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• 

COP!' 

li&tORAilDW FOR AFSA-l2 

SUBJECT& USCIB 13/1951 Comments Oil 

]15fx-UISE:5 

~!~ ,w 

AFSA-or:tl/ef 

23 Jul1' 1951 

lo I concur in the baeic ideas mid eeneral principles of the 

subject document bel.1eving that it thcv can be successfully mplemm.ted 

they will not only improve the security of sensitive Com'l' but also 

increase the operatio.nal usefulness of tactical CWIHT. 

2o The only features which afford grounds tor concem ares 

ao Practical difficulties and delqs in decidinB th• catego17 

into which a gl.ven piece ot CcmNT materio.l should. be placed. This mlq' 

frequent]¥ require minutes or hours ot dellberationo lt llOT1 often takes 

much time to decide Tlhether a ,P:ven document should bo TOP SECREl' or 

smm, for example• and i·lith three categories ot comrr based. upon. 

dscr,vpt.ione or teclmical information related thereto (Categories A, B• 

and D), mm>.Y occaaions t4ll arise 1mon r.iald.ng the decision will require 

considerable thoueht. or diacuslliono Also• in C&'tego17 C, one ot the 

exceptions, vis •• e:mept.ion (a).111 DJlq' cause loss of tims in making a 

decisiono Each person who w1ll have thie responsiblli't7 1'lil1 tend to 

"plq saten,, thua making more frequent use ot the higher classiticatiOml than 1a renll.y necess1U76 

bo Pract.ica1 di.tticultiea in ma1d.ng up the necess&J.7 number 

of rubber stamps and changing them tran time to time., Catego17 0 and. 

D d.esisn&tors \Yould have to be ChB!J6ed rather frequont..11' a 

3o Before tormal.lJ proposing the nerr scheme to LSIBa it seems to 

• that it ti0ul.d be ad-dsable to make a ehol'ti of "dr.Y run" 1n AFSA to 

t.17 it outa Such a test might c:liscloae .maDl' unfore11een d1ttioult1ea1 

or it might 1how them to be non-existento 

l,.o An alternative propoeal is suggested below• based upon cona1d.en..tions ot a rather fundam.ental nature and ones which are not 

usual.~ thousht of in this whole mattero D181' are ae toll01ms 

&o A tn years ago there were only two or thrae categories 

ot classified matters norr there are many, among which are the following& 

1 

Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 05-22-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 

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• T<¥1 SD8-Ri0053SGJDE 

COPI 

SUBJECT: USCIB 13/1951 COJ1U11m.ts au 

(1) RESTRICTED 

(2) corw1nmlTIAL 

(3) SmRET 

(4) TOP SEX:REr 

(S) TOP Sl!ll.RET - COlrl'lllL 

(6) TOP SEX:BEl "" ED;S ON:tr 

(7) TCP smm ·- u .s. EYI!B G?JIX 

(8) TOP smm - CODE \'IORD w * 

(9) TOP SECRft • n n X * 

(10) TOP SBJRm - " " Y * 

(11) TOP SJOOREr • n n z * 

(12) SEX:Rl!.~ 

(13) SFDRET 

... " n A* 

- n n B * 

(14) Ta? SECRET - COSMlO 

. (15) CONFIDEIITIAL • llATO 

AFSAJJfJl/ef 

23 Jul3' 1951 

* These letters are &nibstituted for th• current coda \'IOrd. 

deaiBnatorao 

soon,, no doubt;. we shall have " TOP SEXlRET - US/uK ms OlllX"' " TOP 

S.l.OORET • US/uK/OA?l 01azn 1 etco It 111 not. d.1.fticult to imagine where 

this is eoina to end - possib~ in the breakdotm oi the nhole schemo 

COPI 

2 

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" 

COP!' 

SUBJECTS USCIB 13/195,, Comnents en 

AFSA-o<:Jl/et 

23 JUbr" 1951 

ba. In the ~s of the Law ( UoSo Lmra at leut), there is 

ono and onJ.t one clusiticationz SECIW?. Under the lmr a person mo 

with intent to injure the u.s. discloaed Rb:STRICTFD matter can be 

inprisoned for .maey years,., just as m.an,y., in fact, as 1f ho disclosed 

TOP s~~T matter. 

Co iillen the basic objective in clasaif11n6 :tntormation ia 

coneidered,, it is clear that it ia intended pr!mariJ.;y to establish 

lJJDitations on the dissamination or distribution of that intormationJ 

the additional. objective, that or establishins diti'erent rules and 

d1£feNnt levels of safeguards for tho physical protection and Gtorago 

of intormation of varying degrees ot sensitivity is rcall,y subs1di&u.y 

to the primary objecUve, since these sateguarda meral.¥ go a step further 

in insuring against a handling so J.ooae that tho 1nf'ormrfi:;ion could bo 

obtained b7 8mJl\Y agantao It, there.tore,, the subject of claasii'ication 

is looked at from this point of 'View, it is possible that tho problana 

of classification mq be areo.tll' simpl1tied~ at least :1n respect to the 

n!llb er of different classiticatiomso 

5o &o Suppose there were but one claa111fication1 II smRETno or 

"OFFICIAL SBlJ.ml'" • or "GOVERH?~iT SECP..ErH - call it what you wUlo 

Suppose; further, that l"te establish what mq be conceived of a.a "radii 

of diasanination" which ,.rill determine how manT people \'sill be brout;h'-

into a 61.ven secret or category ot secrets such as COMINTo \\'e could do 

this by r.ierel¥ establishine specific distribution lists identli'ied bJ' 

n'UIJlbera or letters or othor 81JD.bolso For example, 11Diatr1bution 111 

m1sht include eveJ.7bod.Y in the Defense Eatabllshmont. mllital'3' and 

civilian,, tlho should be brought into tho secret, n voey lo.r3e radius of 

disseminationo "Distrlbuticn 2" might include o. smol.ler nmber ot 

persona or offices; "Distribution 311, a still smaller number,, and ao 

on, mtil we reach "Distribution x•, which might include but two or 

three personao 

bo This concopt is, ot course, direct~ related to the concept 

which has become basic :in tm matter ot diseemi.nation ot CCJJIN'l' 1ntormati.on or material., vis • ., such intormation or material is impartBd on:11' 

on the ha.sis of a "need-to-lmow"o 

Co In praetice1 all COJ.!IN'r docummts Would, under thia achan&1 

bear the same stamp, for example, 118.EXlRE'l' - BLANlt" (the latter be.1.ng a 

"code word. materia.1. designator•) o It would be ta1l.owecl bJ' "Diatribution 1711 (for examp1e, which mieht indicate a certain class or level 

ot commands),, or the distribution number mi{lht be indicated in tha uaua1 

place cm. the doCUDIGDto 

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' . COPY 

SUBJECT1 uscm J!J/19S,· ccmnento an 

/\FSA-oat/et 

23 JuJT 1951 

do The f'orenoin6 concept, ot ditterl.ns re.di1 or dissemination 

is embodied in a recent proposal on "Disaad.nation or Intel.licence baaed 

on comrr to toreian national.a serving in ?1ATO or similar CCll'llDlmdl!I" 

(USCIB 14/141 ot 11 JuJ.;r 19Sl)o Extension ot the schane proposed in 

the paper referred to might not be too dii"ficult and the poosib111ty 

should be expl.Oredrt 

6. It 1e realised.a ot course,, that a acheme such as that proposed. 

herein would be so radicol. as to proclude its acceptance not onlJr b7 

I.SIB but allKl bT USCIB and the Department ot Dei'enseo But it. 18 

reiterated that unlcaoa ecne positive rsteps are soon taken 1n regard to 

the constant.11' increasing nl.lllber of' cl.aasit1co.tiona the time w:lll soon 

cm.e when the present schema mll. tall ot its own "8ighto Alrea4v 

there are rumors 0£ an impending demand tor a classification higher than 

TOP sm.RETo 

/a/ ~'lill:S.m F. Fr.1.echan 

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