The NSC staff coordinated a structure for monitoring policies. The flow of the system was described as a “policy hill”. It started at the bottom with the concerns and recommendation made by agencies such as the State and Defense and would be sent up the ladder for debate by the head of the agencies. These drafts would then go up the hill to the Planning board who refined and made additional recommendations passing it on to the full NSC board for consideration. After complete and thorough review from the Planning board which included representatives from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA, it is sent up to the NSC itself which is chaired by the President. The Council consisted of the five statutory members: the President, Vice President, Secretaries of State and Defense, and Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization. Depending on the subject under discussion, as many other senior Cabinet members and advisers attended and participated, including the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of Central