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

192. Circular Instruction From the Department of State⁰

Washington, April 9, 1947.

COORDINATION OF INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION ACTIVITIES

Sirs:

Reference is made to the Department’s confidential circular instruction dated January 31, 1947, FSS No. 670, entitled “Establishment of the NIA, the IAB and the CIG”,¹ and to its confidential circular instruction, dated February 3, 1947, FSS No. 671, entitled “NIA Directive on Coordination of Collection Activities”² and its enclosure.³ To implement the overall policies and objectives established by the above circular instructions, the following measures will be taken by the Officers in Charge of Foreign Service Missions and Posts:

A. The Officer in Charge of each American Mission will assume responsibility for the coordination of all intelligence collection activities at all Foreign Service posts within continental limits of the country to which he is accredited, to the end that the announced intelligence objectives of the government as a whole shall be most efficiently and expeditiously accomplished. The senior officer at each Consular Office outside of the continental limits of each country to which a diplomatic officer is accredited will assume responsibility for coordinating all intelligence collection activities at his post and within his Consular District. For example, the senior officer at the Consulate General at Singapore will carry out such duties, reporting directly to the Department.

B. Each coordinating officer shall, wherever practicable and within the limits of security requirements:

1. Establish a central intelligence file for the use of all authorized personnel.

2. Insure that intelligence reports are promptly and adequately prepared by foreign service personnel to meet his needs, the needs of the Department, and the National Intelligence Requirements which may be issued from time to time.

3. Insure that unproductive collection duplication is avoided.

4. Insure, whenever one or more of the intelligence agencies of the War or Navy Departments are not represented at a Foreign Service post or whenever the appropriate representative of such agency is unable for any reason to carry out his mission, that the reporting responsibility is allocated to the extent possible to other members of the staff. When such delegation is for a period in excess of thirty days a report of such action, including the reason therefor, will be made to the Department as soon as practicable. A report of any such allocation of reporting responsibility now in effect should be submitted to the Department not later than May 15, 1947.

5. Insure that intelligence information and material, regardless of collector, shall whenever possible be transmitted immediately to the local field representative of the agency most concerned (see paragraph 1 (a) and (b) of enclosure to Circular Instruction No. 671), if such field representative is attached to the Foreign Service post. If a field representative of the agency concerned is not attached to the post, such intelligence information and material will be transmitted directly to the Department.

6. Insure that in preparing reports under the allocations cited in paragraph 1 (a) of enclosure to Circular Instruction No. 671, reporting officers take full cognizance of the collateral or secondary needs of the Department of State, War and Navy Departments as determined in consultation with the appropriate collecting officers or by reference to pertinent agency collection directives.

7. Insure that, in the implementation of the respective collection programs, full advantage is taken of the individual abilities and contacts of his staff members.

C. Each coordinating officer will issue appropriate instructions to all personnel of the Foreign Service or of the Department assigned to or on temporary duty in his area to the end that such personnel will:

1. Cooperate in the coordination measures prescribed above or as may be directed by the coordinating officer.

2. Promptly bring to the attention of the proper representatives of other departments or agencies intelligence information or material of concern to the latter.

3. Collect information and prepare intelligence reports other than within their own spheres of responsibility when specifically directed.

Nothing in this instruction shall be interpreted as authorizing any officer to delay, suppress, or make substantive changes in any intelligence report without the concurrence of the officer submitting the report. Intelligence information and material which may have no significance to field representatives in a single area or which may appear to be at complete variance with the overall trend may have great significance and form a definite part of a picture being developed by the Departments or the Central Intelligence Group. Any dissenting opinion or commentary will either be incorporated in the report, or be submitted separately as promptly as possible.

Instructions similar to the above are being issued by the War and Navy Departments, whose representatives will be directed to comply with the coordination measures indicated above, and to make available to the coordinating officer all collection directives and instructions received from their respective departments.

Very truly yours,

For the Acting Secretary of State:

William R. Eddy

0. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Records of the Department of State, Decimal File 1945–49, 101.5/4–947. Confidential. Drafted by P.G. Strong and T.M. Nordbeck. Addressed to American diplomatic and consular officers “except Germany, Austria, Japan and Korea.”
1. Not printed. (Ibid., 101.5/1–3147) See the Supplement.
2. Not printed. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Records of the Department of State, Decimal File 1945–49, 101.5/2–347) See the Supplement.
3. Document 181.