as WDAGO 643-A.
On this form, he recorded multitudinous facts of his
personal history; including his ancestry, places of domicile, schooling,
types of employment, character references, and the like.
This information
was a necessary preliminary to a thorough-going examination of his back-
ground, his personal habits, and his associations by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
Not only his loyalty to the United States, but also
his ability to safeguard classified information was to be closely
scrutinized before he could be granted a "Q" clearance which qualified
him to have access to "RESTRICTED DATA" as defined by the Atomic Energy
Act of 1946.
He was also required to sign a comprehensive security state-
ment, which in itself was sufficient to make him aware of the importance
of the responsibilities which awaited him.
Security. was extremely important in this operation.
Information
of all kinds was so highly classified at the inception of the operation
that many officers were unwilling to reveal even the smallest detail to
the new arrival.
This condition did have the desired effect of preserving
security, but it was sometimes belabored to the point where work could not
be accomplished.
This was the situation that the new officer faced when
he reported for duty.
A staff officer in Washington must find out who can get tre
problem solved.
This business of knowing “who does it" can be complicated,
especially when the work is classified "SECRET" or "TOP SECRET", and it
becomes even more involved when the classification is "RESTRICTED DATA".
In addition to the above difficulties, everything had to be hand=carried
because the normal messenger service could not be used in handling this
type of informatione
Section VIII
.*
.
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