U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. NRO Public Affairs. "Press Release -- President Orders Declassification of Historic Satellite Imagery Citing Value of Photography to Environmental Science." 24 Feb. 1995. [http://www.nro.gov]Materials arranged chronologically.
U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. NRO Public Affairs. "Press Release -- President Orders Declassification of Historic Satellite Imagery Citing Value of Photography to Environmental Science." 24 Feb. 1995. [http://www.nro.gov]
On 24 February 1995, President Clinton directed "the declassification of imagery obtained by the first generation of photo-reconnaissance satellites; the CORONA, ARGON and LANYARD systems. The order will cause the declassification of more than 800,000 satellite images of the earth's surface, collected by these satellites between 1960 and 1972. By the end of an eighteen-month transition period, the public will be given access to this imagery that can be used to assist environmental studies and other civilian applications."
Aerospace Daily. Editors. "Declassification Unveils More Details of NRO Structure." 25 Apr. 1995, 129.
Harris, Jeffrey K. "Meeting the Challenge Then, Now and Tomorrow: The National Reconnaissance Office Enters the 21st Century." American Intelligence Journal 16, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 1995): 27-31.
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space and Director, NRO.
Pincus, Walter. "Spy Agency Hoards Secret $1 Billion; Satellite Managers Did Not Tell Supervisors of Classified 'Pot of Gold,' Hill Sources Say." Washington Post, 24 Sep. 1995, A1, A22. "The $1 Billion in the Spy Satellite Agency Cookie Jar." Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 2-8 Oct. 1995, 31.
The discovery that the NRO had been able to "salt away" unspent funds totalling more than $1 billion is causing some concern in Congress about the ability of intelligence agencies to use their secret status to avoid accountability.
Pear, Robert. "Disclosure of Spy Agency's $1.5 Billion Fund Leads to Shake-Up." New York Times, 25 Sep. 1995, A12 (N).
DCI Deutch has "appointed a new chief financial officer" for the NRO, and "ordered the agency to document its practices for handling money. He also ordered a thorough review of the agency's budget."
Cassata, Donna. "Spy Agency's $1 Billion Cache Draws Members Wrath." Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, 30 Sep. 1995, 3019.
Includes note that the fiscal 1996 Defense appropriations bill "shows a cut of more than $900 million in two accounts long suspected of funding spy operations: Selected Activities and Special Programs for Air Force Procurement."
Space News. "[Editorial:] Who Watches the Watchers?" 2-8 Oct. 1995, 18.
"Those in NRO responsible for its recent funding debacles should be dismissed.... NRO has a record of achievement in the 1991 Desert Storm conflict and elsewhere.... But this does not excuse its casual disregard of the fundamental responsibilities of all U.S. government agencies."
Defense News. Editors. "NRO's Secret Fund May be Even Bigger." 23-29 Oct. 1995, 2.
Cassata, Donna. "Members Fear Fiscal Crackdown May Sap Spy Agency." Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, 25 Nov. 1995, 3604-3605.
The NRO's "recent much-publicized travails [August 1994 building flap and September 1995 $1 billion in unspent funds] have created an opening for voracious lawmakers looking to slap the NRO's fiscal hand." As a result of cutting the NRO's 1996 budget, "Congress may face the unenviable task of choosing between canceling NRO satellite projects or finding significant sums of money to replenish the agency's coffers."
U.S. Congress. House. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. NRO Headquarters Facility. Washington, DC: GPO, 1995.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Intelligence. NRO Headquarters Project. Washington, DC: GPO, 1995.
Weiner,
Tim. "A Secret Agency's Secret Budgets Yield 'Lost' Billions, Officials
Say." New York Times, 30 Jan. 1996, A1, A5 (N).
The amount that the NRO had tucked away for a rainy day was over $2 billion. The new-found funds will be used to help pay for Pentagon programs, including the mission in Bosnia and the B-2 bomber project.
New
York Times. "[Editorial:] The Spy
Agency That Lost $2 Billion." 1 Feb. 1996, A14 (N).
"Congress and the Pentagon need to maintain the American advantage in sophisticated spy satellites, but not by issuing blank checks to the N.R.O. or abdicating responsibility for overseeing its management. Their efforts to control the agency are welcome, but belated."
Congressional
Quarterly Weekly Report. Editors. "More Surplus Funds Found
in Spy Agency Coffers." 3 Feb. 1996, 309.
The SSCI chairman and vice chairman have voiced concerns about the existence of an additional $820 million surplus in NRO funds that the Clinton administration wants to use to help cover the costs of the Bosnia peacekeeping mission.
Weiner,
Tim. "After Errant $2 Billion, Spy Satellite Agency Heads Are Ousted."
New York Times, 27 Feb. 1996, A9 (N).
NRO Director Jeffrey K. Harris and Deputy Director Jimmie D. Hill have been fired as part of the shakeup of the agency in the wake of the uproar about the salting away of some $2 billion in the NRO budget. Keith Hall has been named deputy director and acting director of the NRO.
Aerospace Daily. Editors. "NRO Chief Harris and Deputy Director Hill Are Fired." 27 Feb. 1996, 293, 295.
Anselmo, Joseph C. "NRO Chief, Deputy Fired in Agency Shakeup." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 4 Mar. 1996, 28.
Capaccio, Tony. "From
Deep Black to the Web, NRO Hits Cyberspace." Defense Week, 11
Mar. 1996, 2.
Commenting on NRO's Web site at http://www.nro.gov.
Aerospace Daily. Editors. "House Intelligence Presses NRO on Small Satellites." 20 May 1996, 292-293.
Anselmo,
Joseph C. "NRO Lost Track of $4 Billion." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 20 May 1996, 71.
Wilhelm,
Richard J. "The New NRO: A CMS Perspective." American Intelligence
Journal 17, no. 1/2 (1996): 53-55.
As Executive Director for Intelligence Community Affairs, the author heads the DCI's Community Management Staff (CMS). He concludes that the "NRO may find itself in increasing competition with new sources of intelligence.... [For example,] SPOT imagery has already proved its value to many traditional NRO customers.... [T]he NRO must look far into the future,... and plan to produce systems that will offer unique access from an overhead perspective rather than only what has been successful in the past."
[Deutch,
John.] "The Future of the National Reconnaissance Program." NMIA
Newsletter 11, no. 2 (1996): 13-16.
Remarks by DCI John Deutch at the ARPA Tech '96 Science and Technology Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, on 22 May 1996. Deutch argues that two key changes "present the NRO with very different challenges" than it faced during the Cold War: "changing technology and the growing importance of resource constraints." To Deutch, the "critical user is the Department of Defense"; and it is from that perspective that Deutch would configure the NRO.
Pincus,
Walter. "Panel Set Up by CIA Recommends Building Smaller, Cheaper Spy
Satellites." Washington Post, 30 Jun. 1996, A11.
Jeremiah Panel. "Defining the Future of the NRO for the 21st Century: Report to the Director, National Reconnaissance Office. Final Report: Executive Summary, 26 August 1996." [http://www.fas.org/irp/nro/jeremiah.htm]
This is text of the Executive Summary of the report prepared by the panel chaired by David E. Jeremiah [ADM/USN (Ret.)]. The panel was appointed following the difficulties encountered by the NRO in 1994 (building flap) and 1995 (unspent funds), which had led to dismissal of the organization's director and deputy director in February 1996. The Panel concluded that "the NRO continues to be the right organizational answer to the nation's space reconnaissance needs in the future because it serves the national and military equities represented by the SECDEF and DCI." In addition, the Executive Summary presents 12 issues and makes recommendations on each.
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