(2006-1007-F) Ann Z. Caracristi - PFIAB

The materials in FOIA 2006-1007-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. Ann Z. Caracristi was appointed to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) on September 30, 1993. President Clinton retained Caracristi on the Board through his administration. Caracristi was a sitting member of the Intelligence Oversight Board and in 1999, assisted with the research and publication of the PFIAB report on security at Department of Energy weapons labs, Science at its Best, Security at its Worst. Caracristi last served on the Board of Visitors for the Joint Military Intelligence College and the NSA Scientific Board. Ann Caracristi served a distinguished career in the intelligence field. She began her career in 1942 working as a cryptanalyst with the Army Signal Intelligence Service. Her work on Imperial Japanese Army communications quickly led to promotions to cryptanalysis and to supervision. In 1949, the Army Signal Intelligence Service became part of the newly created Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA). President Harry S. Truman created the National Security Agency (NSA) in 1952, combining and enhancing the intelligence duties of what was the AFSA. The National Security Administration credits Caracristi with pioneering the use of computers in cytological analysis. She also is credited with establishing the first laboratory devoted to studying communications phenomena. Caracristi’s expertise and professionalism led to rapid advancement to the administrative ranks of the NSA. In 1980, she was named Deputy Director of the NSA; the first woman to hold that position. That year she was also awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award. She retired from the NSA in 1982 after serving forty years in the intelligence field. After retirement Caracristi remained active in the U.S. intelligence community. She was Chair of the Director of Central Intelligence Task Force on intelligence community training. She served on the Director of Central Intelligence/Secretary of Defense Joint Security Commission. Caracristi also served as a member of the Aspin/Brown Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the Intelligence Community. The President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Executive Order 10656, signed February 6, 1956, created the President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities. Eisenhower believed that this board of respected and knowledgeable citizens could provide him with unbiased and candid appraisals of United States’ intelligence activities. President John Kennedy, by the signing of Executive Order 10938 on May 4, 1961, renamed the Board of Consultants, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Though the name was changed, the board continued to operate in much the same fashion. Executive Order 11460, signed by President Richard Nixon on March 20, 1969, again changed the name of the PFIAB to the President’s Advisory Intelligence Board. President Jimmy Carter abolished the board in March of 1977. Carter did however, retain the Intelligence Oversight Board. The IOB was created by President Gerald Ford in 1976 following a post Watergate investigation by Congress into potential illegal activities of the intelligence agencies. The IOB was tasked with reporting potential illegal activities to the Department of Justice for review. As Ford told Congress in 1976, “I believe [the changes] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time allowing them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information.” President Ronald Reagan modified the role of the IOB in 1981 and re-established the PFIAB in 1985 by signing Executive Order 12537. President William Jefferson Clinton combined the IOB and the PFIAB, making the IOB a committee rather than an independent organization. President George W. Bush radically modified the role of both the IOB and the PFIAB following the creation of a Director of National Intelligence. The newly named President’s Intelligence Advisory Board was designated to oversee the intelligence collection activities of any Federal agency engaged in the collection of intelligence or the production of intelligence policy. President Barak Obama more clearly defined the role of the PIAB and strengthened the IOB with the passage of Executive Order 13516. Under President Clinton the PFIAB had between eleven and twelve members, by law it could be no more than sixteen, whose terms were established by the President. Members were chosen for their independence, knowledge, and experience. The members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board serve as unpaid observers of United States intelligence community. Much of their work is highly secret in nature though Presidents have chosen on occasion to make the Board’s reports, or portions thereof, public. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and the Director serves at the leisure of the President. Clinton Presidential Records relating to Ann Caracristi and her service on the PFIAB consist of emails, memorandum, and administrative paperwork. Many of the records produced for this FOIA were from personnel files which resulted in many closures related to personal privacy. Also the nature of the work undertaken by PFIAB resulted in many records closed for national security reasons.