Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945–1950, Emergence of the Intelligence Establishment

141. National Intelligence Authority Directive No. 1⁰

Washington, February 8, 1946.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES GOVERNING THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE GROUP

Pursuant to the attached letter from the President, dated 22 January 1946, designating the undersigned as the National Intelligence Authority, you are hereby directed to perform your mission, as Director of Central Intelligence, in accordance with the following policies and procedures:

1. The Central Intelligence Group shall be considered, organized and operated as a cooperative interdepartmental activity, with adequate and equitable participation by the State, War and Navy Departments and, as recommended by you and approved by us, other Federal departments and agencies. The Army Air Forces will be represented on a basis similar to that of the Army and the Navy.

2. The Central Intelligence Group will furnish strategic and national policy intelligence to the President and the State, War and Navy Departments, and, as appropriate, to the State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other governmental departments and agencies having strategic and policy functions related to the national security.

3. The composition of the Intelligence Advisory Board will be flexible and will depend, in each instance, upon the subject matter under consideration. The Special Assistant to the Secretary of State in charge of Research and Intelligence, the Assistant Chief of Staff G–2, WDGS, the Chief of Naval Intelligence and the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence (or their representatives) will be permanent members. You will invite the head (or his representative) of any other intelligence agency having functions related to the national security to sit as a member on all matters within the province of his agency.

All recommendations, prior to submission to this Authority, will be referred to the Board for concurrence or comment. Any recommendation which you and the Intelligence Advisory Board approve unanimously and have the existing authority to execute may be put into effect without action by this Authority. If any member of the Board does not concur, you will submit to this Authority the basis for his non-concurrence at the same time that you submit your recommendation.

4. Recommendations approved by this Authority will, where applicable, govern the intelligence activities of the separate departments represented herein. The members of the Intelligence Advisory Board will each be responsible for ensuring that approved recommendations are executed within their respective departments.

5. You will submit to this Authority as soon as practicable a proposal for the organization of the Central Intelligence Group and an estimate of the personnel and funds required from each department by this Group for the balance of this fiscal year and for the next fiscal year. Each year thereafter prior to the preparation of departmental budgets, you will submit a similar estimate for the following fiscal year. As approved by this Authority and within the limits of available appropriations the necessary funds and personnel will be made available to you by arrangement between you and the appropriate department through its member on the Intelligence Advisory Board. You may determine the qualifications of personnel and the adequacy of individual candidates. Personnel assigned to you will be under your operational and administrative control, subject only to necessary personnel procedures in each department.

6. The Central Intelligence Group will utilize all available intelligence in producing strategic and national policy intelligence. All intelligence reports prepared by the Central Intelligence Group will note any substantial dissent by a participating intelligence agency.

7. As required in the performance of your authorized mission, there will be made available to you or your authorized representatives all necessary facilities, intelligence and information in the possession of our respective departments. Arrangements to carry this out will be made with members of the Intelligence Advisory Board. Conversely, all facilities of the Central Intelligence Group and all intelligence prepared by it will be made available to us and, through arrangements agreed between you and the members of the Intelligence Advisory Board, subject to any authorized restrictions, to our respective departments.

8. The operations of the intelligence agencies of our departments will be open to inspection by you or your authorized representatives in connection with your planning functions, under arrangements agreed to between you and the respective members of the Intelligence Advisory Board.

9. You are authorized to request of other Federal departments and agencies any information or assistance required by you in the performance of your authorized mission.

10. You will be responsible for furnishing, from the personnel of the Central Intelligence Group, a Secretariat for this Authority, with the functions of preparing agenda, reviewing and circulating papers for consideration, attending all meetings, keeping and publishing minutes, initiating and reviewing the implementation of decision, and performing other necessary secretarial services.

Secretary of State¹
Secretary of War
Secretary of the Navy
Personal Representative of the President

0. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 218, Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Leahy Papers, No. 132. Confidential. Also reproduced in CIA Cold War Records: The CIA under Harry Truman, pp. 35–37.
1. No signatures or any annotation indicating the directive was signed appears on the source text.