MEMORANDUM  FOR: 
THE  JOINT  CHIEFS  OF  STAFF 
WASHINGTON    O.C    20301 
SM-321-82 
24  May  1^82 
Commander  in  Chief,  Aerospace  Defense  Command 
Commander  in  Chief,  Atlantic 
US  Commander  in  Chief,  Europe 
Commander  in  Chief,  Military  Airlift  Command 
Commander  in  Chief,  Pacific 
in  Chief,  US  Readiness  Command 
in  Chief,  US  Southern  Command 
in  Chief,  Strategic  Air  Command 
Defense  Intelligence  Agency 
Commander 
Commander 
Commander 
Director, 
Subject:   Participation  of  Commanders  of  the  Unified  and  Specified 
Commands  in  Preparation  of  National  Intelligence 
Estimates 
1.   This  memorandum  is  an  administrative 
SM-184-77,  23  February  1977. 
update  of  and  supersedes 
2.  The  Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff  have  established  a  formal  procedure 
to  provide  the  views  of  the  commanders  of  the  unified  and  speci- 
fied commands  to  DIA  for  consideration  in  the  development  of 
the  National  Intelligence  Estimates  (NIEs) .   They  consider  that 
the  Director,  DIA,  in  his  role  as  a  DoD  representative  to  the 
National  Foreign  Intelligence  Board  (NFIB) ,  and  the  Service 
Intelligence  Chiefs,  in  their  role  as  observers,  should  have 
the  benefit  of  the  views  and  assessments  of  the  commanders  of 
the  unified  and  specified  commands  on  a  formalized  basis  with 
the  understanding  that: 
a.  The  Director,  DIA,  will  base  his  ultimate  position  on 
all  the  evidence  before  the  NFIB. 
b.  NIEs  are  designed  chiefly  to  be  responsive  to  require- 
ments at  the  national  policy  planning  level.   Therefore, 
_u.   «.  ^ — .   .  .._  the  NIEs  wixi  not  entirely  satisfy 
the 
the 
the 
the 
not 
ucts , 
general  treatment  in 
particular  planning  requirements  of  the  commanders  of 
unified  and  specified  commands.   While  the  inputs  of 
commanders  of  the  unified  and  specified  commands  may 
be  completely  reflected  in  national  intelligence  prod- 
  ,  they  will  be  considered  for  inclusion  in  the  appro- 
priate intelligence  portions  of  the  Joint  Strategic  Planning 
System. 
c.   Recommendations  from  the  commanders  of  the  unified  and 
specified  commands  should  be  clear  and  concise,  with  suffi- 
cient supporting  justification  to  withstand  the  critical 
examination  that  necessarily  precedes  the  development  cf 
the  NIE  judgment.
d.  In  making  their  recommendations  to  DIA,  the  commanders 
of  the  unified  and  specified  commands  should  take  into  ac- 
count the  pressures  affecting  the  estimates  program: 
(1)  Requirements  for  national  level  estimates  are  in- 
creasing and  are  demanding  more  definitive  judgments. 
(2)  Requirements  for  staffing  National  Security  Study 
Directives  are  expanding. 
(3)  Requirements  involve  greater  quantification  of  data, 
as  in  the  Defense  Intelligence  Projections  for  Planning. 
(4)  Time  to  produce  certain  NIEs  is  often  limited. 
These  must  be  published  early  enough  to  be  useful  for 
defense  budget  considerations  but  late  enough  in  the 
year  to  profit  from  the  full  range  of  the  annual  col- 
lection effort, 
3.   The  Director,  DIA,  is  directed  to: 
a.  Invite  recommendations  from  the  commanders  of  the  unified 
and  specified  commands  on  those  portions  of  the  NIEs  upon 
which  they  may  wish  to  comment. 
b.  Provide  a  time  schedule  for  each  of  those  NIEs  on  which 
DIA  would  anticipate  a  response  from  the  commanders  of  the 
appropriate  unified  and  specified  commands. 
c.  Establish  dates  by  which  comments  will  be  required  for 
effective  consideration  by  DIA  and  the  Services. 
d.  Invite  comments  on  published  NIEs  for  use  in  future  con- 
siderations . 
For  the  Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff: 
iC/j.  McCONVILLE 
Colonel,  USA 
Secretary