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48 The Dorian Files Revealed: a Compendium of the NRO’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory Documents a strong, centralized field organization, they also believed there should be strong and clear lines of authority to the highest levels of the Air Force. In January 1964, at the request of headquarters USAF, AFSC prepared a MOL management paper which General Schriever submitted to Dr. McMillan on the 20th. The stated objective was to provide “continuing positive direction and control of the program by the Secretary of the Air Force while assuring the necessary flexibility at the operating management level.” To achieve that objective, AFSC recommended placing General Schriever at the head of a “MOL Special Program Office” to be located in the Washington area, preferably in the Pentagon. It would be responsible for overall review and program control, report directly to the Secretary in directing the project and implementing his decisions. 6 To insure Headquarters USAF participation, AFSC suggested assigning Air Staff representatives on a fulltime basis to the SID at the Space Systems Division. They would be responsible for keeping their home offices informed while they worked for and represented the system office in their respective functional areas. In addition, AFSC proposed that NASA be requested to provide one or two people to work full-time with the SPO on the West Coast. On major program and policy matters, it visualized the MOL office as coordinating with the Chief, Vice Chief, or appropriate Deputies, and with Dr. Seamans or other NASA officials. The system office would report directly to the “MOL Special Program Office.” 7 On 1 February 1964, while the Air Staff was mulling over AFSC’s proposal, General Schriever moved within his own headquarters to establish a new office of “assistant Deputy Commander for Space for MOL” under Col R. K. Jacobsen. Shortly thereafter he met with Dr. McMillan to discuss these management changes and the AFSC plan for a Pentagon-level program office. Initially, McMillan thought well of the proposal. On 6 February he advised Schriever he agreed that there should be a MOL office in the Washington area responsible for developing and maintaining “an experimental plan binding on the program, and in particular on SSD, after approval by the Air Staff, SAF-CS, and DDR&E.” As he saw it, the MOL office would be responsible for coordinating with NASA, insuring support from all AFSC elements, programming and managing resources, and monitoring progress and providing timely information to the Secretary, Air Staff, and DDR&E. 8 However, McMillan also favored appointing a special assistant to the Secretary to help him review MOL program progress. He said that while the assistantship would be a full-time job, the director of the MOL office might wear the “second hat’’ if an individual with appropriate qualifications could be found. He said further that he believed the MOL office should be headed by a general officer, with his appointment and that of the Secretary’s special assistant being considered together. 9 While awaiting a firm decision on the top-level organization, General Schriever on 10 March directed General Funk to establish an SSD Deputy Commander for Manned Space Systems and to delegate it full authority for MOL development. Subsequently, he named General Bleymaier to head the new office. Colonel Brady was designated. System Program Director under Bleymaier, and 18 other officers were initially assigned to him. Later, on 7 May, a permanent Navy MOL field office was established as an integral part of the SPO. 10 These organizational actions completed the basic field-level organization, but in the meantime little had been done about the Washington office. On 12 March, Schriever and Ferguson met with Drs. McMillan and Flax to discuss the matter, at which time the Air Force Under Secretary expressed “certain reservations” about his earlier agreement of 6 February. He now indicated that AFSC’s proposed top-level management proposal was not acceptable. † The next day a dissatisfied General Schriever wrote to Ferguson and reviewed the steps he had taken within his headquarters and at SSD to establish “effective internal AFSC management’’ of MOL. He said these steps were valid and adequate for AFSC operations but, in his opinion, as he later advised McMillan, the Air Staff arrangement was “inadequate for the task that lies ahead.” 11 Dr. McMillan, however, subsequently decided on a different type of arrangement. In late April, after receiving authority to go ahead with the pre-Phase I studies, he wrote to the Chief of Staff about his previous approval of establishment of Colonel Schultz’s office and said: The project of developing a Manned Orbital Laboratory as directed by the Secretary of Defense will involve an extraordinary degree of intragovernmental and inter-service relationships, particularly during the early phases. The Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as that of the Secretary of the Air Force, will be continuously concerned with details of the policies governing the MOL development... † The NRO had already raised questions about management of the “black”aspects of MOL development activities.
Chapter V - EVOLUTION OF THE MOL MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE 49 I now believe that the MOL Project Office should assume the responsibility to meet the requirements implicit in the decision by the Secretary of Defense to proceed with further studies relative to this project. For the reasons outlined...above, this office must be specifically and directly responsive to the requirements of the Secretary of the Air Force, as well as to the Chief of Staff. 12 McMillan’s memorandum set off an Air Staff organizational study aimed at creating the needed coordination office. The recommendation that emerged from this study was to redesignate the Deputy Director of Development Planning, Space, as the “Assistant for the MOL Program” and to expand the office. This recommendation was accepted and on 9 June 1964 the Vice Chief formally announced redesignation of the office, which he said would assume “the normal Air Staff functions involving MOL activities as directed by the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force.” 13 As it turned out, this proved to be an interim arrangement in the evolution’ of the MOL management structure. ‡ Endnotes 1. Ltr (C), Ferguson to McKee, 7 Aug 63, subj: Nat’l Space Station Program. 2. Ibid. 3. Ltr (U), Gen McKee, Vice USAF to Deputies, et al, 23 Sep 63, Subj: The AF and the Natl Space Program. 4. Memo (U), McMillan to McKee, 27 Sep 63, subj as above. 5. Ltr (S), Ferguson to Ritland, 8 Nov 63, subj: Implementation of DoD/NASA Agreement. 6. AFSC Draft Proposal (U), MOL Mgt, 20 Jan 64. 7. Ibid. 8. Ltr (U), Schriever to Ferguson, 1 Feb 64; Ltr (U), McMillan to Schriever, 6 Feb 64. 9. Ltr (U), McMillan to Schriever, 6 Feb 64. 10. Ltr (S), Schriever to Funk, 10 Mar 64, subj: Field Level Mgt of MOL; AFSC News Release No. 43-R-30, 13 Mar 64; Historical Rprt, MOL Prog, 1st Half 1964, p 2. 11. Ltr (U), Schriever to Ferguson, 13 Mar 64; Ltr (C), Schriever to McMillan, 18 Aug 64. 12. Memo (U), McMillan to CSAF, 29 Apr 64, subj: MOL Coordination Office; AFCCS Draft Numbered AF Ltr, subj: MOL Coordination Office. 13. Ltr No. 28 (U), McKee to Deputies, et al, 9 Jun 64, subj: as above. ‡ These further changes will be discussed in Chapter VII.
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The DORIAN Files Revealed: A Compen
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Center for the Study of National Re
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Contents v Contents Foreword.......
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Contents vii Chapter XII: Congress,
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Foreword ix I am pleased to see the
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Preface xi The Dorian Files Reveale
Page 15 and 16: Introduction xiii President Lyndon
Page 17 and 18: Introduction xv as determining the
Page 19 and 20: Chapter I - Early Space Station Pla
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Page 68 and 69: Chapter VI: RESULTS OF THE PRE-PHAS
Page 76 and 77: Chapter VII: THE LABORATORY VEHICLE
Page 88 and 89: Chapter VIII: THE MOL PROGRAM DECIS
Page 98 and 99: Chapter IX: ORGANIZING FOR CONTRACT
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Chapter X - THE MANNED/UNMANNED SYS
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Chapter XI - BUDGET, DEVELOPMENTAL,
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Chapter XII: CONGRESS, MOL SECURITY
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Chapter XIV: NEW FINANCIAL AND SCHE
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Chapter XV: THE PROJECT TERMINATED
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Chapter XVI: POST-MORTEM
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Supplemental Documents InDeX
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