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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20310
17 July 1981
REPLY TO
ATTENTION OF
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF FOR INTELLIGENCE
SUBJECT: Grill Flame
(S) The purpose of this memorandum is to inform you as to both the
present status of the joint Army/DIA Grill Flame program and to provide
guidance for future Army Grill Flame activities. Earlier this week I met
with BG Rapmund, Chairperson of the Human Use Review Committee, to resolve
whether or not the joint program is within Procedure 18, "Experimentation
on Human Subjects" of DOD 5240.1-R. Our discussions were most informative
and I learned a great deal about the program beyond the human use issue.
(S) To resolve the most time sensitive issue - what to do with the
Army money already committed to the FY 1981 portion of the joint program -
l have decided that, since it is at least arguable that none of the FY 1981
taskings targeted by either the Army or DIA involve human experimentation,
and in light of Secretary Marsh's approval of the Army's involvement in the
program, the money committed for FY 1981 may be released to SRI. From both
a legal and policy perspective, I would feel much more comfortable calling
all Grill Flame activity human experimentation. However, based upon BG
Rapmund's representations I believe that the Army may participate in the FY
1981 portion of the joint program without insisting on DOD Secretariat
review and approval of DIA's involvement. The substance of the Rapmund
representations provide: (1) the Army's FY 1981 taskings involve only the
theoretical refinement of remote viewing techniques; and (2) Army person-
nel will not be involved for the remainder of the fiscal year.
(S) The second purpose of this memorandum is to provide advice on how
in the future the Army can participate in Grill Flame activities without
becoming entangled in similar problems. Since any Army involvement in
Grill Flame activities will have to be reviewed and approved by the
Secretary or Under Secretary of the Army on an annual basis, I strongly
recommend that, starting with FY 1982, all Army Grill Flame activity be
consolidated under your supervision and coordinated with BG Rapmund on
human use issues. Our legal obligations in this area coupled with the
current state of the science lead me to believe that the operational
aspects of parapsychology, by their very nature cannot be divorced from
medical and scientific research. In my opinion this is exactly what has
happened both in our in-house program and the SRI contract. This must be
corrected. Therefore, at the beginning of each year I recommend that you
submit for Secretariat level review and approval, an inventory of all
ri
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planned Army Grill Flame involvement for the coming year (i.e., in-house
operational, in-house research, outside contracting, etc.). Such an
approach will not only be of great assistance to the Secretary and the
Under Secretary but I believe it will also improve the overall effective-
ness of the Army's Grill Flame efforts by enabling all Army elements to
support knowledgeably the effort.
(S) I recognize that an integral aspect of a consolidated Army
program will continue to be contracting with outside organizations, such
as SRI. I do not discourage such contracting. I anticipate, however, that
the Army's likely continued interests in using military personnel and in
understanding more about the physiological aspects of parapsychology, any
future joint programs, such as the present Army/DIA program, will be viewed
as including both research and human experimentation. Accordingly, such
programs as a general rule should be designed to require that all
participants comply with all aspects of Procedure 18 before the Army enters
into any contract. I recommend that the easiest way to avoid potential
problems in this area would be to contract independently rather than as a
participant in a joint program.
(U) I would be pleased to
desire.
CF: Secretary of the Army
Mr. Taft, OSD/GC
BG Rapmund
dis' s this atter with you if you so
7-u s
D-elbert L. Spurlock, (Jr.
General CounselI
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