A National Nerve Center

Inside The White House Situation Room

Michael Donley, Cornelius O™Leary, and John Monfgomery

of the Go to the southwest gate current intelligence information is White House complex, present the provided to key decisionmakers, guard with identification, and state including the President. your business. If you are on the appointment list, an escort will be called. Walk up West Executive Ave Mission, Organization, Functions nue and turn tight into the West Basement entrance; another guard The WHSR was established by Presi will check for White your pass dent Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs House Take the first access. right, disaster in 1961. That crisis revealed down a few stairs. To the left is the a need for rapid and secure presiden White House Mess; on the is a right tial communications and for White Just remember that there locked door. House coordination of the many are many important people external communications channels of Behind these of the who work in the White layers security is national security information which White House Situation Room led to the President.™ Since then, the House, and you™re not one (WHSR), a conference room sur mission of the fSit Roomf has been rounded three sides small of them. on by two to provide current intelligence and offices, workstations, com multiple crisis support to the NSC staff, the puters, and communications National Security Adviser, and the 9, The conference is equipment. room President. The Sit Room staff is com soundproofed and well appointed posed of approximately 30 but small and slightly cramped. The personnel, organized around five technical equipment is up to date, Watch Teams that provide 7-day, 24- though not necessarily fleading hour monitoring of international foot of is edgef; every square space events. A generic Watch Team functional. Visitors typically are includes three Duty Officers, a com the location and tech impressed by munications assistant, and an nology, but they are often surprised intelligence analyst. The number and at the small size. composition of personnel varies, depending on shift requirements and While it is widely known that impor workload. tant meetings are held here, the of the in the importance WHSR Sit Room personnel are handpicked daily life of the National Security from nominations made by military Council (NSC) and White House and civilian intelligence agencies for critical role staff and its in Washing approximately two-year tours. This is ton™s network of national key a close, high-visibility work environ Michael Donley was Deputy Execu security operations and intelligence ment. are checked at the door, tive Secretary of the National Egos less understood. This centers are as captured in the admonition of a Security Council, 1987-89. paper is intended to fill that void. former Sit Room Director to incom Cornelius O™Leary is a former Direc We believe there is a longstanding ing Duty Officers: fJust remember tot of the White House Situation within middle and senior levels need that there are many important peo Room. John Montgomery is a of the Intelligence Community (IC) ple who work in the White House, the former intelligence analyst at of for a basic understanding NSC and you™re not one of them.f Per National Security Council. and White House functions and how sonal characteristics count: an even

7 Situation Room

In all situations other than

nuclear war or physical threats against the coolness under on-site television temperament, pres President, the Sit Room is broadcasts from sure, and the ability to have a the crisis area and newswire services coherent, professional, no-advance- in effect the 24-hour, one pumping a steady volume of informa notice conversation with the Presi for the White tion destined for the morning front dent stop shop of the United States. pages. The Duty Officer™s task is to

House staff. ensure that the President and

Sit Room functions are perhaps National Security Adviser are described best in the daily routine of informed not only of the current situ activities. The day begins with the ation but also how the situation is Watch Team™s preparation of the being portrayed by the media. Less- Morning Book. Prepared for the Presi than-objective images can sometimes dent, Vice President, and most senior senior decisionmakers to read, and it place the Duty Officer in a position White House staff, the Morning falls to the Sit Room to boil that of having to produce fnegativef Book contains a copy of the National information down to its essential intelligence to put the event into con Intelligence Daily, the State Depart elements. text. Occasionally, it may even prove ment™s Morning Summary, and necessary to tell the principal that the diplomatic cables and intelligence In a typical 24-hour day, the Sit events as portrayed by the press incorrect. reports. These cables and reports are Room will provide alerts on breaking are selected based on their relevance to events to NSC and White House per ongoing diplomatic initiatives and br sonnel. Triggered by specific events While the advancements in telecom specific subject matter on the Presi and followed with consultations munications have placed more dent™s schedule. The Morning Book is among operations and intelligence pressure on the watch standers, they usually in the car when the National centers, the alert notification process have also simplified the exchange of Security Adviser is picked up for results in a rapid series of phone calls information among participating work. The morning routine also to key officials. Responsibility for agencies. The same satellites that includes the President™s Daily Brief informing the President belongs to allow news reporting from the field which is prepared by CIA, hand-deliv the National Security Adviser. Later, also enable crisis-support elements to ered, and briefed by a CIA officer to a written fSit Room Notef will be extract information from remote the President and other NSC prepared, summarizing the event databases, provide for timely report principals.2 with up-to-the-minute reports from ing, and, in some cases, engage in other centers, perhaps including a video teleconferencing. In addition, the Watch Teams pro photo, diagram, or map. At the direc duce morning and evening tion of the National Security Another typical Sit Room activity is summaries of highly selective mate Adviser, such a note might be deliv arranging the President™s phone calls rial. These summaries, targeted on ered by a Duty Officer directly to and other sensitive communications current interagency issues, are trans the Oval Office or the President™s res with foreign heads of state. This mitted electronically to the NSC idential quarters. After hours, includes coordinating the timing of staff. Such summaries, which draw depending on their personal style or such calls at each end, providing on a number of finished interagency interest, the President or Vice Presi interpreters where necessary, and call products, field reports, and news- dent might the Sit Room directly ensuring appropriate security and wires, may also elicit requests for the or drop by unannounced for a quick recordkeeping. In this function, the original products. The Sit Room update. Sit Room coordinates closely with staff does not perform intelligence the White House Communications analysis or render the kind of formal The advent of 24-hour-a-day televi Agency, which supplies communica interagency judgments found in sion news broadcasting as well as tions technicians to the Watch National Intelligence Estimates. But radio has added a new dynamic to Teams. it is important to recognize that, warning and alert operations. Not especially at the White House, there only do Duty Officers pour over hun The importance of the Sit Room™s is always more intelligence informa dreds of incoming cables, but they communications function cannot be tion available than there is time for also are constantly bombarded by overstated. In all situations other

8 Situation Room

This intimate knowledge of the President™s schedule makes the Sit Room unique than nuclear war or physical threats established among the National Secu against the President, the Sit Room among Washington-area rity Adviser, the Executive Secretary, is in effect the 24-hour, one-stop operations and intelligence and the Sit Room Director. shop for the White House staff. It is centers. also the funnel through which most This trust is especially important in communications, especially classified establishing the thresholds for warn information, will pass when the Presi ~9 ing and alert after hours and dent is not in residence. It is an providing advance notice of future essential link, providing the traveling events. Upon the death of a foreign White House with access to all the For this the Sit Room has head of state, for example, it not information available from Washing reason, may be to awaken the National ton™s national security community. often been administratively assigned necessary in to the Office of the Executive Secre Security Adviser or the President the middle of the If there tary. With inclusion of the Sit night. are the no threats to American citizens Essential Relationships Room, Executive Secretary becomes the focal point for all infor involved and no action for the Presi dent mation going to the National to take, perhaps a fwake-upf There are two essential relationships Security Adviser, from the delibera notification at 5 a.m. would suffice. that the Situation Room has to main it is unusual for the Sit tive (fslow paperf) policy to Similarly, not tain if it is to be successful in process fast-moving perishable intelligence Room Director to be included in sen providing timely information to the and crisis information. As coordina sitive interagency meetings before Oval Office. The most important tor of the President™s national initiation of military operations or relationship is with the NSC™s Execu schedule, the Office of the for the National Security Adviser to tive who security Secretary, reports directly instruct the Sit Room that Executive Secretary also has an enor a special to the National Security Adviser and mous reservoir of and fEyes Onlyf should be the policy message Deputy. Establish operational information at its finger brought directly upstairs. tips. It is through this key ing such trust can be developed only As statutory head of the NSC staff, that the Sit Room will through close and routine personal the Executive is the relationship Secretary pri interactions. first hear of a proposed Presidential mary point of contact for the ‚White trip abroad or a potential call to a for House Staff Secretary and is the key eign head ofstate. player in moving national security Through daily interaction with the information to and from the Oval Executive Secretary and National Office.3 National-security-related A second essential connection for the Security Adviser (including the Dep memorandums from departments WHSR is its relationship with the uty), and routine access to the and agencies to the President are National Security Adviser, formally schedules and agendas of interagency transmitted through the NSC™s Exec known as the Assistant to the Presi meetings, the Sit Room Director is utive Secretary for staffing to the dent for National Security Affairs. able to provide effective operational appropriate office. When staffing is He and the Deputy are the officials guidance to Watch Teams. The complete, finished packages for the most fin the know,f and they are in teams are then in a better position to National Security Adviser or the Pres frequent and direct contact with assess the value and importance of ident are sent back up the chain NSC principals and key subordi incoming cables and newswires in through the Executive Secretary. nates. Because of the Sit Room™s role the context of long-range policy When the President makes a decision in the alert process, its position as issues under discussion at the highest or approves a course of action, the the funnel for national security infor levels, as well as fast-breaking crises Executive Secretary formally commu mation when the President is that will demand Presidential atten nicates the decision to affected traveling, and its 24-hour capability, tion. This intimate knowledge of the departments and agencies. Thus, vir a close working relationship with the President™s schedule makes the Sit tually all national security National Security Adviser usually Room unique among Washington correspondence passes through the develops. For the system to work area operations and intelligence Executive Secretary. at its best, a special trust has to be centers.

9 Situation Room

Support to the NSC Staff take advantage of the on-duty staff alty of personnel cutbacks, this and its communications services. approach was developed after several This has limita of The NSC staff is organized into approach, however, years trial and error focused on regional and functional directorates tions: Sit Room Watch Teams may improving internal and external intel located in the Old Executive Office lack the specific regional expertise ligence support for the National the Building (OEOB). A directorate is appropriate to crisis; Sit Room Security Adviser and the NSC staff. are and not suited headed by a Senior Director, who is spaces cramped to accommodate appointed by the President to coordi physically longer Use of intelligence analysts to pro term crisis and Watch nate and Presidential operations; oversee policy vide daily intelligence augmentation Teams have a in a particular area. A Senior Direc continuing responsibil to NSC directorates was previously to monitor other events. tor™s at State or Defense ity global counterpart considered necessary to keep up with would be at the Assistant Secretary even the normal volume of relevant level. The Senior Director supports intelligence and cable traffic. At the the National Security Adviser, in to Intelligence Support same time, resulting from their close effect coordinating the interagency Policymakers association with the policy staff, intel policy agenda in a given area. The ligence analysts also garnered an directorates are best described as a Efforts to strengthen intelligence sup insider™s perspective on interagency mile wide and an inch deep because port to policymakers have a long policy deliberations. This perspective they usually consist only of a Senior history. Every administration seems strengthened the Sit Room™s ability Director assisted by two to four direc to reach its own modus vivendi, to anticipate specific intelligence On the tors. a day-to-day basis, Sit squaring expectations with realities requirements. During crises, the Room supports the NSC directorates between the policy and intelligence Senior Director would have a famil by electronically routing nearly communities. As in the creation of iar face who would coordinate 1,000 to staff members; messages the Sit Room itself, postcrisis evalua intelligence support in the Sit Room scanning cables, newswires, and press tions often are catalysts for change. and who would know where to find and CNN for reports; monitoring Many adjustments in organization, key information in the IC. In turn, events. fast-breaking process, and personnel have been the Sit Room Watch Team would be made over the years in response to augmented by appropriate functional It is important that the NSC™s Direc the problems perceived at the time. or regional expertise from an intelli torate for Intelligence Programs not We describe below a model that was gence analyst familiar with current be confused with Sit Room opera used successfully in the late 1980s to interagency policy deliberations. It tions. The Intelligence Directorate strengthen intelligence support at the proved on many occasions to be a oversees interagency intelligence poli NSC Senior Director and Inter useful marriage. cies and programs such as covert agency Working Group level. action Findings, counterintelligence, Use of on-scene intelligence analysts major procurement projects, and the In the late the of 1980s, connectivity was also a valuable means for the IC it interagency intelligence budget; the Sit Room to the NSC staff bene to enhance its support to the White has no responsibility for production, fited from the assignment of several House. With insights gained through dissemination, or coordination of regional and functional intelligence daily interaction with the NSC direc current intelligence.4 to the Sit Room staff. These analysts tors, the analysts communicated the worked for the Sit Room analysts precise current needs of the director- Direct Sit Room with the Director but had offices in the contact ares to the IC™s production elements. NSC staff increases OEOB and were to the markedly during assigned The analysts served as a sounding- NSC™s crises. In some cases, such as Iraq™s regional and functional direc board for IC-initiated studies and invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 torates. Their job was to provide would discuss with NSC directors President Gor tailored current coup attempt against intelligence support the gist of draft or just-published bachev, it is not unusual for the to the staff and to serve as a focal studies, often resulting in requests for Sit Room Senior Director to move into the Sit point support in the for deskside briefings. Finally, the Room to be closer to the crisis and directorates. a recent casu Though analysts were responsible for framing

10 Situation Room

Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of the Sit Room is its the bulk of the issues included in the The periodic inclusion of Coast proximity to the President. Sit Room™s Weekly Emphasis List, Guard and other Federal agency per which was often exchanged with As in real estate, the sonnel as Sit Room Duty Officers other agencies. has sometimes proved helpful in operative are principles these crises, because the Sit Room

location, location, and be called to facilitate ini Again, it is important not to confuse may upon the role of the Sit Room Watch location. tial coordination of crisis response within the White House until an Team or intelligence analysts with task force is the role of other, more senior players appropriate interagency ‚9 formed. in the interagency intelligence pro cess. The interagency process includes National Intelligence Offic who for ers (NIOs), are responsible areas, the Sit Room has a more inde Comparisons With Other the and coordinating preparation pendent role to play as an operations Washington-Area Centers of formal adjudication interagency and intelligence center. There is a con National Estimates in Intelligence stant need for coordination on daily the most fea of the Perhaps distinguishing support policy community. current issues with other centers, espe ture of the Sit Room is its NIOs often included in senior- proximity are cially at the Defense and State to the President. As in real estate, the level interagency meetings and pro Departments and CIA. This coordina are location, loca vide feedback and the IC. operative principles tasking to tion takes place largely out of view of tion, and location. To be sure, the Whereas the NIO is focused on the NSC staff and but is leadership, President most intelli sometimes gets important future (although near- nonetheless critical to the effectiveness gence advice and inputs from the term) requirements for collection, of the When less interagency system. Director of Central Intelligence, production, and analysis, the Sit formal coordination has been found NIOs, and other key officials. But Room analyst was focused on ensur formal inadequate, interagency groups these officials cannot be at the White ing access to today™s information have been chartered by the President House 24 hours a day. The Sit already available in the Community, National Adviser or Security to Room often is the ffirst phone callf and on effecting close coordination at strengthen connectivity among opera when senior White House officials the level. working tions and intelligence centers, are looking for the latest intelligence improve the flow of information, information, and it plays a key role and This model worked for several rea develop common practices proce in synthesizing cables and intelli sons: It (rather than dures where possible, and coordinate supported gence products originated by other competed with) the senior policy- hardware and software decisions con agencies.5 makers™ role as crisis managers; the cerning interagency communications Sit Room™s role as the NSC focal systems. A second feature is that the Sit point for current intelligence was Room is both an operations and reinforced; midcareer analysts were Sit Room responsibilities sometimes center for the White careful not to intrude on NIO intelligence extend beyond intelligence and House. These activities are divided responsibilities; and the process national security functions. Maintain in most departments and agencies. worked the same way with the same ing connectivity with the Federal In the of Defense, for people in both routine and crisis Department the National environments. Emergency Management Agency, example, Military the Departments ofJustice, Trans Command Center is colocated but portation, Commerce, and other separate from the National Military agencies, the Sit Room is frequently Joint Intelligence Center. Likewise, Interagency Connections the initial point of White House in the State Department and at notification for domestic disasters, CIA headquarters, operations and In addition to providing current intel including everything from earth intelligence activities are separated. ligence support to the NSC staff in quakes, fires, and floods to Haitian In the White House, this means important regional and functional refugees and Federal prison riots. that the relationship between policy

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Sit Room personnel

provide some of what little continuity exists within the development and current intelligence are often able to observe potential NSC staff, and they are can be extremely close. gaps in the complex, fast-moving cri often able to observe sis management process. Routine and The close connectivity between intel open dialogue with key NSC officials potential gaps in the ligence and policy also means that is essential for getting the most from crisis the White House is not a passive con complex, fast-moving the Sit Room staff. sumer of intelligence. Even at the management process. national level, information has an The messages for the IC are equally foperationalf and sometimes ftacti clear. First, departmental and agency calf dimension. Diplomatic and ‚9 Watch Teams should be better edu intelligence cables may be closely cor cated about who works at the Sit related with Presidential events, Room and what they do. Operations perhaps allowing a glimpse of the and intelligence center personnel Washington™s other operations and talking points of a foreign head of need to know that access is some intelligence centers. state only hours or minutes before he times more important than rank. meets with the President. When a Sit Room Duty Officer phones, even though he or she may Implications for Leadership A third feature is the small size of the be junior in rank or grade, take the Sit Room staff. By all measures, the call and get the answer. Do not view better of the role of Sit Room is the smallest of the A understanding the Sit Room as an institutional the WHSR has Washington-area operations and important implica threat; support the White House in tions for NSC and for the intelligence centers. This has come leadership any attempt to find information and which to mean a relatively junior staff. intelligence agencies supply accept that the deadlines imposed, both information and Senior Duty Officers are perhaps 0- personnel to however unreasonable, will be for the NSC staff, the Sit 3, or GS-12 or 13 equivalents, as including good reason. The IC should be confi Room. compared to 0-6 or GS-15 equiva dent that Sit Room information lents elsewhere. Limitations of size requests are for legitimate purposes and depth, however, can in part be There is a need within the NSC for and will not be mishandled. offset by quality personnel, high stan continuing education and dialogue dards of performance, the Sit among staff and leadership about the Second, send your best people and Room™s interagency character, excel role and potential of the Sit Room in treat them well when they return. Per lent technical support, and the support of NSC activities. An orien sonnel nominated to serve as Sit motivation that comes with working tation to Sit Room operations should Room duty officers should have opera inside the White House. be mandatory for incoming NSC tions/intelligence center experience. staff officers. Likewise, an orienta These are junior-to-midlevel person In addition to the Sit Room™s inher tion to the NSC and interagency nel going to an outside assignmentŠ for ent limitations stemming from the process should be mandatory not always regarded as a career- small size of its staff, it lacks many incoming Sit Room Duty Officers. enhancing move. But the destination advantages of a large intelligence is crucial; these junior personnel may agency. But the Sit Room does not In addition, the National Security have more contact with senior offi need such advantages to fulfill its Adviser, Executive Secretary, and Sit cials than certain agency directors. mission, and it should not be consid Room Director should nurture in Personal screening of nominations by ered for influence the of a peer competitor their personal interactions a routine leadership supporting agencies in the IC. The implications of the Sit concept of operations for crisis is called for, as well as personal Room™s the In look for proximity to President, management. The enemy in crises is debriefings. addition, moreover, should not be underrated. confusion and fad hocracyf; responsi opportunities to augment the Sit Room staff with Despite its limitations, the Sit Room bilities and expectations need to be as or NSC directorates virtue its has mid- by of location greater clear as possible. Sit Room personnel to senior-level intelligence ana of intense access and potential impact on provide some of what little continuity lysts during periods activity White House officials than any of exists within the NSC staff, and they or crisis.

12 Situation Room

When Sit Room Duty Officers White House works, how the Presi return to your agency for their next dent gets information, and how assignment, ensure that the personnel decisions are made. system makes the most of their experi ence. Promotion boards do not always recognize the signature of the NOTES National Security Adviser or his Dep uty on personnel evaluation or 1. Bromley Smith, fOrganizational His promotion recommendation forms. tory of the National Security Council the and Take a close look at planned career During Kennedy Johnson Administrations,f p. 51. Unpub progression, and concentrate on lished of the that takes of the monograph, courtesy placement advantage NSC staff. White House experience and enlarges the individual™s Sit Room-attained 2. Further unclassified background on of the IC. knowledge the President™s Dasly Briefcan be found in: fPDB, the Only News Not Fit for Anyone Else To Read,f The Washington Post, 27 August 94, 7. Conclusion p.

3. 50 U.S.C. 402, Sec. 101(c) Greater knowledge about the role of 4. An the coordination the WHSR has the potential for sev example of and eral beneficial effects within the IC. oversight functions performed by the NSC™s Intelligence Directorate These include strengthening current may be found in David G. Major™s article, intelligence within the NSC support fOperation ‚Famish™: The Integra staff and the White House; improv tion of Counterintelligence into the ing the timeliness of intelligence National Strategic Decisionmaking support during crises; enhancing the Process,f Defense Intelligence Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1995. quality of individual agency products 1, spring in support of national leadership; 5. For a broader and fuller treatment of and better internal use of department the White HouseŠCIA relationship, and agency personnel with White see Robert M. Gates, fAn Opportu House experience. In current intelli nity Unfulfilled: The Use and and crisis the gence support, Perceptions of Intelligence at the Situation Room is well positioned at White House,f Washington Quar the working level to assist in bridg terly, winter 1989. ing the needs of the policy and intelligence communities. IC effec tiveness would be improved with better understanding of how the

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