Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950–1955, The Intelligence Community, 1950–1955

160. Minutes of the First Meeting of the Operations Coordinating Board¹

Washington, September 17, 1953, 12:30 p.m.

PRESENT

• General Walter B. Smith, Under Secretary of State—Chairman
• Mr. Allen Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence
• Mr. C. D. Jackson, Special Assistant to the President for Cold War Operations
• Mr. William H. Godel, alternate for the Deputy Secretary of Defense
• Mr. William M. Rand, alternate for the Director, Foreign Operations Administration
• Mr. Robert Cutler, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
• Mr. George A. Morgan

1. The Board designated Mr. C. D. Jackson to serve for the time being as its Acting Executive Officer and George A. Morgan to serve as his Acting Deputy.

2. The Board authorized the Acting Executive Officer to use the PSB staff and resources for OCB work until other arrangements are made.

3. The Board decided that the general pattern of present PSB administrative support arrangement should be continued for the balance of this fiscal year.

4. Noting that the table of organization for OCB staff should be authorized and an administrative support agreement concluded by September 30, the Board instructed Mr. Morgan to prepare drafts for consideration at the next Board meeting. The Board indicated that the OCB staff should be kept to a minimum and developed only as the workload demands. The basic function should be that of a working secretariat, including that of acting as chairmen and executive secretaries of meetings and generally serving as catalysts in the coordination process, but there should also be a small nucleus of planners.

5. The Board noted that all PSB approved papers and projects remain in force until specifically dealt with by OCB.

6. It was agreed that Mr. Jackson should review existing PSB projects and approved papers and make recommendations to the Board for their disposition.

7. The need for good backstopping of the Board in the member agencies was discussed. It was agreed that each Board member would have a principal assistant for this purpose who would attend formal Board meetings. It was also suggested that these assistants and Mr. Morgan serve as a senior staff to screen work for the Board, but decision on this proposal was reserved pending further study.

8. The need for close liaison and a sound division of labor with the NSC Planning Board was stressed. Mr. Morgan was instructed to circulate OCB papers to Mr. Cutler for information, notify him of meetings, and in consultation with him recommend any further arrangements needed for OCB–NSC liaison. Mr. Cutler designated Mr. T. B. Koons of the NSC Staff to maintain standing liaison with Mr. Morgan on OCB matters, and also noted that Mr. Morgan attends Planning Board meetings as an adviser. With regard to assignments to OCB from NSC, Mr. Cutler mentioned a number of implementation assignments to other agencies now in force. It was agreed that these assignments would stay as they are rather than being transferred to OCB at this time, thus giving OCB a chance to start without assuming such a back-load of accumulated responsibilities. Mr. Cutler agreed to put a memorandum of this agreement in the NSC records and to send Mr. Morgan a copy.

9. The Board noted its obligation to make progress reports to the NSC and decided that these should ordinarily be made at intervals of six months, and otherwise only when specially needed.

10. The Board decided to continue existing arrangements for handling 10/2 matters through a panel composed of representatives of State, Defense and CIA, with the addition that the panel is to be chaired by Mr. Jackson and that FOA is to designate one officer who will be invited to attend meetings when matters of concern to FOA are discussed. Mr. Dulles reserved the right to bring certain matters in this field directly to the Board.

11. It was agreed that Mr. Morgan should hold a meeting of appropriate representatives next week to discuss recommendations for OCB assuming the functions of POCC.

12. The Board decided to continue meeting usually on Wednesdays at 12:30 and to follow the informal meeting with a formal meeting at 1:30, which would also be attended by the principal assistant of each Board member and necessary secretariat.

13. The Board directed that staff work on the two Christmas projects² begun by PSB should be completed in time for the Board to make the necessary decisions at its next meeting, including a decision on relative investment in the two projects in proportion to their relative value.

Walter B. Smith

Chairman

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 62 D 430, Minutes. Secret; Security Information. The meeting was held in C.D. Jackson’s office.
2. The projects are documented in Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, vol. VIII, pp. 103–108.