should be able to handle anything in the way of 

a personnel policy or problem. It will have the power and 

prestige necessary, and it can provide the working groups for 

whatever studies are needed either from the list of alternates 

or from the Personnel sections in the branches or divisions 

concerned. The Director of Conununications Research will be 

glad to serve the.connnittee in any way desirable. 

4. The tentative order follows: 

@'pproved for Release by NSA on 04-04-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 

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"l. An ASA Personnel Review Board is hereby established 

which will consist of the following members: 

Assistant Chief, Operations (Chairman) 

Chief, Intelligence Division 

Chief, Research & Development Division 

Chief, Security Division 

Chief, Personnel Branch 

Chief, Personnel Section, ASA Staff 

Each member will appoint a regularly designated alternate who 

will be empowered to act in his absence. 

2. The functions of the Board are as follows: 

a. It will review any personnel problem properly referred to it by the Comm.anding General, Army Security Agency, 

or by an~ member of the Board, with a view to establishing equitable and uniform persopnel procurement, allocation, promo- tion, and separation policies throughout the Agency. 

b. The results of its deliberations will be prepared in the form of recommendations to the Commanding General, Army Security Agency. 

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3. The Personnel Control Committee set up by Office 

Orders No. 27, 25 November.1944,, is hereby dissolved. 11 

i 5. It is requested yhat the attached Tabs A, B, and C 

be returned to this office: for file. 

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REF ID:A67154 

AfU!Y SERVICE P'ORCF..S 

S:l.gr.a.l Securit~r J\.2;enc;jr 

Was!'lington 25, De C., 20 February 1945 

MEUOH.ANDUll for Co1m1a.ndine; Officer, Signal Secu'l'"ity Ageno:.r 

Subject: Operation of .Persormel Control Co1mttee 

L CCSir,O Memorandum, Ser .ia.l !fll 9,, 17 Au1:.rust 1944, directed the 

es~ablishr.t~nt of Personnel Control Committeea in all Signal Corpo Field 

Installations havint~ a combined .r.rl.litary and civilian strength or over 

5C0-;. In accordance vrith this direcl:.ive, a Per:;onnel Coni;rol Cor.imittee 

consiatine or the Control O.i'tieer, the Chief, Personnel :md Training 

DivisionJo e.r1d l..rc frank :..e\1is, as tl-io civiliim representative, v1as 

appointed and met i'or th~ f'irst ti.m~ on 4 Sept.ember 1944" On 25 Noven1ber 

1944, per Office Orders ;,o27, lM.1.jor Philip King and l:r .. :M.:~rk Rhoads were 

appointed members of thi.3 Co~"'Ilittee vice Colo!1el Cook and ltro Lewis 

relieved,, 

2, The Sta.ndin.g Operating Procedure-Organization, dated 5 October 

1944 set5 forth in Section 91 paragraph Z9 the duties of the Personnel. 

Control Committeec Tllese are as follows: 

Ro Considers present alJocatlon and utilization of personne~ 

at Arlinc:t.on Hall Sta.tion1 in the Seco:;::.d Signal Service Battalion, and 

in the opera.tine branches., 

bo .H.eviews all changes :.n exist::.:ie; allocations., 

c,. 1tevieV1a all civil:ta.n pt:rson."'\el grievances and reported 

difficulties" 

do J:.akee re•::o~ndationa to the Comme.ndi!l:: Of'ficdr in accordance with th& find:tne oi the Co.onlittee,, 

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3., J'...s an inclosure to OCSieO ller.iorand.Ul'lp ~·erial r.119, 17 Aueust 1944 1 

lhe SUL~gasted organization and duties of tho P~rsonnel Control Comr.'littee 

are set f ortho The basic requircr.1ents are that the r.iembers of the Cor.m:ittee 

will ra.r.dliarize t~leI!lSel\·es with: 

a.,. The misslon and operation of the vo.rious types of activities 

in ti·1e cor.ut12.nd concerned, 

b,, The l:·ar Dep.::.1•tt1Emt Manpower Board a.nd other "standards" for 

neasurinc p~rsonnel requ5rementse 

c., All currt,:1t inform.1tlon relative to Y1orkloads, sta.nda.rds, 

'fiOl"k simplification p:roceC.ures, ete., 

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REF ID:A67154 • 

4,, Ti1is memorandum further provides that the Personnel Control 

Comr.dttee will operate as a st.a.ff orean1zat1on and will advise the 

Coramandint; Of !'icer in his ef !'ort to bring personnel employed in each 

installation domi to that required at the most efficient sil:tl.lar instal0 

lationo In acconplishinr. this 1 it will: 

a o Establish a general plan for the conduct or work measurernent and work sim?lification studies; applying the principles outlined 

in Af3F Control lianuals, ~ 703-3, 4. a.ncl 5, as api.licable to each 

installation., 

• b. Instruct subordinate units in the use or work .neasurernent 

und work simplif lcation tectmlques o 

co Ana~ze data derived from these and other studies,, 

d., I~ccnnend remedial action to economize in the use 0£ p:srsonnelo 

e.. Be prepared to furnish hir,her authority Vlith relevant work 

rnea.surement and other similar data upon request:-

r" i:!.aintain close coordin:.1.tion through channels v1ith the cso0 s 

Personnel Control Committee a11d Control Division,, OCSigOo 

go ~ke or initiate surveys or person.~el when desirableo 

ha Make spot checks of personnel in representative groups from 

time to time as a meana or determining that records are being properl,y 

kept and reports are beirie properlj compileda 

i" Supervise the preparation of strength reports on -Personnel 

Control For:i., WoDG, A.GaOc .ForI!l. lfoo l305 (Control Approval Symbol AP-1), 

and see that the;; a.re .f."orwarcled in time to be received in \'/asllingt.cm at 

the prescribed tir.1eo ,. 

j o ~'heck AP-l reports a.,eainst. t.he oorning reports and .ma.chine 

records reports and reconcile dit!erenceso 

ko Analyze AP-1 reports with a view to developing opportunities 

for econa:w in personnel_, 

lo Keep inforced as to proposed ~iscontinuance or reduction of 

activities and recor~aend personnel reductions accordinglyo 

mo Establish procedures and 11lake recommendations Ylhich night 

be of assistance to other cott;ands for transr.i.ission to higher authority., 

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REF ID:A67154 

5o Because or the unique nature of this installation and the lack 

of any coo.parable installations,. the Personnel Control Cor.1111ittee has been 

handicapped in its ef.f'prts to secure adequate datao The Control Office 

a.nd two members Of the CoI'll'nittee 1 ~ o lQioads and Major .Kint;, have am are 

conducting work simplification and persormel utilization studies in three 

or the four operatin!~ divisions" The results of these studies have been 

.rorwe.rded direct to tl•c Co.nrnanding Officer ;md re.cedial action recomrilended 

in all cases where saving or personnel or space appeared to be feasible~ 

Requests for increases in exiatirll: personnel authorization are received 

by the Personnel Control Corumi.ttee, investigated, studied and recommend- ~tiona submitted to the Comnumd~ orficero 

6..,. A review o.f Persormel Control Committee procedures in field 

installations conducted by OC$ig0 indicates that effective committee 

operation is largely determined by the presence of tho i" ollowine basic 

conditions: 

a,. The existence of a strong and adequately staffed "control" 

group to act as a secretariat in im.plementinr: the Cor.rnittee's actions 

and C.esires., 

bo The channelir:it or !,ll requests for persormel increases or 

adjustments throuf~l tbe Personnel Control CoLUrlttee for considerationQ 

Co The proper a.nd ad.equate represent~tion on the Committee of 

all major OP'rationa.l groups~ 

do The existence of, sufficient "work volume" data tor each sr.:ia.11 

operational or functional eroup to permit evaluation or the merits of each 

request based on factual evidence of increasing, decreasing, or shifting 

work volume., 

7,, The operation or the Personnel Control Cour.iittee in this Agency 

has been haznpereu by the lack of an adequate!:,· sta.f'f!ed 11 cor£trol" group, 

by tlle la.ck of proper and adequate representation on the Commit.tee or 

all IT1.ajor operationnl t~rours, and by the l.a.ck of su!ticient "work 

volu.rnc 11 data in each smll oporat1cnnl sroup to per1nit. evaluation ot 

the requests f Qr additional perGonnel based on tactual evidence of: · increasi'ng or decrsasing vrork volumo~ 'l"here ls no known 11,ya.rd stick" 

ot measurlJl:'l.ent t.hat can be applied tht'OUgh ~J.l operational units ot 

this Ageneyo It is believed that, b8$ed u.pon work simplit'ication studies 

now being conducted, a "yard stick11 rna.y be established for most \·rorking 

units and a cor.nnon denominator round by tra.nsla.tine all "yard sticks 11 

into terms of J1'l8.n hours,, 

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8 ., To irnplement the effective operation of t.he Personnel Control 

Committee in this Agency, it is recommended that: 

ao The relationship bet,1een the Pers01mel Control Cornmittee, 

the Control Oftice, and the Commanding Officer be clarified,. 

bo 'l'he Control Office be expanded imnedia.toly to permit its 

functioning as a secretariat to implc1'lent the committee's actions and 

desires., 

c., 'l'he Co.cimittee be expa.ndt:d to include representatives of 

each operatine division, and possibly a representative or lllSo 

do The Control Office be .instructed to proceed immediately 

vlith work measureJnent studies in a.11 operating unitsc 

e,, The Control or.rice submit all reports of work si1apli£ication 

studies or utilization of _perso1u1el to the Cot1J:i.andine Officer thru the• 

Personnel Control Committeeo 

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