• February 3, 1973 To: W. P. Clements, Jr. From: Peter O'Donnell, Jr. DeP Sec has seen I want to put in writing what I said to you about the need for an "audit" at the beginning of your term of office. It is common practice for new management to ask for an audit of the books of a corporation. By the same token, I strongly recommend that you ask your top managers for a written "audit" in terms of: 1. Money 2. People 3. Programs As far as money is concerned, the purpose of the "audit" would be to find out if there are any financial surprises coming up between now and the end of the fiscal year on June 30th. As for the people "audit", you need an evaluation of the top personnel on hand. Of those you want to keep, their intent to stay four years needs to be ascertained. Also you need to know any expected resignation or termination dates for the top 100 slots in the department. As far as the "audit" on programs, each of the service secretaries plus the other department heads need to make you aware of all the problems they have on hand as well as any potential problems that will be develop- ing between now and the end of the fiscal year. This "audit" needs to be done for several reasons: First, to more fully acquaint you with the situation within the department and problems that may be on the horizon. Second, it is a protection to you to have this written report from your top managers in the event a problem surfaces later that they did not identify now. Third, this will give still another signal to your top managers that there is going to be a much tighter operation in the department, beginning immediately.