254 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



Washington was provided by the PubUc Buildings Administration of the 

 Federal Works Agency. In addition electrically operated burglar alarms 

 were installed in those parts of buildings where the greatest amount of pro- 

 tection after ofiEce hours was believed to be essential. 



Organization for Security 



Responsibility for security was delegated by the Director to the Executive 

 Secretary. It entailed the formulation of regulations by which classified 

 matter was protected, the establishment of procedures by which active se- 

 curity programs could be conducted, and the execution of those programs. 

 As the Executive Secretary was the Contracting Officer on most OSRD con- 

 tracts, he was in a position to issue the necessary instructions to put the 

 regulations into effect so far as contracts were concerned. In order to assist 

 the Executive Secretary in carrying out his responsibilities as security officer, 

 a security section was established in the Administrative Office with William 

 A. Osborne as Chief. At the peak of its activity twenty-two persons were 

 assigned to the section. 



The security section had the task of conducting the security programs, 

 maintaining the records of security activities, and preparing and enforcing 

 security regulations. By placing responsibility for the enforcement of regula- 

 tions in the group responsible for their preparation, there was assurance that 

 the problems involved in administration and enforcement would be con- 

 sidered at the same time as the necessity for the regulation itself. This cen- 

 tralization also made it possible to keep close watch over the operation of 

 security regulations and procedures. A number of inquiries on any point in 

 the regulations or a number of inquiries on a point not covered by the regu- 

 lations frequently indicated the need for new or revised regulations and 

 procedures. The centralization of security functions also simplified the under- 

 standing of the over-all security picture of any organization engaged in 

 OSRD work. Comprehensive files made most of the information immediately 

 accessible. 



On the average the security section handled between 150 and 300 reports 

 per week. The number of cases pending completion of investigation usually 

 equalled the number of cases submitted for investigation in the previous 

 four- to eight-week period. All cases where a possible adverse decision was 

 indicated were submitted to the Executive Secretary for review, and occa- 

 sionally a particularly difficult case would be discussed with the Director. 



OSRD never seriously considered setting up its own investigative service. 

 The Army and Navy had their intelligence services and there were others 

 in different parts of the Government. If there had been a comparable OSRD 

 service, it might have been possible to get reports more speedily than they 



