CIA's Clandestine Services Histories of Civil Air Transport

7/31/2019 CIA's Clandestine Services Histories of Civil Air Transport

1/18

CIAS CLANDESTINE SERVICES

HISTORIES OF CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT

All of our Historical Collections are available on the CIA Library Publication

page located at https//www.cia.gov/library/publications/historical-collection-

publications/ or contact us at [email protected].

These collections, centered on a theme or

event and with supporting analysis, essays,

video, audio, and photographs, are showcased

in a booklet and DVD that are available to the

academic realm and the public.


2/18

The History Sta in the CIA Center or the Study o Intelligence osters understanding o the Agencyshistory and its relationship to todays intelligence challenges by communicating instructive historicalinsights to the CIA workorce, other US Government agencies, and the public. CIA historians research

ics on all aspects o Agency activities and disseminate their knowledge through publications, courses,engs and Web-based products. Tey also work with other Intelligence Community historians on publication

education projects that highlight interagency approaches to intelligence issues. Lastly, the CIA History conducts an ambitious program o oral history interviews that are invaluable or preserving institutionalmories that are not captured in the documentary record.

The Special Collections Department is located on the third foor o the Eugene McDermott Library. TeLibrary administration established the Special Collections Department in the mid-1970s to house rarebooks acquired by the library. In nearly thirty years Special Collections has grown to include the History

Aviation Collection, the Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library, and the Louise B. Belsterling Botanical Library.History o Aviation Collection is the largest section o the department, consisting o a world-class

onautical archive and library. Te Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library is an outstanding regional resourceboth philatelic and postal history. Te Louise B. Belsterling Library holds an extraordinary collection o rare

anical books, including the librarys oldest volume.

The Historical Collections Division (HCD) o CIAs Inormation Management Services is responsibleor executing the Agencys Historical Review Program. Tis program seeks to identiy and declassiycollections o documents that detail the Agencys analysis and activities relating to historically signicant

ics and events. HCDs goals include increasing the usability and accessibility o historical collections. HCDdevelops release events and partnerships to highlight each collection and make it available to the broadest

ience possible.Te mission of HCD is to:

Promote an accurate, objective understanding of the information that hashelped shape major US oreign policy de cisions.

Broaden access to lessons-learned, presenting historical material thatgives greater understanding to the scope and context o past actions.

Improve current decison-making and analysis by facilitating reectionon the impacts and eects arising rom past oreign policy decisions.

Showcase CIAs contributions to national security and provide theAmerican public with valuable insight into the workings o its government. Demonstrate the CIAs commitment to the Open Government Initiative and

its three core values: ransparency, Participation, and Collaboration.


3/18

1. Introduction p 2

2. Summary of Clandestine Services Histories p 4

3. Summary of CAT Histories p 10

4. Excerpts of Documents p 14

5. CD containing the Histories back cover


4/182

This booklet and CD represent the public release o some o the most closely held activities

in CIA history concerning one o the most controversial operations in American history.

Within these pages, you will nd excerpts o the CIAs Clandestine Services Histories o Civil

Air ransport (CA) the precursor to Air America. Te Histories were written by Alred . Cox

who was named the President o CA when CIA acquired it, and guided both the covert operations

side and the public commercial side o the airline or a number o years. As the name suggests, these

histories are normally not released in any orm to the public. In this case, time and circumstancesallow us to release these particular products in concert with the 2011 CA Association Reunion.

You also will nd pictures o the men and women who dedicated their lives to keeping the airline

aoat through good times and bad. Tese people became a amily in the early days and, although

many o the ounding members have passed on, the CA community remains committed to the

memory o the enormous accomplishments they and their amilies achieved with this airline.

Now-Declassifed Secret Histories o

Secret Operations


5/18

3


6/184

The our-volume history Civil

Air ransport: A ProprietaryAirline by Alred . Cox is

representative o a larger collection o

such works created during a decade-

long period o intense historical study

within the Clandestine Services o

CIA. While there had been a small

historical eort in the Agency since

its ounding in September 1947, such

eorts ocused on the Oice o theDCI. No signiicant action had been

taken to ormally record and analyze

the plans, programs, and activities o

the lower echelon directorates that

included the Deputy Director/ Plans

[todays National Clandestine Service,

long known as the Directorate o

Operations or DO], the Directorate

o Intelligence, the Directorate oSupport, or the Directorate o Science

and echnology.

With CIAs growing involvement in

the Vietnam War in the early 1960s,

senior CIA oicers began to realize

that a concerted eort should be

made to record the Agencys actions

in Southeast Asia, and the numerous

considerations and policy decisionsthat speciically required the DD/P to

undertake operations in the region.

his recognition resulted in the

assignment, in December 1963, o

Dr. Kenneth K. Addicott, a senior

DD/P oicer, to collect historical

documents he elt the directorate needed

to inorm operations oicers in Vietnamor those scheduled to go there. His

eorts, continued through another year,

so impressed DD/P seniors that they

decided to extend this initial Southeast

Asia ocus to include the whole o

Clandestine Services activities since the

Agencys inception.

In January 1964, DD/P oicer John E.

Baker studied the concept o an extendedseries under the supervision o Philip

K. Edwards, Chie, CIA Historical

Sta. In May 1964, Baker produced two

memoranda on his indings. First, he

emphasized the necessity o orming

a specialized team o researchers to

examine the vast collection o DD/P

records with a view to selecting and

retaining, in a separate archive, thosedocuments deemed o historic value. As

to the objective given him by Edwards:

o consolidate a record o problems and

solutions, ailures and accomplishments,

which will put the past into historical

perspective as background or the

current direction o Central Intelligence

and provide a reservoir rom which

particular requirements or historicalmaterial can be satisied, Baker

responded with a second memorandum.

He recommended that selected oicers

o the several Clandestine Services

components, working under the

guidance and direction o the CIA

The CSHP Clandestine Services History Program

A Brie History


7/18

5

continues...

History Sta, write studies on topics o

extraordinary and immediate relevance

suggested by a small Clandestine

Services Historical Board that would

meet quarterly. Baker concluded this

proposal will work only i it has the clearand unequivocal endorsement o the DD/P.

Creation o the CSHP and Its Relation to

the History Sta.

By that all, through the eorts o Baker

and Addicott, and with the active interest

o DD/P Richard Helms, the outlines

o a program had taken shape, and on

30 November, the Clandestine Services

Historical Program was irmly establishedwith Addicott designated its irst manager.

he programs overall objective was to

record the history o the irst twenty years

o the Clandestine Services, and then

update that history in ive-year intervals.

he proposed historical series would

consist o an eventual 500 individual

papers and monographs. Four categories,

deemed o most use, were chronologicalhistories o overseas stations, the

chronological and organizational histories

o the headquarters components, and

certain operational monographs that

would detail programs and operations that

the directorate determined were worthy

o uller treatment than could be given

in chronological histories. In addition,

the ounders o the program decidedthat as certain previously prepared

studies, operational reviews, and related

documentary materials were located,

and i they met the criteria as history,

they would be incorporated as is into

the program with the addition o a

historians editorial note.

Deciding what papers and topics

needed written coverage devolved to

the individual Clandestine Services

components acting under the guidance

o the Clandestine Services HistoricalBoard. While the Clandestine Services

History Program remained ocused

on DD/P activities, the writers

coordinated their histories with other

Agency Directorates when those

operations involved cross-directorate

cooperation. his was especially true

with the Directorate o Support which

oten worked closely with the DD/P.When the Clandestine Services

History Program began, the Agency

already had a small History Sta

attached to the oice o the Director

o Central Intelligence. Five members

o the Clandestine Services Research

Group, in charge o the Clandestine

Services Historical Program, were

added to that existing History Sta.he oicers to manage the component

programs, and the writers to produce

the histories, were to come rom the

ranks o Clandestine Services oicers

who were either between assignments

or could be detailed or a short

period o time to write on a particular

subject, usually one with which they

had operational experience. Soonater the program began, however,

it became apparent that employing

writers on a part-time, rotating basis

would produce little meaningul

history. Instead, the program would

need oicers able to serve ull time or


8/186

considerable periods. Tus, it was decided

that certain qualied ocers about to

retire, or who had already retired, would

be selected as ull-time writers.

Te ounders o the Clandestine Services

History Program realized that a careully

researched and articulated story o the

personnel and activities o most stations

and headquarters units was a most

sensitive product and devised strict

controls or the protection o inormation.

As a result, only two copies were made

o each Clandestine Services history.

Te owning DD/P component held

the original work, while one copy was

stored in the DD/P vault. Te only copy

readily available or the cleared need-

to-know reader was the original with

access requiring supervisory approval.

o obtain a document one had to ll

out a circulation log with the name and

location o each reader recorded, showing

at any given moment i he possessed, or

had read, each study.Alfred T. Cox, Civil Air Transport,

and the CSHP

In keeping with the intent o the initiators

o the CSHP, that authors have amiliarity

i not actual experience with the

operations described, Alred . Cox t

this criteria. Cox had served in the World

War II Oce o Strategic Services in

Europe and the China Teater. In EastAsia, he had met Maj. Gen. Claire L.

Chennault, the commander o the 14th

United States Army Air Force based in

China or operation against Imperial

Japan. In addition to strategic and tactical

air campaigns against Japan, the 14th

USAAF supported the training, logistical

needs, and overall operations o Cox and

his OSS colleagues in China and elsewhere

in Southeast Asia through the end o World

War II.

Aer the war, Cox maintained contact withChennault who had ormed, in 1946, a non-

scheduled domestic airline in the Republic

o China known as Civil Air ransport. Cox

returned to government service in 1949

with the Oce o Policy Coordination just

as Chennault was urging US Government

leaders to provide increased military and

economic assistance to the Nationalist

Republic o China under Chiang Kai-Shekin the struggle against Chinese Communist

orces led by Mao se-ung. When US

policymakers agreed to provide increased

support, and urged that OPC investigate

lending assistance, Cox went to China

undercover as Chennaults special assistant

to explore possibilities.

Civil Air ransport proved crucial to US

eforts to assist the Chinese Nationalists,and Cox quickly became involved in day-

to-day airline management and operations.

When Chennaults original CA partner,

Whiting Willauer, resigned in 1952, Cox

was designated president o the airline,

a position he held until 1 January 1955.

Te our-volume history he wrote in 1967

is a rst person perspective very much in

keeping with the goals o those working inthe Clandestine Services History Program.

Alred Cox, and the other writers

assigned to the CSHP, ully accomplished

the objectives begun in 1964, and the

Clandestine Services History Program

successully completed its mission in 1974.


9/18

7


10/188


11/18

9


12/1810

Historians hate gaps indocumentary evidence becausegaps in the record mean

missing inormation that could make adiference in their work: the smokinggun or missing piece o the puzzle; theone piece o evidence that could makeor break the authors thesis. Archivistshate gaps as well, because it is our

mission to supply historians with asmuch inormation as possible or theirresearch. Tis our volume history oCA, along with documents previouslyreleased by CIA, help ll in those gapsso that a more complete and accuratepicture o the relationship between CA,Air America, and CIA can be painted.Te history o Civil Air ransport isimportant because o CAs involvement

in the Cold War, and to uncover manyaccounts o heroic eforts by the menand women associated with this airline,as it perormed its mission to ghtcommunism. Tese people riskedtheir lives and, in some cases, lost theirlives carrying out missions that wereclassied and only now are beginningto surace. Teir story needs to be told.Te release o these histories sheds light

on the ocial CIA point o view, andlls in some o those remaining gaps.

Filling in the Gaps The Declassifcation

o the Four Volume History

Civil Air Transport (CAT): A Proprietary Airline, 1945-1955

o understand the role CA played in theCold War, it is important to understandwhat was taking place in China duringthe time CA operated there. TeChinese Communist orces were steadilyoverrunning the country while the ChineseNationalists were struggling to hold themback. While much o this history is readilyavailable, what has not been available

- until now - is how CA was used tosupport the Chinese Nationalist generalswho were trying to hold the line againstthe Communist orces. Also unavailablehave been details o how CIA purchasedCA and how they managed it rom acrossthe world; details o how CA was usedas an instrument o national policy anddetails concerning the key players in CAsleadership.

Tese histories, although heavily redactedin areas, tell most o the story and ll inmany o the gaps in our public knowledge.Tere are still voids in the record even withthe declassication o this our-volumehistorical work. More than likely there willalways be blanks because some inormationremains too sensitive to declassiy. Still,this work presents new inormation whichgoes a long way in closing the inormation

gaps, and thus, helps present a morecomplete picture o Civil Air ransport.

Paul A. Oelkrug, CA

Coordinator of Special Collections

History of Aviation Collection

Te University of exas at Dallas


13/18

1


14/1812


15/18

13


16/1814


17/18

15


18/18

CIA's Clandestine Services Histories of Civil Air Transport

Documents

Transcript of CIA's Clandestine Services Histories of Civil Air Transport