Reading Room

4 May 1954

SUBJECT: Establishment of Operation BRAVO-CHARLIE

TO: , Asst. Director, Office of Scientific Intelligence

Attention: W. Seaton, Division Chief, Western Europe

Reference is made to .

Upon consideration of the materials submitted to this Office and following consultation with the Director, authorization is hereby granted for the establishment of a compartmented program, to be designated Operation BRAVO-CHARLIE, for the purpose of conducting investigation into the apparatus presently held under the cognizance of the Office of Scientific Intelligence and into such collateral phenomena as may be brought to light in the course of that investigation.

Technical supervision of the program is assigned to the Office of Scientific Intelligence. Operational cognizance, including the selection and preparation of any field trial that may be recommended in due course by the technical group, is assigned to the Western Europe Division. The two Offices will conclude between themselves such working arrangements as are necessary to give effect to this division of responsibility, and will furnish a copy of the same to this Office for the record.

The program is to be conducted under strict compartmentation. Knowledge of the existence of Operation BRAVO-CHARLIE, and of the nature of the apparatus to which it pertains, is to be confined to personnel specifically read in by the Office of Scientific Intelligence or by the Western Europe Division, and in no case is the program to be referred to in routine correspondence or in any document not bearing the appropriate control markings. The cryptonym BRAVO-CHARLIE is itself to be treated as sensitive and is not to appear in any communication of a classification lower than .

Personnel acquired under Operation PAPERCLIP and presently retained at are authorized for assignment to the technical group at the discretion of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, subject to the customary security review. The Office of Scientific Intelligence is further authorized to draw upon the discretionary reserve identified in to defray the costs of the preliminary phase, in such amount as may be necessary and upon presentation of the usual accounting to this Office.

The preliminary phase is to be brought to conclusion not later than 31 October of the present year, at which time the Office of Scientific Intelligence will render a report of its findings to the Western Europe Division, with a copy to this Office. Any recommendation for the conduct of a field trial will be submitted to this Office for further authorization and will not be acted upon prior to the receipt of the same.

The Director has been apprised of the establishment of the program and has directed that he be kept informed of its progress at intervals to be determined by this Office.

Chief of Operations