Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency

290 Pages·2010·13 MB·English

Encyclopedia of the
Central Intelligence
Agency
W. THOMAS SMITH, JR.
This encyclopedia is dedicated to
CIA Operations Officer Johnny Michael “Mike” Spann,
aformer captain of U.S. Marines and
the first American killed in combat
during the war against terrorism,
November 2001.
It is also for
Dad,
the late William Thomas “Bill” Smith,
and for my brother,
the late Michael Robert Smith.
Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency
Copyright © 2003 by W. Thomas Smith, Jr.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or
retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact:
Facts On File, Inc.
132 West 31st Street
New York NY 10001
Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, W. Thomas.
Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency / by W. Thomas Smith
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8160-4666-2 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4381-3018-7 (e-book)
1. United States. Central Intelligence Agency—Encyclopedias. I. Title
UB251.U5 S63 2003
327.12739003—dc21 2002029951
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C O N T E N T S
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iv
INTRODUCTION
v
ENTRIES A–Z
1
APPENDICES
Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Code Names 251
Central Intelligence Agency Command Organization Chart 255
Central Intelligence Agency: Questions and Answers 256
Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency 260
Deputy Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency 262
BIBLIOGRAPHY
264
INDEX
273
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
There are many to thank for assisting me with this pro- you was one of my greatest pleasures during this project.
ject. I am especially indebted to Alexandra Owens and And thanks to all of my newspaper and magazine editors
Brett Harvey of the American Society of Journalists and who have been so patient with me since this project
Authors, James C. Vines of the Vines Agency, Owen began.
Lancer and Gary Goldstein of Facts On File, Gordon Beyond that, there is an army of friends and support-
Witkin of U.S. News & World Report, retired CIA officer ers who deserve special recognition for keeping my spirits
Norman Glasser,and the incredibly helpful librarians and from flagging, often unwittingly. Some of those include
library assistants at the South Carolina State Library, the Gil, Mary Ann, and Edmund Bagnell; Debbie Jones Hart;
Richland County Public Library, and the Thomas Cooper Daniel Patrick “Danny” Smith; Aida Rogers; Bill McDon-
Libraryat the University of South Carolina in Columbia. ald; Jan K. Collins; Jenny Maxwell; Kevin Hyde; Cecile
I would like to thank my immediate family, including Holmes; Pat McNeely; Emily Cooper; John Temple Ligon;
Mom (Alba Antointette “Tita” Smith Rowell), Howard Judy Bistany South; Bonny Millard; Judy Henrichs; Tony
Tobias Rowell, Annette Smith Fowler,James David Smith, Banco; Cindy Mixon; Judith Trotsky; Danelle Germino
Michael Paul Fowler, and William Maxwell Fowler, as Haakenson; and Uncle Woody and Aunt Sandy’s girls.
well as so many in my extended family for their unwaver- Though it would be almost an independent work to
ing support on all fronts. I would also like to thank my recognize everyone, special thanks to all those not named
magazine writing students at USC’s College of Journalism in Columbia, Charleston, Aiken, and Myrtle Beach, South
and Mass Communications for allowing me to see that Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Raleigh, Durham, and
there is life beyond the office. So, to Emily Bame, Jane Charlotte, North Carolina; Omaha, Nebraska; Chicago;
Barwick, James Battle, Lindsey Bonds, Amy Boyd, Crystal Washington, D.C.; New York; and New Jersey who in
Boyles, Ramsey Brantley, Mike Brugh, Justin Capek, some way contributed to the completion of this book.
Françoise Cerdan, Cheyliece Gamble, Jennifer Gesi- And finally to God—for without Him, this work would
mondo, Meagan Gudridge, Jason Harvey, Ali Jansen, not have been possible.
Katherine Knodell, Brandon Larrabee, Verlanda Mitchell,
Julie Scott, Nicole Smallman, Sheila Taylor, Philip “Big
Phil” Watson, Sharon White, and Gene Wilson, thanks —W. Thomas Smith, Jr.
for the enthusiasm you brought to your work. Teaching Columbia, S.C.
iv
I N T R OD U C T IO N
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is arguably one of Diary, former CIA operative turned Agency backbiter
the most fascinating, yet least understood, intelligence- Philip Agee would proclaim to his readers that it is “diffi-
gathering and covert-action organizations in the world. cult for people to understand what a huge and sinister
The mere mention of “CIA” evokes images of foreign- organization the CIA is.”
based spies maneuvering in a shadowy “cloak and dag- CIA critics from all corners, in fact, have attempted to
ger” world, or, perhaps, small teams of parachuting put teeth into such statements by pointing to the disas-
commandos operating in some remote region of Latin trous Agency-led invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in
America, Africa, or Southeast Asia. 1961, the unrestricted mail-intercept operation from 1952
In its brief history, the CIA has been all of that. But it to 1973, a series of mind-control drug experiments con-
is much more. As the federal government’sincarnation of ducted on unwitting human beings, and numerous allega-
the world’s second-oldest profession, the CIA employs tions of CIA-backed assassinations and assassination
tens of thousands of workers, with only a fraction serving attempts. “The CIA should be shut down because its ban-
at the agency’sclandestine “tip of the spear.” Those num- ner has too many Cold War stains,” said Lt. General
bers, like much of the CIA’s inner workings, remain clas- William Odom, a former chief of the National Security
sified. But the Agency’s reputation, stemming from its Agency, the U.S. government’s super-secret eavesdropping
direct involvement in some of history’s most important and code-cracking entity.
events, has earned those men and women who serve at But “shutting down” the largest, most important arm
the tip a place among the pantheon of great American of secret defense in and for the United States would be
heroes and heroines. nothing less than catastrophic for the free world. The
Born of a series of federal organizations that sought to CIA, according to an article in U.S. News & World Report,
bring all of America’sforeign intelligence gathering efforts is an agency with a multibillion-dollar annual budget,
under one roof, the CIA has existed as the senior member “satellites that can see through clouds, more secret com-
of the U.S. intelligence community for over fifty years. partments than a Tudor castle, and an army of analysts
The Agency’s responsibilities run the gamut from the col- who can dissect everything from the Ukrainian military to
lection and analysis of information from a variety of Hindu fundamentalism.” Even so, the CIA has been
sources to producing finished intelligence, conducting unable to eliminate completely the rash of highly sophis-
worldwide covert operations, and overseeing the myriad ticated terror attacks that—though international in
federal agencies tasked with the collection of both foreign scope—have often directly targeted America and her
and domestic intelligence. allies.
But it has not been without its detractors. John “J.” Failures will always be held up to the cruel glare of
Edgar Hoover, the infamous director of the Federal scrutiny, though the successes of the men and women
Bureau of Investigation, fought tooth and nail for FBI who work for the CIA’s directorates, offices, and centers
control of all foreign intelligence-gathering activities are often unknown. Still, those same men and women
before,during, and after World War II. During the highly have and will continue to put their often-anonymous
publicized congressional investigations into CIA mis- lives in peril all for the sake of freedom and the great
deeds during the mid-1970s, Senator Frank Church experiment of democracy.
referred to the Agency as a “rogue elephant on a ram- Since the Agency’sinception in 1947, countless books
page.” In his best-selling expose Inside the Company: CIA have been written in an attempt to shed light on this
v
vi Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency
little-known U.S. government entity. But until now, there As the writing of this encyclopedia came to a close and
has been no single, comprehensive reference work detail- Irealized that there was always going to be just one more
ing the particulars of the CIA from its pre–World War II entry, I concluded that such a book is always a work in
beginnings as the Office of the Coordinator of Informa- progress. The Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence
tion to the wartime Office of Strategic Services through Agency is even more so, as the surface information and
the dark years of the Cold War to its current role in the secrets of America’s most colorful but shadowy arm
America’s uncertain war on terrorism. grudgingly reveal themselves.
Here the Agency comes to life through nearly 550
historical, biographical, and general entries followed by
an extensive list of CIA-related acronyms, abbreviations,
and code names. But the encyclopedia can never be —W. Thomas Smith, Jr.
complete. March 2002
A
Abel, Colonel Rudolf Ivonovich (1902–1971)
enemy lines and penetrate the Abwehr, the Nazi intelligence
Colonel Rudolf Ivonovich Abel (a.k.a. Emil R. Golfus, organization. During that mission, he was able to glean vital
Mark, and Martin Collins) was the infamous Russian spy- information about the disposition of German forces. This
master who, having been captured and incarcerated by information was forwarded to Russian commanders.
the United States, was exchanged in 1962 for CIA pilot When the war ended, Abel was selected by the KGB for
Francis Gary Powers, a prisoner of the Soviet Union. the position of “resident director” of a Soviet spy network
Abel was born in 1902 in czarist Russia into a family of that would be established in North America. The network
great wealth and privilege. In 1903, the Abels moved to would be tasked with uncovering U.S. military secrets.
England (according to one account, Abel was actually Abel was the perfect choice. Aside from his language and
born William Fischer in England). Soon after, the family intelligence skills, he was considered to be an expert with
moved to Scotland. There, young Abel learned to speak radios and radio transmitters. He had previously studied
both Russian and English, the latter with a Scottish accent. engineering and was well versed in chemistry and nuclear
He also learned to speak German, Polish, and Yiddish. physics. He was also an accomplished photographer, artist,
In 1921, Abel’s father moved the family back to Russia and jeweler—and he was unknown to the West as a Soviet
in order to assist in the communist revolution. There, he intelligence officer.
was considered a language expert and was soon selected In 1946, Abel moved to East Germany, entered a camp
by Soviet intelligence officers to become a language for displaced persons, and applied for immigration to
instructor for the Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, Canada. His COVERwas that of a struggling Bohemian artist.
or NKVD, the predecessor intelligence organization to the False documents provided to him by the KGB identified
KOMITETGOSUDARSTVENNOYBEZOPASNOSTI,or KGB. him as a man of German-Irish descent. Canada bought the
When World War II erupted, Abel joined the Soviet ruse and accepted him as a German émigré.
army as an intelligence officer and saw a great deal of action In 1948, Abel slipped across the border into the United
against the German invaders. Time and again, he displayed States and made contact with members of the American
remarkable battlefield courage and was several times deco- Communist Party. The latter provided him with a new
rated for his service. In one instance, Abel purportedly identity and a New York birth certificate as proof of that
impersonated a German officer and was able to slip behind identity. Abel took as his new name Emil R. Goldfus (the
1
2 Abel, Colonel Rudolf Ivonovich
name of a Manhattan-born child who had died 40 years He had failed to retrieve any of the messages left by agents
earlier, in infancy). at dead drops. What was worse, he had consistently sent
Abel then began to contact Soviet spies who were radio transmissions to Moscow from the same location.
already in place. He gave them specific instructions on Abel was furious, but his admonitions had little effect on
what information to obtain and how to forward that infor- his deputy. Hayhanen had become a womanizing drunkard
mation to him. He also met with and recruited known who spent much of his Moscow-generated advance money
Marxist-leaning American citizens, communists, and other on prostitutes.
political malcontents to work as agents for the Soviet The following year, the KGB ordered Hayhanen back
Union. He was careful, however, never to reveal his cover to Moscow. Hayhanen feared that he would be disciplined
name, Goldfus; that cover was used exclusively to estab- for his poor work in the United States. In an unsuccessful
lish Abel’s legitimacy as an American citizen. Instead, he attempt to allay those fears, Moscow promoted him to the
was known to his agents by the code-name “Mark.” rank of major. Hayhanen then told Abel that he was
Initially, Abel lived in substandard hotels in Manhat- departing for Europe. Instead, he drove to a remote sec-
tan. He then rented a small photographer’s studio in tion of New York’s Hudson Valley and dug up $5,000
Brooklyn, where he often stayed overnight. He also estab- (previously forwarded for espionage purposes) he had
lished relationships with area artists and was known to buried during Abel’s leave.
loan money and host small parties. But his agents were Hayhanen then sailed for Le Havre, France. Once in Le
totally unaware of any aspect of his life as Goldfus. Havre, he was to travel directly to Moscow. Instead, he made
As Mark, Abel met with his agents in parks, public a side trip to Paris, where he drank and frequented the city’s
restrooms, and train and bus stations. His agents were also bordellos. In time, Hayhanen became convinced that he
able to convey messages by way of dead DROPs located in would be imprisoned or executed, so he made a decision to
the hollows of trees, beneath broken sidewalk slabs, and in defect. In early May 1957, he telephoned the U.S. embassy
the false bottoms of reconfigured pay telephones. in Paris and subsequently walked into the complex request-
Abel’s agents were responsible for obtaining top-secret ing political asylum, promising that he would reveal an
U.S. military information on underwater detection intricate Soviet spy network operating in North America. He
devices, missiles, and nuclear weapons. Abel himself was also promised to identify its director. Hayhanen was
tasked with monitoring United Nations (UN) operations returned to the United States and placed in the custody of
and gleaning as much military information as possible the FEDERALBUREAUOFINVESTIGATION(FBI).
relating to the New York ports system. As Abel gathered Learning of Hayhanen’s defection, Moscow immedi-
his information, he transferred it into microfilm or ately ordered Abel out of New York. Abel fled to Florida
microdot form and forwarded it to Moscow via Soviet- and remained under ground for several weeks. Soviet spies
recruited couriers. He also transmitted and received infor- in New York, believing that Abel’s haunts were not under
mation directly from Moscow in coded radio messages. surveillance by the FBI, claimed that the proverbial coast
The transmissions were conducted on an irregular sched- was clear. They were wrong. Abel returned to New York
ule so as to avoid American radio-monitoring systems. and was arrested on June 21 in Manhattan’s Latham Hotel,
In time, Abel’s spy network expanded so much that it where he had registered under the alias Martin Collins.
became wholly unmanageable. As a consequence, in Abel was charged with espionage but denied every-
1954, Moscow sent him an assistant, Reino Hayhanen. thing. FBI agents, however, discovered numerous pieces
Hayhanen was to serve as Abel’s deputy director (actually of incriminating evidence in one of his rooms, including
a CUT-OUT), in order to handle the enormous amount of microfilm concealed in hollow coins, microdots con-
information coming in to Abel and alleviate his workload. tained in a hollow shaving brush, hollow pencils, hollow
This would allow Abel to concentrate on relaying mes- cuff links, ciphering and secret-writing materials, a short-
sages to Moscow. Unfortunately for Abel, Hayhanen wave transmitter, and photographs of known Soviet spies.
proved to be something of a liability. The new deputy For his testimony against Abel, Hayhanen was granted
director seemed to scoff at Abel’s security measures. His immunity from prosecution. But the U.S. Justice Depart-
knowledge of CODE breaking, SECRET WRITING, and pho- ment needed corroboration; Roy Rhodes, a U.S. Army
tography was sorely lacking. Also, he drank too much. master sergeant who was arrested for disclosing American
Still, he was all Abel had to work with, so Abel helped secrets to the Soviets, was their man. Hayhanen recalled
him get settled and spent time training him. having met Rhodes, known only as “Quebec,” through
In 1955, a physically exhausted Abel was ordered to Abel. Rhodes, who served as one of Abel’s couriers, testi-
return to the Soviet Union for a six-month leave period. fied against the Russian spymaster.
When he returned to New York in 1956, he found that his The prosecution sought the death penalty for Abel. But
meticulously constructed spy network had nearly col- his court-appointed attorney, James Donovan, successfully
lapsed. Hayhanen had violated countless security measures. argued that Abel might one day be a valuable holding in a
Abel, Colonel Rudolf Ivonovich 3
Colonel Rudolf Abel (NATIONALARCHIVES)
spy swap with the Russians. That he was. On October 25, West Berlin from the East German city of Potsdam. Nego-
Abel was found guilty of conspiracy to transmit defense tiators discussed the swap in the center of the bridge,
information to the Soviet Union, conspiracy to obtain where a white painted line marked the geographical divi-
defense information, and conspiracy to act in the United sion of East and West. The two spies stared at each other
States as an agent of a foreign government without notifica- from opposite sides.
tion to the U.S. secretary of state. Eventually, the negotiators signaled to their respective
On November 15, Abel was sentenced to 45 years in officers to start the two men across the bridge. Both
prison. He appealed his convictions, claiming that rights walked cautiously, each keeping pace with the other. “As I
guaranteed to him under the Constitution and the laws of walked toward the line, another man—thin, gaunt, mid-
the United States had been violated. By a five-to-four dle-aged—approached from the other side,” recalled Abel.
decision handed down on March 28, 1960, the Supreme “We crossed at the same time.”
Court upheld the previous ruling. Abel returned to Russia, where he was given a country
Abel ultimately became a bargaining chip in one of the cottage, a pension, and numerous other rewards for his
most dramatic spy-swapping episodes of the COLD WAR. service. A heavy smoker, he was also provided with three
On the morning of February 10, 1962, he was exchanged packs of Lucky Strike cigarettes every day.
for FRANCISGARYPOWERS,a CIA pilot who had been cap- What Abel actually did in the last decade of his life
tured by the Russians when his U-2 spyplane was shot remains a subject of conjecture. Some reports suggest that
down over the Soviet Union in 1960. Abel and Powers he returned to operational service in the West. Others
were brought by their respective captors to opposite sides claim that he worked as a KGB espionage instructor in
of the Glienecker Bridge, which spanned a lake separating the Soviet Union. But however he was employed, if he