---
category: Intelligence Operation
created: 2025-03-05
description: The Systems Exploitation Detachment (SED), led by Colonel Robert Keenan,
  initiated the Army's remote viewing program in 1977. It operated under INSCOM and
  ACSI, with the Special Action Branch executing tasks for U.S. intelligence agencies
  under the code name GRILL FLAME.
location: Fort Meade, Maryland
start: 1977
summary: The Systems Exploitation Detachment (SED) was a unit within the United States
  Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) and the office of the assistant
  chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI).
tags:
- military intelligence
- remote viewing
- organizational structure
title: Systems Exploitation Detachment
updated: 2025-03-05
---

The Systems Exploitation Detachment (SED) was a unit within the [United States Army Intelligence and Security Command](/organizations/united-states-army-intelligence-and-security-command/) (INSCOM) and the office of the assistant chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI). It was headed by Colonel [Robert Keenan](/people/robert-keenan/) when the remote viewing program was initiated in 1977. [Ed Dames](/people/ed-dames/) considered the SED to be an elite unit of creative thinkers.

The SED played a crucial role in the establishment of the Army's remote viewing program. When [Frederick Atwater](/people/frederick-atwater/) proposed forming a remote viewing team, he presented the idea to Colonel Robert Keenan, who was in charge of the SED. Keenan approved Atwater's proposal, leading to the program's creation in 1977.
### Organizational Structure and Control
*   The SED was under the control of two entities [i]:
    *   United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) [i]
    *   The office of the assistant chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI) [i]
*   The remote viewing unit itself, formally known as the "Special Action Branch," took its orders from the Pentagon office of the Army’s assistant chief of staff for intelligence.
*   Tasking requests for the Special Action Branch came from various offices throughout the U.S. intelligence community, including the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/), the [Defense Intelligence Agency](/organizations/defense-intelligence-agency/), and the President’s National Security Council.
*   Orders and information were marked with the standard Army intelligence SECRET classification and the Pentagon code word, [GRILL FLAME](/programs/stargate-project/).