SEPTEMBER 18, 1969. MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNDER SECRETARY OF THE ARMY Subject: Reply to Mr. Kleindienst Concerning Modification of Interdepartmental Action Plan for Civil Disturbances. Attorney General Mitchell wrote to the Secretary of Defense on August 8, 1969 suggesting a modification in the Interdepartmental Action Plan designed to clarify public affairs responsibilities in the event of an actual disturbance. (Tab A) we agreed generally with his suggestion, but had some minor word changes to suggest. You forwarded a recommended reply to the Secretary of Defense, which was signed on August 25, 1969 by Mr. Packard. (Tab B) The Deputy Attorney General has now written to Mr. Packard suggesting that no modification be made in the plan. (Tab C) For some reason, which I cannot fathom, his letter makes it sound as if the Department of Defense initiated the suggestion for change. In any event, the Attorney General prefers no change, the matter is not worth fussing over, and anything we come up with is likely to be changed in particular circumstances anyway. Accordingly, I recommend that we agree to the Department of Justice position and have attached (Tab D) a reply for your signature to Mr. Kleindienst. so indicated. OSD sent the action to the Army for "appropriate action" so there is no need to have the Secretary or Deputy Secretary of Defense sign the response. ROBERT E. JORDAN III, General Counsel. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, Washington, D.C., September 11, 1969. Hon. DAVID PACKARD, Under Secretary of Defense, DEAR DAVE: The Attorney General has asked me to respond to your letter to him dated August 25 in which you set forth a suggested revision of the first paragraph on page 4 of the April 1 Interdepartmental Action Plan for Civil Disturbances. The Attorney General is of the opinion that the April 1 plan should remain as it is written and I concur in this view. However, it seems to us that the language contained in your letter wou'd certainly be a method of approach which the White House could designate in a particular situation and if the circumstances instified. Indeed it is our feeling that in the nano' would arise. the language set forth in your letter would seem to be a satisfactory procedure to follow. -20 If you wish, please do not hesitate to call me so that we might discuss the matter further. Very truly yours, RICHARD G. KLEINDIENST, Hon. RICHARD G. KLEINDIENST, DEAR DICK: Dave Packard asked me to reply to your letter of September 11, 1969. which discussed further the proposal which The Attorney General made in his letter of August 8, 1969 to Secretary Laird. We have no objection to leaving the April 1 Plan in its original form. I am sure that should a problem concerning public affairs responsibilities arise in the future, we will be able to resolve it promptly on an ad hoc basis through discussions between representatives of our two Departments. Sincerely, THADDEUS R. BEAL, Under Secretary of the Army. TAB L MARCH 29, 1969. NOTE FOR MR. KLEINDIENST Following our discusion late yesterday with the Office of Legal Counsel, we have undertaken to prepare a revised version of the draft memorandum on civil disturbance. Minor revisions have also been made in the standard executive orders. The revised draft memorandum incorporates all the items on which we reached agreement with the Office of Legal Counsel, along with two matters which they had no objection to, but which required your personal attention. These two matters are (1) public affairs responsibilities and (2) division of intelligence responsibilities. I am attaching five copies of the revised documents for your use. The Under Secretary of the Army plans to contact you to arrange a meeting at which you, he, and I would see whether we can resolve these two matters prior to final submission of the draft to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense for their discussion. ROBERT E. JORDAN III, EVIDENTIARY MATERIALS REGARDING MILITARY SURVEILLANCE WEST BERLIN The following exhibits were provided the subcommittee by Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut. They describe certain activities of military intelligence units in West Berlin during 1972 and 1973. Each exhibit is described briefly below in an explanatory note prepared by the subcommittee staff. Exhibit 1: Letter to Weicker aide. This letter was sent to Mr. William Wickens, a staff aide to Senator Weicker, by a military intelligence agent stationed in West Germany. It describes in general the activities of Detachment B, 66th Military Intelligence Group, located in West Berlin. Exhibit 2: "FORWARD" diagram This diagram was found in the files of Detachment B which were designated as "CS", or countersubversive, files. The word "FORWARD" at the center of the diagram refers to Forward newspaper, an underground, antimilitary newspaper, then located in West Berlin. The initials L.M.D.C. refer to the Lawyers Military Defense Committee, a legal defense group affiliated with the ACLU, which specializes in defending servicemen at court martials. The initials C.A.I.B. refer to the Concerned Americans in Berlin. The author of the diagram is unknown. Exhibit 3: Photographed mail This exhibit is a photocopy of a letter and its accompanying envelope found in military intelligence files. The letter was sent by a reference librarian at the College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C., to "Where Its At," which was the original name of the publication now identified as "FORWARD" newspaper. The photocopies do not indicate what individual, unit, or organization was responsible for opening the mail or photographing it. Exhibit 4: Agent report Exhibit 4 is a portion of a report filed by an agent of the 66th Military Intelligence Group in West Berlin. It deals with the goals of the Concerned Americans in Berlin. Exhibit 5: Memorandum on Concerned Americans in Berlin This is a memorandum prepared by Detachment B, 66th Military Intelligence Group in Berlin on the membership, activities, history, and platform of the Concerned Americans in Berlin. Exhibit 6: Briefing notes These were briefing notes prepared by Detachment B for a briefing of Major General Harold Aaron, Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army in Europe, on March 2, 1973. Exhibit 1-Letter to Weicker Aide WEST BERLIN, GERMANY, June 10, 1973. DEAR MR. BILL WICKENS: Hopefully the following information will assist you in the days ahead. I know the format may be suspect to logic but I trust that the attached material will speak for itself. Also, I must get this information to you without delay for the obvious security factors and the realistic danger I place myself and my family in. I understand if you have difficulty following the sequence of events or the rationale "why" military intelligence secretly gathered political information on American civilians in West Berlin. First, you should know that I'm part of an covert intelligence gathering countersubversion team in West Berlin (WB). Our mission then is to detect subversive activities within WB and report this information expeditiously to the following higher headquarters; 1) Commander 66th Military Intelligence Group which was Col. Kelley-the Commander (new) now is Col. Evers; 2) MG Cobb, Commander of WB; 3) MG Arron, Deputy Chief of Staff Intelligence Heidelberg, Ger; 4) Col Ray, Deputy Chief of Staff Intelligence WB. There are numerous other people who must process this information but not sufficient time to list them here. I am forwarding a brief amount of material to you concerning military intelligence (MI) clandestine investigations/targets/penetrations into the American political group called "Democrates for McGovern" and who after the presidential elections called themselves "The Concerned Americans in Berlin" (CAIB). The CAIB recently has called for the impeachment of President Nixon. There is a massive amount of collective intelligence material on this subject in several locations throughout Europe. The following is an initial attempt to answer in part your questions per your telephone instructions. (1) Mission: Monitor American Democratic political meetings of CAIB. Insert coded Confidential Sources as penetration agents into these meetings to ascertain information concerning the meetings and identify members, Americans, leaders of CAIB. Compile dossiers on personalities and forward all information to higher headquarters. (2) Authority: See electrical MSG "FM ODSCI USAREUR HEIDELBERG GER/AEAGB-CI (SO)” The Deputy Chief of Staff Intelligence is GM Arron. Note: Tasking instructions in this MSG. However, there are numerous other tasking instructions (MSG'S) and these can be provided at a later date. Also, note ODSCI Heidelberg passes these instructions to CDR 66th MI Group Munich and 66th MI in turn tasked Detachment B. (3) Persons with knowledge of mission: MG Arron, ODSCI Heidelberg COL Kelly, CDR 66th MI Group COL Bugh, Deputy CDR 66th MI Group MG Cobb, Commander Berlin COL Ray, Deputy Chief of Staff Intell, WB Note: Names of other knowledgeable persons can be given at a later date. (4) When: Starting in August 1972 and continuing at present time. (5) Personnel on operational team: I desire to hold off naming these people for their security and their future careers in the Army. (6) Distribution of information: See No. 3-All intelligence information gathered concerning MI activities against the Democrats for McGovern and CAIB is carded, filled and placed in dossiers at my office and several other locations throughout Europe. (7) Description of mission/tactics used/target: Our mission is to detect subversive activities in WB. However, our mission here was to collect information concerning the activities of the American group, Democrats for McGovern and later the CAIB. We recruited low ranking military men to penetrate meetings conducted by CAIB and then have the source meet with their case officer for debriefing. All the coded "Confidential Sources" are known to me by name. However, I see no point in revealing their identity at this time. Again, these sources are usually recruited young low ranking military men who will "fit in" with CAIB without arousing any undue attention. The operation is still in effect and the operation has been highly successful thus far. During source meetings, the officer case instructs the source concerning security training and means to further establish his credibility within CAIB. Also, source has been provided a camera by MI to take pictures of CAIB members. (8) Photographs: See attached material. Bill if I have left questions and blank spots in your mind it is due to the difficulty of writing a summary of a massive amount of collected material. Also, I must get this in the mail to you-can't afford to hang on this material. Frankly, I was amazed when I discovered from my review of the files of the voluminous material that has been collected and filed. For my own part, I consider myself a citizen-soldier and I believe American constitutional guarantees have been violated. Again, I request to remain anonymous and seek protection by your office. You have assured me of the above and I place my faith and trust in the sure knowledge of your confidence. (unsigned). |