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188-695: Many recipients have reportedly been Paramilitary Operations Officers from the CIA's Special Activities Center , Special Operations Group, Ground Branch, which selects its members from the U.S. military's most elite units, including the Navy 's DEVGRU ('SEAL Team 6') and SEALs , the Army's Delta Force , Special Forces , and Rangers ; and the Marine Corps ' Force Reconnaissance and MARSOC . The recipients whose identities are known are: Grayston Lynch (1923–2008)

376-561: A chemical weapons facility at Sargat, the only such facility of its type discovered in the Iraq war. SAD teams also conducted high-risk special reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines to find enemy senior leaders. These missions led to the initial strikes against Saddam Hussein and his key generals. An initial strike tried and failed to kill Saddam, but did effectively end his ability to command and control his forces. Other strikes killed key generals and degraded Iraqi forces' ability to fight

564-557: A CIA case officer, Michael Shanklin and codenamed "Condor", working with a CIA Technical Operations Officer from the Directorate of Science and Technology, managed to get a cane with a beacon in it to Osman Ato, a wealthy businessman, arms importer, and Mohammed Aideed, a money man whose name was right below Mohamed Farrah Aidid 's on the Tier One list. Once Condor confirmed that Ato was in a vehicle, JSOC 's Delta Force launched

752-530: A CIA front organization called the Joint Advisory Commission, Korea (JACK), headquartered at Tongnae, a village near Pusan, on the peninsula's southeast coast. These paramilitary teams were responsible for numerous maritime raids and ambushes behind North Korean lines, as well as prisoner of war rescue operations. These were the first maritime unconventional warfare units that trained indigenous forces as surrogates . They also provided

940-405: A U.S.-U.K.-French collaboration, were forerunners of groups that create guerrilla units, such as the U.S. Army Special Forces and the CIA. The OSS's Operational Groups were larger U.S. units that carried out direct action behind enemy lines. Even during World War II, the idea of intelligence and special operations units not under strict military control was controversial. The OSS operated primarily in

1128-537: A UN counter-offensive two months later. After an abortive Chinese spring offensive , UN forces retook territory roughly up to the 38th parallel. Armistice negotiations began in July 1951, but dragged on as the fighting became a war of attrition and the north suffered heavy damage from U.S. bombing . Combat ended on 27 July 1953 with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement , which allowed

1316-480: A capture operation. a Little Bird helicopter dropped out of the sky, and a sniper leaned out and fired three shots into the car's engine block. The car ground to a halt as commandos roped down from hovering Blackhawks [ sic ], surrounded the car, and handcuffed Ato. It was the first known helicopter takedown of suspects in a moving car. The next time Jones saw the magic cane, an hour later, Garrison had it in his hand. "I like this cane," Jones remembers

1504-606: A covert operation in Iran. Johnson's primary skill was disguises, linguistics, and exfiltrating assets out of hostile areas. In 1979, Iranian student militants took 52 Americans hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran . Six U.S. embassy employees had managed to escape and hide out at the homes of Canadian diplomats living in the city. Johnson Mendez along with Tony Mendez, created a fake movie production company called Studio Six (named for

1692-517: A criminal statute, no one was indicted for violating it. Congress later resumed aid to the Contras, totaling over $ 300 million. The Contra war ended when the Sandinistas were voted out of power by a war-weary populace in 1990. Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega was re-elected as President of Nicaragua in 2006 and took office again on January 10, 2007. CIA personnel were also involved in

1880-610: A foreign country. There remains some conflict between the CIA's Directorate of Operations and the more clandestine parts of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), such as the Joint Special Operations Command . This is usually confined to the civilian/political heads of the respective Department/Agency. The combination of SAC and USSOCOM units has resulted in some of the more prominent actions of

2068-509: A general attack across the 38th parallel, rather than a limited operation in Ongjin. Kim was concerned that South Korean agents had learned about the plans and that South Korean forces were strengthening their defenses. Stalin agreed to this change. While these preparations were underway in the North, there were clashes along the 38th parallel, especially at Kaesong and Ongjin, many initiated by

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2256-645: A large battle ensued. Several of Karzai's new recruits fled, but Greg V. took command and ran between defensive positions shouting, "If necessary, die like men!". The line held and as the Director of the CIA George Tenet said in his book Center of the Storm , "It was a seminal moment. Had Karzai's position been overrun, as appeared likely for much of November 17, the entire future of the Pashtun rebellion in

2444-604: A model, along with the other CIA-sponsored ground-based, paramilitary Korean operations, for the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) activities conducted by the U.S. military and the CIA/SOD (now Special Activities Center) in Vietnam. In addition, CIA paramilitary ground-based teams worked directly for U.S. military commanders, specifically with the 8th Army, on

2632-766: A more fitting and lasting monument near the Vietnam Memorial . Special Activities Center The Special Activities Center ( SAC ) is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division ( SAD ) prior to 2015. Within SAC there are two separate groups: SAC/SOG (Special Operations Group) for tactical paramilitary operations and SAC/PAG (Political Action Group) for covert political action. The Special Operations Group

2820-693: A movie in Iran. They then exfiltrated all the Americans, as Canadians, safely back to the United States. In 2012, the film Argo was based on the story of this rescue, starring and directed by Ben Affleck . Mendez retired and was a successful artist until his death in 2019 at age 78. In the late 1990s, Captain Thomas Willard Ray and his navigator, Leo Baker, were posthumously awarded the Intelligence Star for their actions in

3008-557: A movie poster and took out advertisements in Hollywood trade papers, announcing the production of Argo , a fictitious film. Mendez and Johnson flew to Tehran , Iran with six fake Canadian passports and a risky plan to present the embassy personnel as Canadian filmmakers. Keeping in mind the potential worst-case scenario should somebody be caught, Mendez and Johnson disguised the American diplomats as Canadian filmmakers looking to make

3196-596: A national political constitution on 17 July and elected Syngman Rhee as president on 20 July. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established on 15 August 1948. In the Soviet-Korean Zone of Occupation, the Soviets agreed to the establishment of a communist government led by Kim Il Sung. The 1948 North Korean parliamentary elections took place in August. The Soviet Union withdrew its forces in 1948 and

3384-635: A paramilitary case officer in the Secret War in Laos . On two occasions, he led the guerrillas under his command in battles against the Vietnamese of Campaign 139 when they threatened to end the war by defeating Vang Pao 's Clandestine Army. George Bacon served as a paramilitary case officer in Laos under call sign Kayak. He was later killed in the Angolan Civil War . John G. Merriman

3572-575: A plastic sack on the side of the road en route to the Beirut airport. He had been severely tortured. His body was returned to the United States on December 28, 1991. A public memorial service was held with full military honors at Arlington on May 13, 1988, just short of three years after his presumed death date. At the service, attended by more than 100 colleagues and friends, CIA Director William H. Webster eulogized Buckley, saying, "Bill's success in collecting information in situations of incredible danger

3760-700: A result of the " War on Terror ". Beginning in autumn of 2001, SAC/SOG paramilitary teams arrived in Afghanistan to hunt down al-Qaeda leaders, facilitate the entry of U.S. Army Special Forces , and lead the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan against the ruling Taliban . SAC/SOG units also defeated Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and trained, equipped, organized and led

3948-518: A retired United States Marine . Foreign Policy reported that Mulroy accepted the position because Secretary Mattis was looking for a “nonpartisan and apolitical individual" who spent time in conflict areas to fill that office. They continued that, "Mulroy spent most of his career as a CIA paramilitary operations officer in conflict zones." His CIA awards include the Intelligence Star, the Intelligence Commendation Medal ,

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4136-847: A single officer), all usually with extensive military tactical experience and a set of specialized skills that does not exist in any other unit. As fully trained intelligence case officers, paramilitary operations officers possess all the clandestine skills to collect human intelligence – and most importantly – to recruit assets from among the indigenous troops receiving their training. These officers often operate in remote locations behind enemy lines to carry out direct action (including raids and sabotage ), counter-intelligence , guerrilla / unconventional warfare , counter-terrorism , and hostage rescue missions, in addition to being able to conduct espionage via HUMINT assets. There are four principal elements within SAC's Special Operations Group, formerly called branches, now organized as departments:

4324-615: A telegram. Mao accepted the decision made by Kim and Stalin to unify Korea but cautioned Kim over possible US intervention. Soviet generals with extensive combat experience from World War II were sent to North Korea as the Soviet Advisory Group. They completed plans for attack by May and called for a skirmish to be initiated in the Ongjin Peninsula on the west coast of Korea. The North Koreans would then launch an attack to capture Seoul and encircle and destroy

4512-511: Is authorized to collect intelligence, conduct counterintelligence, and conduct covert action by the National Security Act of 1947 . President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12333 titled "United States Intelligence Activities" in 1984. This order defined covert action as "special activities," both political and military, that the U.S. government would deny, and granted the exclusive authority to conduct such operations to

4700-630: Is carried out by Paramilitary Officers (also called Paramilitary Operatives or Paramilitary Operations Officers) when in " non-permissive environments ". Paramilitary Operations Officers are also fully trained case officers (i.e., "spy handlers") and as such conduct clandestine human intelligence ( HUMINT ) operations throughout the world. The political action group within SAC conducts the deniable psychological operations , also known as black propaganda , as well as "covert influence" to induce political change in other countries as part of United States foreign policy . Covert intervention in foreign elections

4888-457: Is hoped will come to public attention, or seek to deny and/or discredit information that is public knowledge. In all such propaganda efforts, "black" operations denote those in which the audience is to be kept ignorant of the source; "white" efforts are those in which the originator openly acknowledges themselves, and "gray" operations are those in which the source is partly but not fully acknowledged. Some examples of political action programs were

5076-521: Is overrun by unprovoked armed attack would start a disastrous chain of events leading most probably to world war." While there was hesitance by some in the US government to get involved, considerations about Japan fed into the decision to engage on behalf of South Korea. After the fall of China to the communists, US experts saw Japan as the region's counterweight to the Soviet Union and China. While there

5264-440: Is responsible for operations that include clandestine or covert operations with which the US government does not want to be overtly associated. As such, unit members, called Paramilitary Operations Officers and Specialized Skills Officers, do not typically wear uniforms. If they are compromised during a mission, the US government may deny all knowledge . The group generally recruits personnel from special mission units within

5452-468: Is the most significant form of SAC's political action. This involves financial support for favored candidates, media guidance, technical support for public relations , get-out-the-vote or political organizing efforts, legal expertise, advertising campaigns, assistance with poll-watching, and other means of direct action. Policy decisions are influenced by agents, such as subverted officials of the country, to make decisions in their official capacity that are in

5640-719: The Bay of Pigs Invasion leading to their capture and execution. The US-trained Cuban Brigade 2506 invaded Cuba on April 17, 1961. Ray, a pilot of the Alabama Air National Guard detailed to the CIA, and his co-pilot Baker were at the Puerto Cabezas air base of the brigade in Nicaragua. The pilots returning from Cuba brought news that the soldiers of the brigade were running out of ammunition. Each minute that went by, they were losing positions they had gained

5828-788: The Career Intelligence Medal and the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal , among others. He is also a recipient of the State Department's Superior Honor Award and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service . The CIA Memorial Wall , located inside the entrance to the CIA's original headquarters building's lobby in Langley, Virginia , honors some of the employees who died in

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6016-547: The Dalai Lama 's clandestine escape to India along with Indian intelligence, narrowly escaping capture by the People's Liberation Army. According to a book by retired CIA officer John Kenneth Knaus, entitled Orphans Of The Cold War: America And The Tibetan Struggle For Survival , Gyalo Thondup, the older brother of the 14th Dalai Lama , sent the CIA five Tibetan recruits. These recruits were trained in paramilitary tactics on

6204-814: The European Theater of Operations and to some extent in the China-Burma-India Theater , although General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was extremely reluctant to have any OSS personnel within his area of operations. From 1943 to 1945, the OSS played a major role in training Kuomintang troops in China and Burma, and recruited other indigenous irregular forces for sabotage as well as guides for Allied forces in Burma fighting

6392-758: The Exceptional Service Medallion and the Distinguished Intelligence Cross . Gregory Keough was a Covert Operations Officer for the CIA during the Cold War in the late 1980's to early 1990's. He was awarded the Intelligence Star by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Robert Gates for his actions during an overseas rescue. Mr. Keough is one of the few living recipients of the Intelligence Star. After leaving

6580-628: The Japanese army . OSS also helped arm, train and supply resistance movements , including Mao Zedong 's People's Liberation Army in China and the Viet Minh in French Indochina , in areas occupied by the Axis powers . Other functions of the OSS included the use of propaganda , espionage, subversion , and post-war planning. One of the OSS's greatest accomplishments during World War II

6768-550: The Korean War . These activities included maritime operations behind North Korean lines. Yong Do Island, connected by a rugged isthmus to Pusan , served as the base for those operations. Well-trained Korean guerrillas carried out these operations. The four principal U.S. advisers responsible for the training and operational planning of those special missions were Dutch Kramer, Tom Curtis, George Atcheson, and Joe Pagnella. All of these Paramilitary Operations Officers operated through

6956-823: The Kurdish peshmerga forces to defeat the Iraqi Army in northern Iraq. Numerous books have been published on the exploits of CIA paramilitary officers, including Conboy and Morrison's Feet to the Fire: CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958 , and Warner's Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos . Most experts consider SAC/SOG the premier force for unconventional warfare (UW), whether that warfare consists of either creating or combating an insurgency in

7144-830: The National Security Council at the president's direction, unlike other U.S. special mission forces. SAC/SOG has far fewer members than most of the other special missions units, such as the U.S. Army 's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta ( Delta Force ) or Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). As the action arm of the CIA's Directorate of Operations , SAC/SOG conducts direct action missions such as raids , ambushes , sabotage , targeted killings and unconventional warfare (e.g., training and leading guerrilla and military units of other countries in combat) as an irregular military force . SAC/SOG also conducts special reconnaissance that can be either military or intelligence driven and

7332-550: The Office of Policy Coordination set up in 1948. Between the CIA's original creation by the National Security Act of 1947 and various mergers and reorganizations through 1952, the wartime OSS functions generally ended up in the CIA. The mission of training and leading guerrillas in due course went to the United States Army Special Forces , but those missions required to remain covert were performed by

7520-570: The People's Liberation Army of China. These teams selected and then trained Tibetan soldiers in the Rocky Mountains of the United States; training occurred at Camp Hale . The PM teams then advised and led these commandos against the Chinese, both from Nepal and India and in some cases worked with Research and Analysis Wing . In addition, CIA Paramilitary Officers were responsible for

7708-682: The Salvadoran civil war . Some allege that the techniques used to interrogate prisoners in El Salvador foreshadowed those later used in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, when a similar counter-insurgency program was proposed in Iraq, it was referred to as "the Salvador Option". Agency officers had strict instructions not to participate in interrogations of prisoners, and to avoid the area where prisoners were held. CIA sent in teams of Paramilitary Operations Officers into Somalia prior to

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7896-589: The U.S. Senate , called the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the U.S. House of Representatives , called the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). The Pentagon commissioned a study to determine whether the CIA or the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) should conduct covert action paramilitary operations. Their study determined that the CIA should maintain this capability and be

8084-401: The U.S. Special Operations community . SOG Paramilitary Operations Officers account for a majority of Distinguished Intelligence Cross and Intelligence Star recipients during conflicts or incidents that elicited CIA involvement. These are the highest two awards for valor within the CIA in recognition of distinguished valor and excellence in the line of duty. SOG operatives also account for

8272-496: The U.S. intervention in 1992. On December 23, 1992, Paramilitary Operations Officer Larry Freedman became the first casualty of the conflict in Somalia. Freedman was a former Army Delta Force operator who had served in every conflict that the U.S. was involved in, both officially and unofficially, since Vietnam. Freedman was killed while conducting special reconnaissance in advance of the entry of U.S. military forces. His mission

8460-721: The United States Marine Corps for ten years, he was no longer in the military at the time of his death. However, because the Intelligence Star is considered the equivalent of the US Military's Silver Star and recognized as equivalent by President George W. Bush , Spann was approved for burial in Arlington National Cemetery . Four CIA officers received the Intelligence Star for actions in 2002 and later as part of Special Activities Division (SAD) paramilitary teams in Iraq. The SAD teams,

8648-624: The atomic bombing of Hiroshima . By 10 August, the Red Army had begun to occupy the north of Korea. On 10 August in Washington , US Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III were assigned to divide Korea into Soviet and US occupation zones and proposed the 38th parallel as the dividing line. This was incorporated into the US General Order No. 1 , which responded to the Japanese surrender on 15 August. Explaining

8836-419: The "White Tiger" initiative. This initiative included inserting South Korean commandos and CIA Paramilitary Operations Officers prior to the two major amphibious assaults on North Korea, including the landing at Inchon . The Bay of Pigs Invasion (known as "La Batalla de Girón," or " Playa Girón " in Cuba) was an unsuccessful attempt by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba and overthrow

9024-411: The "sole government agency conducting covert action." The DoD found that it does not have the legal authority to conduct covert action or the operational agility to carry out these types of missions. In an article for ABC News , former Deputy Secretary of Defense and retired CIA paramilitary officer Mick Mulroy explained that the term "covert action" is derived from Presidential Findings authorizing

9212-478: The (Deputy) Directorate of Plans and its successor the Directorate of Operations of the CIA. In 1962, the CIA's paramilitary operations centralized in the Special Operations Division (SOD), the predecessor of the SAC. The direct descendant of the OSS' Special Operations is the CIA's Special Activities Division. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in October 1950, the CIA inserted paramilitary (PM) teams into Tibet to train and lead Tibetan resistance fighters against

9400-441: The 1970s, the U.S. Navy , the National Security Agency (NSA) and SAD conducted Operation Ivy Bells and a series of other missions to place wiretaps on Soviet underwater communications cables. These operations were covered in detail in the 1998 book Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage . In the 1985 edition of "Studies in Intelligence", the CIA's in-house journal that outsiders rarely get to see,

9588-411: The 38th parallel and establishing English as the official language during military control. On 8 September, US Lieutenant General John R. Hodge arrived in Incheon to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel. Appointed as military governor, Hodge directly controlled South Korea as head of the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK 1945–48). In December 1945, Korea

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9776-560: The Air Department, the Maritime Department, the Ground Department, and the Armor and Special Programs Department. The Armor and Special Programs Department is charged with the development, testing, and covert procurement of new personnel and vehicular armor, and maintenance of stockpiles of ordnance and weapons systems used by the SOG, almost all of which must be obtained from clandestine sources abroad, in order to provide SOG operatives and their foreign trainees with plausible deniability in accordance with U.S. congressional directives. Together,

9964-442: The American diplomats as Canadian filmmakers looking to make a movie in Iran. They then exfiltrated all the Americans, as Canadians, safely back to the United States. In 2012, the film Argo was based on the story of this rescue, starring and directed by Ben Affleck . Johnson retired and was a successful photographer until his death in 2024 at age 81. Antonio Joseph Mendez (1940–2019). On 12 March 1980, President Jimmy Carter and

10152-428: The B-26 on April 19, 1961 north of Larga beach. They landed in Cuba and survived. The Cuban army captured them and they were immediately executed by Major Oscar Fernandez Mell. Years later when Cuba returned Ray's body, an autopsy revealed a pistol bullet. The bullet is in the Brigade Museum in Miami. On 23 December 1992, CIA Paramilitary Officer Larry Freedman was the first casualty of the conflict in Somalia . Freedman

10340-422: The Bay of Pigs was William "Rip" Robertson , who had an extraordinary history of valor in service to his country. Lynch was wounded at Normandy , fought in the Battle of the Bulge , Heartbreak Ridge in Korea, served with the Special Forces in Laos, and received three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and one Bronze Star with a "V" for valor in combat. He was selected to become a Paramilitary Operations Officer in

10528-401: The CIA Mr. Keough went on to have a very successful career as a technology entrepreneur and was CEO for numerous technology start-ups and frequently featured in Forbes , The Washington Post , The Wall Street Journal , Bloomberg and many other publications. Mr. Keough was also featured in Shannon Henry's book The Dinner Club: How the Masters of the Internet Universe Rode the Rise and Fall of

10716-453: The CIA describes the "staggering expense and improbable engineering feats" that culminated in the August 1974 mission. In 1979, the U.S.-backed Anastasio Somoza Debayle dictatorship in Nicaragua fell to the socialist Sandinistas . Once in power, the Sandinistas disbanded the Nicaraguan National Guard , who had committed many human rights abuses, and arrested and executed some of its members. Other former National Guard members helped to form

10904-472: The CIA honored three paramilitary officers with stars on the memorial wall 56 years after their deaths. They were David W. Bevan, Darrell A. Eubanks, and John S. Lewis, all young men, killed on a mission to resupply anti-Communist forces in Laos. They were all recruited from the famous smokejumpers from Montana. One former smokejumper and paramilitary officer, Mike Oehlerich, believed he should have been on that flight, but they accidentally missed their pickup to

11092-415: The CIA in 1994 after having served extensively in the Middle East and Western Europe. He was awarded the Intelligence Star for work he performed in the Middle East. Edward B. Johnson (1943–2024). In April 1980, the Director of Central Intelligence Admiral Stansfield Turner presented Edward B. Johnson (formerly known as Julio) with the CIA's Intelligence Star for his heroic actions in the " Canadian caper ",

11280-653: The CIA to conduct specific special activities to support U.S. national security objectives. He advocated for covert actions to be fully incorporated in the U.S. National Security Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy in the form of a Covert Action Annex and for covert actions to be fully funded to operate in support of overall objectives in the form of a Covert Action Fund . Special Activities Center has several hundred officers, mostly former members from Tier 1 units like SEAL Team Six and Delta Force , as well as other U.S. Special Operations Forces personnel. The CIA has also recruited individuals from within

11468-438: The CIA's Special Activities Division in 1960. For his extraordinary heroism during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Lynch was awarded the Intelligence Star, the "CIA's most coveted award". In the six years after the Bay of Pigs Invasion, he ran commando raids into Cuba. Lynch retired from the CIA in 1971. He wrote a book, Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs , based on his experience leading Brigade 2506. Félix Rodríguez

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11656-543: The CIA's coveted Intelligence Star for "extreme fidelity and extraordinary courage in the line of duty". He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with his wife Sue Powers. On 26 June 1968, Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor, the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, presented the Intelligence Star for valor to Lockheed A-12 spy aircraft pilots Kenneth S. Collins, Ronald J. Layton, Francis J. Murray, Dennis B. Sullivan, and Mele Vojvodich for participation in Operation BLACK SHIELD. The posthumous award to pilot Jack W. Weeks

11844-444: The CIA, he lived off the land for several months. While waiting for the opportunity to make the trek over the mountains to Tibet , MacKiernan was killed in a firefight near Lhasa . However, his men made it with his reports and information. The North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel 13 days later, starting the Korean War . The intelligence that MacKiernan passed from China helped U.S. leaders prepare for military action and understand

12032-483: The CIA. He was captured a few days after the Shah's fall by an armed group of supporters of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , and escaped summary execution by appealing to speak to a mullah , who agreed that the Koran did not sanction such punishment. Hart worked as the CIA Chief of Station in Islamabad, Pakistan from May 1981 until 1984. He started the CIA efforts to equip the Afghan resistance with weapons and supplies to allow them to mount an effective campaign during

12220-399: The CIA. The CIA was also designated as the sole authority under the 1991 Intelligence Authorization Act and mirrored in Title 50 of the United States Code Section 413(e). The CIA must have a presidential finding in order to conduct these activities under the Hughes-Ryan amendment to the 1991 Intelligence Authorization Act. These findings are monitored by the oversight committees in both

12408-525: The Chinese Civil War, while US forces remained stationed in South Korea. By spring 1950, he believed that the strategic situation had changed: PLA forces under Mao Zedong had secured final victory, US forces had withdrawn from Korea, and the Soviets had detonated their first nuclear bomb , breaking the US monopoly. As the US had not directly intervened to stop the communists in China, Stalin calculated they would be even less willing to fight in Korea, which had less strategic significance. The Soviets had cracked

12596-412: The Chinese PLA during the war. North Korea also provided the Chinese Communists in Manchuria with a safe refuge for non-combatants and communications with the rest of China. The North Korean contributions to the Chinese Communist victory were not forgotten after the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. As a token of gratitude, between 50,000 and 70,000 Korean veterans who served in

12784-493: The Chinese involvement in the Korean War. Anthony Alexander Poshepny (1924–2003), known as Tony Poe , was a CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer in what is now called SAD. He trained the Secret Army in Laos during the Vietnam War . In 1959, he received the Star for his heroic actions while leading these forces in combat. He was assigned with J. Vinton Lawrence to train Hmong hill tribes in Laos to fight North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces. In Laos, Poshepny gained

12972-458: The Clandestine Service Trainee (CST) program required to become a clandestine intelligence officer , paramilitary operations officers are trained to a high level of proficiency in: While the World War II Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was technically a military agency under the Joint Chiefs of Staff , in practice, it was fairly autonomous and enjoyed direct access to President Franklin D. Roosevelt . Major General William Joseph Donovan

13160-482: The Cuban government of Fidel Castro . The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy assumed the presidency of the United States. The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces , trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the exile-combatants in three days. The sea-borne invasion force landed on April 17, and fighting lasted until April 19, 1961. CIA Paramilitary Operations Officers Grayston Lynch and William "Rip" Robertson led

13348-436: The Director of Central Intelligence Admiral Stansfield Turner presented Antonio J. Mendez (also known as Tony Mendez ) with the CIA's Intelligence Star for his heroic actions in the " Canadian caper ", a covert operation in Iran. Mendez was a technical operations officer in the CIA. This position is similar to the job of the fictional character called " Q " in the James Bond series of books and movies . Mendez's primary skill

13536-752: The East Africa Embassy bombings and the 9/11 attacks. Notable and extremely rare possessing both, Berntsen was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal in 2000 and the Intelligence Star in 2004. He's fluent in both Persian and Spanish with a BA from the U. of New Mexico in Political Science and a minor in Russian Studies. Gary ran for the US Senate in 2010 for Chuck Schumer's seat, but lost

13724-659: The Greatest Boom in History Gary Berntsen (born July 23, 1957) is an American former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) career officer who served in the Directorate of Operations between October 1982 and June 2005. During his time at the CIA, he served as a CIA Station Chief on three occasions and led several of the CIA’s most important counterterrorism deployments including the United States’ response to

13912-784: The Intelligence Star. William Francis Buckley (1928–1985) was an Army Special Forces officer and a Paramilitary Operations Officer in the Special Activities Division of the CIA. He died on or about June 3, 1985 after being held captive by members of Hezbollah . He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery , and is commemorated with a star on the Memorial Wall at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia . On October 4, 1985, Islamic Jihad announced that it had executed William Buckley. However, Buckley's remains were not recovered until 1991, when they were found in

14100-682: The Iraqi Army's 5th Corps from moving to contest the invasion's main force to the southeast. Michael Patrick Mulroy is the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East sworn in by Secretary Mattis on October 17, 2017. He is responsible for Department of Defense (DoD) policy and representing the DoD in the interagency policy process for the Middle East. He is a retired CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer (PMOO) in SAC and

14288-726: The National Security Council (NSC) to circumvent the Amendment. NSC officials sought to arrange funding by third parties. These efforts resulted in the Iran-Contra Affair of 1987, which concerned Contra funding through the proceeds of arms sales to the Islamic Republic of Iran . No court ever made a determination whether Boland covered the NSC, and on the grounds that it was a prohibition rather than

14476-572: The Netherlands. In Crete, OSS paramilitary officers linked up with, equipped and fought alongside Greek resistance forces against the Axis occupation . The OSS was disbanded shortly after World War II, with its intelligence analysis functions moving temporarily into the United States Department of State . Espionage and counterintelligence went into military units, while paramilitary and other covert action functions went into

14664-533: The North. On 28 June, Rhee ordered the massacre of suspected political opponents in his own country. In five days, the ROK, which had 95,000 troops on 25 June, was down to less than 22,000 troops. In early July, when US forces arrived, what was left of the ROK was placed under US operational command of the United Nations Command . The Truman administration was unprepared for the invasion. Korea

14852-636: The PLA were sent back along with their weapons, and they later played a significant role in the initial invasion of South Korea. China promised to support the North Koreans in the event of a war against South Korea. By 1948, a North Korea-backed insurgency had broken out in the southern half of the peninsula. This was exacerbated by the undeclared border war between the Koreas, which saw division-level engagements and thousands of deaths on both sides. The ROK

15040-606: The ROK had 98,000 soldiers (65,000 combat, 33,000 support), no tanks (they had been requested from the U.S. military, but requests were denied), and a 22-plane air force comprising 12 liaison-type and 10 AT-6 advanced-trainer airplanes. Large U.S. garrisons and air forces were in Japan, but only 200–300 U.S. troops were in Korea. At dawn on 25 June 1950, the KPA crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire. It justified its assault with

15228-532: The ROK. The final stage would involve destroying South Korean government remnants and capturing the rest of South Korea, including the ports. On 7 June 1950, Kim called for a Korea-wide election on 5–8 August 1950 and a consultative conference in Haeju on 15–17 June. On 11 June, the North sent three diplomats to the South as a peace overture, which Rhee rejected outright. On 21 June, Kim revised his war plan to involve

15416-529: The ROKA launched a three-pronged assault on the insurgents in South Cholla and Taegu . By March 1950, the ROKA claimed 5,621 guerrillas killed or captured and 1,066 small arms seized. This operation crippled the insurgency. Soon after, North Korea made final attempts to keep the uprising active, sending battalion-sized units of infiltrators under the commands of Kim Sang-ho and Kim Moo-hyon. The first battalion

15604-474: The Republican primary to Jay Townsend, who in turn lost the general election. Francis Gary Powers (1929–1977), was a US Air Force fighter pilot and CIA Special Activities Division officer. Powers was a pilot in the top-secret U-2 spy plane program. On May 1, 1960, he was shot down over the Soviet Union, captured, and convicted of espionage. On February 10, 1962, twenty-one months after his capture, he

15792-603: The SAC/SOG comprises a complete combined arms covert paramilitary force. Paramilitary operations officers are the core of each branch and routinely move between the branches to gain expertise in all aspects of SOG. As such, paramilitary operations officers are trained to operate in a multitude of environments. Because these officers are taken from the most highly trained units in the U.S. military and then provided with extensive additional training to become CIA clandestine intelligence officers, many U.S. security experts assess them as

15980-487: The South Korean interior intensified; persistent operations, paired with worsening weather, denied the guerrillas sanctuary and wore away their fighting strength. North Korea responded by sending more troops to link up with insurgents and build more partisan cadres; North Korean infiltrators had reached 3,000 soldiers in 12 units by the start of 1950, but all were destroyed or scattered by the ROKA. On 1 October 1949,

16168-474: The South from 5,000 to 1,000. However, Kim Il Sung believed widespread uprisings had weakened the South Korean military and that a North Korean invasion would be welcomed by much of the South Korean population. Kim began seeking Stalin's support for an invasion in March 1949, traveling to Moscow to persuade him. Stalin initially did not think the time was right for a war in Korea. PLA forces were still embroiled in

16356-503: The South, armed by the U.S. military with mostly small arms, but no heavy weaponry. Several generals, such as Lee Kwon-mu , were PLA veterans born to ethnic Koreans in China. While older histories of the conflict often referred to these ethnic Korean PLA veterans as being sent from northern Korea to fight in the Chinese Civil War before being sent back, recent Chinese archival sources studied by Kim Donggill indicate that this

16544-706: The South. The ROK was being trained by the US Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG). On the eve of the war, KMAG commander General William Lynn Roberts voiced utmost confidence in the ROK and boasted that any North Korean invasion would merely provide "target practice". For his part, Syngman Rhee repeatedly expressed his desire to conquer the North, including when US diplomat John Foster Dulles visited Korea on 18 June. Though some South Korean and US intelligence officers predicted an attack, similar predictions had been made before and nothing had happened. The Central Intelligence Agency noted

16732-739: The Soviet Union would not move against US forces in Korea. The Truman administration believed it could intervene in Korea without undermining its commitments elsewhere. On 25 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the North Korean invasion of South Korea with Resolution 82 . The Soviet Union, a veto-wielding power , had boycotted Council meetings since January 1950, protesting Taiwan 's occupation of China's permanent seat . The Security Council, on 27 June 1950, published Resolution 83 recommending member states provide military assistance to

16920-545: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Hart said, "I was the first chief of station ever sent abroad with this wonderful order: 'Go kill Soviet soldiers'. Imagine! I loved it." Hart's background as a Paramilitary Operations Officer made him a perfect candidate to be the field general for the covert war in Afghanistan. He led these efforts from the front lines of Afghanistan. For his actions during the Soviet occupation, he received

17108-561: The Special Activities Division were seen in the CIA's Phoenix Program . One component of the Phoenix Program was involved in the capture and killing of suspected Viet Cong (VC) members. Between 1968 and 1972, the Phoenix Program captured 81,740 VC members, of whom 26,369 were killed. The program was also successful in destroying their infrastructure. By 1970, communist plans repeatedly emphasized attacking

17296-664: The Taliban. They massed around him. "Why are you here?" Spann asked one. "To kill you," came the reply as the man lunged at Spann's neck. Spann's family visited the fortress after his death. Afghan doctors on-site at the time of the riot gave the Spann family the following account. They said they thought "Mike might run and retreat, but he held his position and fought using his AK rifle until out of ammo, and then drew and began firing his pistol," Spann's father said. While watching Mike fight they were able to jump up and run to safety. They said

17484-535: The U.S. government's management of the war. The CIA extracted him from Laos in 1970 and reassigned him to Thailand until his retirement in 1974. He received another Intelligence Star in 1975 for an undisclosed operation. Several press stories have suggested that Poshepny was the model for Colonel Walter Kurtz in the film Apocalypse Now . He was one of the driving forces behind the Laos Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery . Wilbur "Will" Green served as

17672-517: The U.S.-led invasion force. SAD operations officers also convinced some key Iraqi Army officers to surrender their units once the fighting started. Because Turkey refused to allow the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division to enter northern Iraq, the SAD and Army Special Forces joint teams and the Kurdish Pershmerga were the entire northern invasion force against Saddam. Still, their efforts kept

17860-828: The UK, and the US decided that "in due course, Korea shall become free and independent". At the Tehran Conference in 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of the victory in Europe . Germany officially surrendered on 8 May 1945, and the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria on 8 August 1945, two days after

18048-740: The US in 1949. With the end of the war with Japan , the Chinese Civil War resumed in earnest between the Communists and the Nationalist -led government. While the Communists were struggling for supremacy in Manchuria, they were supported by the North Korean government with matériel and manpower. According to Chinese sources, the North Koreans donated 2,000 railway cars worth of supplies while thousands of Koreans served in

18236-631: The USAMGIK declared martial law . Citing the inability of the Joint Commission to make progress, the US government decided to hold an election under UN auspices to create an independent Korea. The Soviet authorities and Korean communists refused to cooperate on the grounds it would not be fair, and many South Korean politicians boycotted it. The 1948 South Korean general election was held in May. The resultant South Korean government promulgated

18424-725: The United Kingdom's E Squadron , the UK's equivalent paramilitary unit. The Political Action Group is responsible for covert activities related to political influence, psychological operations , economic warfare , and cyberwarfare . Tactical units within SAC can also carry out covert political action while deployed in hostile and austere environments. A large covert operation typically has components that involve many or all of these categories as well as paramilitary operations. Covert political and influence operations are used to support US foreign policy . As overt support for one element of an insurgency can be counterproductive due to

18612-524: The United States and their Allies in fighting the Japanese . After the end of World War II, the U.S. agreed at Potsdam to turn Vietnam back to their previous French rulers, and in 1950 the U.S. began providing military aid to the French. CIA Paramilitary Operations Officers trained and led Hmong tribesmen in Laos and Vietnam, and the actions of these officers were not known for several years. Air America

18800-646: The agency. The CIA's formal designations for these individuals are paramilitary operations officers and specialized skills officers . Paramilitary operations officers often attend the Clandestine Service Trainee (CST) program, which trains them as clandestine intelligence operatives at an internal paramilitary training course. The primary strengths of SAC paramilitary officers are operational agility, adaptability, and deniability. They often operate in small teams, typically made up of two to ten operatives (with some operations being carried out by

18988-540: The airplanes from behind. There had been an air raid on April 15 before the invasion to destroy Cuban government combat aircraft. The White House canceled a second air raid against Cuba's airfields on April 16. Ray and Baker were aware of their responsibility for the mission and to the brigade. Disregarding the warnings of the Cuban exile pilots of the danger, he piloted a B-26 to the Bay of Pigs. The Cuban government forces shot down

19176-536: The airport. They got stuck in Bangkok and so another crew – Bevan, Eubanks, and Lewis – flew that mission on August 13, 1961. "We had no idea anything happened until we got back the next day, and that's when they told us that they went into a canyon and tried to turn around and got into bad air," he said. CIA officials told him days after the crash that Lewis had jumped out of the plane, rather than remain inside. "When they told me that, I teared up," Oehlerich recalled. "It

19364-420: The area to that end. The Truman administration still refrained from committing troops on the ground, because advisers believed the North Koreans could be stopped by air and naval power alone. The Truman administration was uncertain whether the attack was a ploy by the Soviet Union, or just a test of US resolve. The decision to commit ground troops became viable when a communiqué was received on 27 June indicating

19552-484: The area". As Rusk's comments indicate, the US doubted whether the Soviets would agree. Joseph Stalin , however, maintained his wartime policy of cooperation, and on 16 August, the Red Army halted at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of US forces. On 7 September 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued Proclamation No. 1 to the people of Korea, announcing US military control over Korea south of

19740-772: The backbone of the Nicaraguan Counterrevolution or Contra . CIA paramilitary teams from Special Activities Division were deployed to train and lead these rebel forces against the Sandinista government. These paramilitary activities were based in Honduras and Costa Rica. Direct military aid by the United States was eventually forbidden by the Boland Amendment of the Defense Appropriations Act of 1983. The Boland Amendment

19928-476: The border, starting in May 1949. Border clashes between South and North continued on 4 August 1949, when thousands of North Korean troops attacked South Korean troops occupying territory north of the 38th parallel. The 2nd and 18th ROK Infantry Regiments repulsed attacks in Kuksa-bong, and KPA troops were "completely routed". Border incidents decreased by the start of 1950. Meanwhile, counterinsurgencies in

20116-704: The border, these guerrillas launched an offensive in September aimed at undermining the South Korean government and preparing the country for the KPA's arrival in force. This offensive failed. However, the guerrillas were now entrenched in the Taebaek-san region of the North Gyeongsang Province and the border areas of the Gangwon Province . While the insurgency was ongoing, the ROKA and KPA engaged in battalion-sized battles along

20304-487: The choice of the 38th parallel, Rusk observed, "Even though it was further north than could be realistically reached by U. S. [ sic ] forces in the event of Soviet disagreement ... we felt it important to include the capital of Korea in the area of responsibility of American troops". He noted that he was "faced with the scarcity of U.S. forces immediately available and time and space factors which would make it difficult to reach very far north before Soviet troops could enter

20492-554: The claim ROK troops attacked first and that the KPA were aiming to arrest and execute the "bandit traitor Syngman Rhee". Fighting began on the strategic Ongjin Peninsula in the west. There were initial South Korean claims that the 17th Regiment had counterattacked at Haeju; some scholars argue the claimed counterattack was instead the instigating attack, and therefore that the South Koreans may have fired first. However,

20680-638: The codes used by the US to communicate with their embassy in Moscow , and reading dispatches convinced Stalin that Korea did not have the importance to the US that would warrant a nuclear confrontation. Stalin began a more aggressive strategy in Asia based on these developments, including promising economic and military aid to China through the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance . In April 1950, Stalin permitted Kim to attack

20868-412: The communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, ethnic Korean units in the PLA were sent to North Korea. In the fall of 1949, two PLA divisions composed mainly of Korean-Chinese troops (the 164th and 166th ) entered North Korea, followed by smaller units throughout the rest of 1949. The reinforcement of the KPA with PLA veterans continued into 1950, with the 156th Division and several other units of

21056-585: The country. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was founded in 1919 in Nationalist China . It failed to achieve international recognition, failed to unite the nationalist groups, and had a fractious relationship with its US-based founding president, Syngman Rhee . From 1919 to 1925 and beyond, Korean communists led internal and external warfare against the Japanese. In China,

21244-580: The date of its commencement on 25 June. In North Korea, the war is officially referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War ( Choguk haebang chŏnjaeng ) or the " Chosŏn [Korean] War" ( 조선전쟁 ; Chosŏn chŏnjaeng ). In mainland China, the segment of the war after the intervention of the People's Volunteer Army is commonly and officially known as the "Resisting America and Assisting Korea War" ( Chinese : 抗美援朝战争 ; pinyin : Kàngměi Yuáncháo Zhànzhēng ), although

21432-499: The defense of Italy and Greece, and the country was first on the list of the National Security Council 's post-North Korea invasion list of "chief danger spots". Truman believed if aggression went unchecked, a chain reaction would start that would marginalize the UN and encourage communist aggression elsewhere. The UN Security Council approved the use of force to help the South Koreans, and the US immediately began using air and naval forces in

21620-509: The economic and military aid promised by the Soviets. Kathryn Weathersby cites Soviet documents which said Kim secured Mao's support. Along with Mark O'Neill, she says this accelerated Kim's war preparations. Chen Jian argues Mao never seriously challenged Kim's plans and Kim had every reason to inform Stalin that he had obtained Mao's support. Citing more recent scholarship, Zhao Suisheng contends Mao did not approve of Kim's war proposal and requested verification from Stalin, who did so via

21808-639: The effectiveness of Phoenix. MAC-V SOG ( Studies and Observations Group , which was originally named the Special Operations Group, but was changed for cover purposes) was created and active during the Vietnam War . While the CIA was just one part of MAC-V SOG, it did have operational control of some of the programs. Many of the military members of MAC-V SOG joined the CIA after their military service. The legacy of MAC-V SOG continues within SAC's Special Operations Group. On May 22, 2016,

21996-560: The end of World War II in 1945, Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for 35 years, was divided by the Soviet Union and the US into two occupation zones at the 38th parallel , with plans for a future independent state. Due to political disagreements and influence from their backers, the zones formed their own governments in 1948. The DPRK was led by Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang , and the ROK by Syngman Rhee in Seoul ; both claimed to be

22184-502: The eulogy at Fort Bragg's John F. Kennedy Chapel and cited a passage from Isaiah: "I heard the Lord say: Who shall I send and who will go for us? I answered: Here I am, send me. " On October 9, of 2001 Hamid Karzai entered Afghanistan and linked up with his supporters to seize the town of Tarin Kowt . Taliban forces launched a counterattack against Karzai's lightly armed forces and he

22372-435: The exchange of prisoners and created a 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the frontline, with a Joint Security Area at Panmunjom . The conflict caused more than 1 million military deaths and an estimated 2 to 3 million civilian deaths, a larger proportion of civilian deaths than in World War II or the Vietnam War . Alleged war crimes include the mass killing of suspected communists by Seoul and

22560-462: The first assault on the beaches , and supervised the amphibious landings. Four American aircrew instructors from Alabama Air National Guard were killed while flying attack sorties. Various sources estimate Cuban Army casualties (killed or injured) to be in the thousands (between 2,000 and 5,000). This invasion followed the successful overthrow by the CIA of the Mosaddeq government in Iran in 1953 and Arbenz government in Guatemala in 1954, but

22748-420: The first U.S. forces to enter Iraq in 2002 in preparation for the March 2003 U.S. invasion, were soon joined by members of the Army's 10th Special Forces Group to form a joint team called the Northern Iraq Liaison Element (NILE). The joint team organized the Kurdish Peshmerga and defeated Ansar al-Islam , an ally of Al Qaeda, in a battle for the northeast corner of Iraq, killing many terrorists and uncovering

22936-407: The first day when they had supplies. The air battle was not much different. The Air Force pilots of the brigade with their slow Douglas B-26 were not a match for the T-33 jets of the Cuban government. Ray had been designated by the CIA to train and supervise the Air Force of the brigade in Central America, which did not have to participate in combat operations. At first, the Cuban exile pilots did

23124-400: The flying. The pilots returning from operations kept saying that without air support from jet fighters the brigade would be destroyed. The B-26s, the only combat airplanes of the brigade, had been modified to be able to fly the long run from Nicaragua to Cuba. The defensive machine guns had been removed to allow carrying more fuel. The Cuban government pilots immediately noticed this and attacked

23312-459: The former Fourth Field Army arriving in February; the PLA 156th Division was reorganized as the KPA 7th Division. By mid-1950, between 50,000 and 70,000 former PLA troops had entered North Korea, forming a significant part of the KPA's strength on the eve of the war's beginning. The combat veterans and equipment from China, the tanks, artillery, and aircraft supplied by the Soviets, and rigorous training increased North Korea's military superiority over

23500-515: The furtherance of U.S. policy aims. In addition, mechanisms for forming and developing opinions involve the covert use of propaganda . Propaganda includes leaflets, newspapers, magazines, books, radio, and television, all of which are geared to convey the U.S. message appropriate to the region. These techniques have expanded to cover the internet as well. They may employ officers to work as journalists, recruit agents of influence, operate media platforms, plant certain stories or information in places it

23688-453: The general exclaiming, a big grin on his face. "Let's use this again." Finally, a tier-one personality was in custody. Korean War Korean Demilitarized Zone established Together: 1,742,000 The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea

23876-472: The government and between 2,976 and 3,392 deaths. By May 1949, both uprisings had been crushed. Insurgency reignited in the spring of 1949 when attacks by guerrillas in the mountainous regions (buttressed by army defectors and North Korean agents) increased. Insurgent activity peaked in late 1949 as the ROKA engaged so-called People's Guerrilla Units. Organized and armed by the North Korean government, and backed by 2,400 KPA commandos who had infiltrated through

24064-527: The government in the South, under the condition that Mao would agree to send reinforcements if needed. For Kim, this was the fulfillment of his goal to unite Korea. Stalin made it clear Soviet forces would not openly engage in combat, to avoid a direct war with the US Kim met with Mao in May 1950 and differing historical interpretations of the meeting have been put forward. According to Barbara Barnouin and Yu Changgeng, Mao agreed to support Kim despite concerns of American intervention, as China desperately needed

24252-405: The government's "pacification" program and specifically targeted Phoenix agents. The VC also imposed quotas. In 1970, for example, communist officials near Da Nang in northern South Vietnam instructed their agents to "kill 400 persons" deemed to be government "tyrant[s]" and to "annihilate" anyone involved with the "pacification" program. Several North Vietnamese officials have made statements about

24440-462: The government. At 02:00 on 28 June the ROK blew up the Hangang Bridge across the Han River in an attempt to stop the KPA. The bridge was detonated while 4,000 refugees were crossing it, and hundreds were killed. Destroying the bridge trapped many ROK units north of the river. In spite of such desperate measures, Seoul fell that same day. Some South Korean National Assemblymen remained in Seoul when it fell, and 48 subsequently pledged allegiance to

24628-516: The honor and respect of the Hmong forces with his actions in combat and his victory among and on the battlefield. He and his Hmong fighters collected the ears of dead enemy soldiers; on at least one occasion, he mailed a bag of ears to the U.S. embassy in Vientiane to prove his body counts. He also dropped severed heads onto enemy locations twice in a grisly form of psy-ops . He was wounded several times, but refused to leave his troops to be evacuated. Over several years, Poshepny grew disillusioned with

24816-454: The influence of China over Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), ushering in the short-lived Korean Empire . A decade later, after defeating Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War , Japan made the Korean Empire its protectorate with the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, then annexed it with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 . The Korean Empire fell, and Korea was directly ruled by Japan between 1910–45. Many Korean nationalists fled

25004-684: The insurgent war and border clashes. The first socialist uprising occurred without direct North Korean participation, though the guerrillas still professed support for the northern government. Beginning in April 1948 on Jeju Island , the campaign saw arrests and repression by the South Korean government in the fight against the South Korean Labor Party, resulting in 30,000 violent deaths, among them 14,373 civilians, of whom ~2,000 were killed by rebels and ~12,000 by ROK security forces. The Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion overlapped with it, as several thousand army defectors waving red flags massacred right-leaning families. This resulted in another brutal suppression by

25192-439: The invasion force, the North had 114 fighters, 78 bombers, 105 T-34-85 tanks, and some 30,000 soldiers stationed in reserve in North Korea. Although each navy consisted of only several small warships, the North and South Korean navies fought in the war as seaborne artillery for their armies. In contrast, the South Korean population was estimated at 20 million, but its army was unprepared and ill-equipped. As of 25 June 1950,

25380-427: The invasion. UN forces comprised 21 countries, with the US providing around 90% of military personnel. Seoul was captured on 28 June, and by early August, the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) and its allies were nearly defeated, holding onto only the Pusan Perimeter in the peninsula's southeast. On 15 September, UN forces landed at Inchon near Seoul, cutting off KPA troops and supply lines. UN forces broke out from

25568-407: The island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas . Shortly thereafter, the five men were covertly returned to Tibet "to assess and organize the resistance" and selected another 300 Tibetans for training. U.S. assistance to the Tibetan resistance ceased after the 1972 Nixon visit to China , after which the United States and China normalized relations. The CIA sponsored a variety of activities during

25756-407: The line of duty. As of May 21, 2012, there were 103 stars on this marble wall. Many officers memorialized on this wall also received the Intelligence Star and the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and are candidates for additional posthumous medals for their valor. There have been discussions over the years with ranking members of the Senate, House, and the Intelligence Community about the placement of

25944-438: The majority of the stars displayed on the Memorial Wall at CIA headquarters , indicating that the officer died while on active duty. The Latin motto of SAC is Tertia Optio , which means "Third Option," as covert action represents an additional option within the realm of national security when diplomacy and military action are not feasible. The Ground Branch of the Special Operations Group has been known to operate alongside

26132-426: The most elite of the U.S. special missions units. Paramilitary operations officers require a bachelor's degree to be considered for employment. SAC officers are trained at Camp Peary , Virginia (also known as "The Farm"), "The Point" ( Harvey Point ), a facility outside of Hertford, North Carolina , and at privately owned training centers around the United States. In addition to the eighteen months of training in

26320-436: The nationalist National Revolutionary Army and the communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese military, which had also occupied parts of China. The Nationalist-backed Koreans, led by Yi Pom-Sok , fought in the Burma campaign (1941-45). The communists, led by, among others, Kim Il Sung , fought the Japanese in Korea and Manchuria . At the Cairo Conference in 1943, China,

26508-408: The only reason that they and several others were able to live was because Mike stood his position and fought off the prisoners while enabling them the time to run to safety. The doctors stated that as they fled toward a safe haven, they saw Mike run out of ammo and then witnessed him fighting hand to hand until he was overcome by the numerous al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners. Although Spann had served in

26696-406: The operation was conducted under the auspices of the UN. It has been sometimes referred to in the English-speaking world as "The Forgotten War" or "The Unknown War" because of the lack of public attention it received during and afterward, relative to the global scale of World War II, which preceded it, and the subsequent angst of the Vietnam War , which succeeded it. Imperial Japan diminished

26884-472: The perimeter on 18 September, re-captured Seoul, and invaded North Korea in October, capturing Pyongyang and advancing towards the Yalu River —the border with China. On 19 October, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war on the side of the north. UN forces retreated from North Korea in December, following the PVA's first and second offensive . Communist forces captured Seoul again in January 1951 before losing it to

27072-400: The prevention of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from winning elections between 1948 and the late 1960s; overthrowing the governments of Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954 ; arming rebels in Indonesia in 1957; and providing funds and support to the trade union federation Solidarity following the imposition of martial law in Poland after 1981. SAC's existence became better known as

27260-442: The report that contained the Haeju claim contained errors and outright falsehoods. KPA forces attacked all along the 38th parallel within an hour. The KPA had a combined arms force including tanks supported by heavy artillery. The ROK had no tanks, anti-tank weapons, or heavy artillery. The South Koreans committed their forces in a piecemeal fashion, and these were routed in a few days. On 27 June, Rhee evacuated Seoul with some of

27448-422: The six embassy personnel). They made up a movie poster and took out advertisements in Hollywood trade papers, announcing the production of Argo , a fictitious film. Johnson and Mendez and to Tehran , Iran with six fake Canadian passports and a risky plan to present the embassy personnel as Canadian filmmakers. Keeping in mind the potential worst-case scenario should somebody be caught, Johnson and Mendez disguised

27636-411: The sole legitimate government of all of Korea and engaged in border clashes as internal unrest was fomented by communist groups in the south. On 25 June 1950, the Korean People's Army (KPA), equipped and trained by the Soviets, launched an invasion of the south. In the absence of the Soviet Union's representative, the UN Security Council denounced the attack and recommended member states to repel

27824-444: The south could have ended." Later on December 5, Karzai was leading his resistance force against the Taliban at Khandahar , their capital, and one of their last remaining strongholds. Greg V. was the lead paramilitary advisor to Karzai in this battle when, as a result of a mistake in calculating an airstrike, a bomb was dropped on their position. Greg V. threw his body on Karzai and saved his life. The same day Khandahar fell and Karzai

28012-444: The southward movement by the KPA but assessed this as a "defensive measure" and concluded an invasion was "unlikely". On 23 June UN observers inspected the border and did not detect that war was imminent. Chinese involvement was extensive from the beginning, building on previous collaboration between the Chinese and Korean communists during the Chinese Civil War. Throughout 1949 and 1950, the Soviets continued arming North Korea. After

28200-431: The term " Chosŏn War" ( Chinese : 朝鮮戰爭 ; pinyin : Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng ) is sometimes used unofficially. The term " Hán (Korean) War" ( Chinese : 韓戰 ; pinyin : Hán Zhàn ) is most used in Taiwan (Republic of China), Hong Kong and Macau . In the US, the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a " police action " as the US never formally declared war on its opponents, and

28388-458: The torture and starvation of prisoners of war by Pyongyang. North Korea became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history, and virtually all of Korea's major cities were destroyed. No peace treaty has been signed, making the war a frozen conflict . In South Korea, the war is usually referred to as the "625 War" ( 6·25 전쟁 ; 六二五戰爭 ), the "625 Upheaval" ( 6·25 동란 ; 六二五動亂 ; yugio dongnan ), or simply "625", reflecting

28576-403: The unfavorable impression of the United States in some countries, in such cases covert assistance allows the US to assist without damaging the reputation of its beneficiaries. SAC provides the United States National Security Council with alternative options when overt military and/or diplomatic actions are not viable or politically feasible. SAC can be directly tasked by the U.S. president or

28764-651: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the locating and killing of Osama bin Laden . SAC/SOG has several missions, one being the recruiting, training, and leading of indigenous forces in combat operations. SAC/SOG and its successors have been used when it was considered desirable to have plausible deniability about US support (this is called a covert operation or "covert action"). Unlike other special missions units, SAC/SOG operatives combine special operations and clandestine intelligence capabilities in one individual. These individuals can operate in any environment (sea, air or ground) with limited to no support. The CIA

28952-438: Was Irish to "avoid problems.") At his memorial at Arlington National Cemetery they stated that he "fought with his AK-47 until it ran out of ammunition, then drew his pistol and emptied it, before turning to hand to hand combat which saw him shot". According to members of a German television crew who were later trapped in the fort with the other CIA officer named "Dave", Spann asked the prisoners who they were and why they joined

29140-419: Was a CIA officer in China . MacKiernan volunteered to stay behind while every other U.S. official fled the country, in order to provide the only intelligence available to the President of the United States about the takeover of the Communist forces of Mao Zedong . He was eventually forced to flee on horseback over the Himalayas to India . Armed with machine guns and supported by a few local men employed by

29328-402: Was a Paramilitary Operations Officer from SAD. He was born in Cuba in 1941. Rodriguez was infiltrated into Cuba before the Bay of Pigs Invasion . He led the CIA/SAD team into Bolivia that captured Che Guevara , served in Vietnam, and received the Intelligence Star and the Silver Star for his actions in combat as part of a joint CIA/US Military unit called MAC-V SOG and the Phoenix Program . He

29516-421: Was a failure both militarily and politically. Deteriorating Cuban-American relations were made worse by the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis . The National Liberation Army of Bolivia (ELN-Ejército de Liberación Nacional de Bolivia) was a communist guerrilla force that operated from the remote Ñancahuazú region against the pro-U.S. Bolivian government . They were joined by Che Guevara in the mid-1960s. The ELN

29704-420: Was a former Army Delta Force operator and Special Forces soldier. Freedman served in Vietnam for two years and was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart and then served in every conflict that America was involved in both officially and unofficially until his death. Freedman was born into a devoutly Jewish home and nicknamed himself "SuperJew," a nickname also used by his colleagues in Delta Force. Freedman

29892-410: Was a special prize because of his leading role in the Cuban Revolution . On October 9, 1967, Guevara was executed by Bolivian soldiers on the orders of CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Félix Rodríguez shortly after being captured, according to CIA documents. The original OSS mission in Vietnam under Major Archimedes Patti was to work with Ho Chi Minh in order to prepare his forces to assist

30080-559: Was accepted by his widow. These individuals were part of a top secret joint US Air Force /CIA program to replace the Lockheed U-2 spy plane. The A-12 flew 20,000 feet higher and four times faster than the previous CIA U-2 program. The project was called OXCART and is considered one of the key milestones in aviation history. These pilots undertook extraordinarily dangerous missions, both to test this aircraft and to conduct surveillance flights over Vietnam and North Korea. André Kesteloot (1937–2015). Born in Brussels, Belgium , he retired from

30268-417: Was administered by a US–Soviet Union Joint Commission , as agreed at the Moscow Conference , to grant independence after a five-year trusteeship. Waiting five years for independence was unpopular among Koreans, and riots broke out. To contain them, the USAMGIK banned strikes on 8 December and outlawed the PRK Revolutionary Government and People's Committees on 12 December. Following further civilian unrest,

30456-414: Was almost entirely trained and focused on counterinsurgency, rather than conventional warfare. They were equipped and advised by a force of a few hundred American officers, who were successful in helping the ROKA to subdue guerrillas and hold its own against North Korean military (Korean People's Army, KPA) forces along the 38th parallel. Approximately 8,000 South Korean soldiers and police officers died in

30644-411: Was also a recipient of nine Crosses for Gallantry from the South Vietnamese government. In addition, Rodriguez was involved in the SAD paramilitary program in Nicaragua which was considered tactically very successful, but politically very controversial. This program eventually became part of the Iran Contra Affair . Rodriguez testified in this matter as a witness. In 1949, Douglas Seymour Mackiernan

30832-501: Was completely voluntary, but it required entry into a very hostile area without any support. Freedman was posthumously awarded the Intelligence Star on January 5, 1993, for his "extraordinary heroism." SAD/SOG teams were key in working with JSOC and tracking high-value targets (HVT), known as "Tier One Personalities". Their efforts, working under extremely dangerous conditions with little to no support, led to several very successful joint JSOC/CIA operations. In one specific operation,

31020-423: Was creating disguises and exfiltrating assets out of hostile areas. In 1979, Iranian student militants took 52 Americans hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran . Six U.S. embassy employees had managed to escape and hide out at the homes of Canadian diplomats living in the city. Mendez along with Edward Johnson, created a fake movie production company called Studio Six (named for the six embassy personnel). They made up

31208-407: Was exceptional, even remarkable with help of Miles Agha." Among Colonel Buckley's Army awards are the Silver Star , Soldier's Medal , Bronze Star with a V-device , two Purple Hearts , Meritorious Service Medal , Combat Infantryman Badge , and the Parachutist Badge . He also received the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star from the ARVN . Among his CIA awards are the Intelligence Star,

31396-503: Was exchanged for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (better known as Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, Germany. Although criticized, he was eventually commended for his heroic actions by a US Senate investigation. In 2000, on the anniversary of the U-2 Incident , the Powers family was presented with the Prisoner of War Medal , Distinguished Flying Cross , Silver Star and National Defense Service Medal . CIA Director George Tenet authorized Powers to posthumously receive

31584-421: Was extended in October 1984 to forbid action by not only the Defense Department but also to include the Central Intelligence Agency. The Boland Amendment was a compromise because the U.S. Democratic Party did not have enough votes for a comprehensive ban on military aid. It covered only appropriated funds spent by intelligence agencies. Some of Reagan's national security officials used non-appropriated money of

31772-401: Was forced to withdraw. On November 3, Karzai contacted a member of the CIA's paramilitary unit identified only as "Greg V." who immediately acted by linking up Karzai and himself with his joint CIA/US Army Special Forces/JSOC team. From there, they made a nighttime insertion back into Tarin Kowt. Karzai then went from village to village seeking support to fight against the Taliban. On November 17,

31960-525: Was its penetration of Nazi Germany by OSS operatives. The OSS was responsible for training German and Austrian commandos for missions inside Nazi Germany. Some of these agents included exiled communists, socialist party members, labor activists , anti-Nazi POWs , and German and Jewish refugees . At the height of its influence during World War II, the OSS employed almost 24,000 people. OSS Paramilitary Officers parachuted into many countries that were behind enemy lines, including France, Norway, Greece, and

32148-399: Was killed during a riot at the Qala-i-Jangi compound in Mazari Sharif in northern Afghanistan . On the same day, he and another CIA officer were at a military garrison named Qali Jangi near Mazari Sharif and questioned John Walker Lindh . As shown on British television ( Channel 4 News ), Spann asked "Are you a member of the IRA?" (This question was asked because Lindh was told to claim he

32336-451: Was killed while conducting special reconnaissance in advance of the entry of U.S. military forces into Somalia . His mission was completely voluntary, as it required entry into a very hostile area without any support. His actions provided US forces with crucial intelligence in order to plan their eventual amphibious landing. Freedman was awarded the Intelligence Star on 5 January 1993 for his heroic actions. Brigadier General Richard Potter gave

32524-520: Was named the interim Prime Minister. Tenet wrote, "The routing of the Taliban and al-Qa'ida from Afghanistan in a matter of weeks was accomplished by 110 CIA officers, 316 Special Forces soldiers and scores of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) raiders creating havoc behind enemy lines—a band of brothers with the support of U.S. airpower, following a CIA plan, that has to rank as one of the great successes in Agency history." Several Intelligence Stars were awarded for these activities; presumably "Greg V."

32712-442: Was no US policy dealing with South Korea directly as a national interest, its proximity to Japan increased its importance. Said Kim: "The recognition that the security of Japan required a non-hostile Korea led directly to President Truman's decision to intervene ... The essential point ... is that the American response to the North Korean attack stemmed from considerations of U.S. policy toward Japan." Another consideration

32900-401: Was not included in the strategic Asian Defense Perimeter outlined by United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson . Military strategists were more concerned with the security of Europe against the Soviet Union than that of East Asia . The administration was worried a war in Korea could quickly escalate without American intervention. Diplomat John Foster Dulles stated: "To sit by while Korea

33088-770: Was not the case. Rather, the soldiers were indigenous to China, as part of China's longstanding ethnic Korean community, and were recruited to the PLA in the same way as any other Chinese citizen. According to the first official census in 1949, the population of North Korea numbered 9,620,000, and by mid-1950, North Korean forces numbered between 150,000 and 200,000 troops, organized into 10 infantry divisions, one tank division, and one air force division, with 210 fighter planes and 280 tanks, who captured scheduled objectives and territory, among them Kaesong, Chuncheon , Uijeongbu , and Ongjin. Their forces included 274 T-34-85 tanks, 200 artillery pieces, 110 attack bombers, 150 Yak fighter planes, and 35 reconnaissance aircraft. In addition to

33276-441: Was one of the CIA / Special Activities Division (SAD) Paramilitary Operations Officers who commanded the Cuban rebel army during the Bay of Pigs Invasion . He was the first to land on the beach and fired the initial shots of the battle. He is revered among Cuban Americans for his heroics during the failed invasion, which included several rescue missions to save stranded members of Brigade 2506 . The other CIA Paramilitary Officer at

33464-411: Was one of those. On 31 May 2002, the Intelligence Star was awarded to Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann after he was killed at the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in November 2001 in Afghanistan. Spann, a Paramilitary Operations Officer in the CIA's Special Activities Division, was the first American killed during combat in the Global War on Terror . Spann was also awarded the Exceptional Service Medallion . Spann

33652-467: Was recruited and joined the CIA in 1965. He spent two years at Camp Peary in Virginia, attending the "standard two-year course for aspiring case officers" and then reported to the Directorate of Operations (now called the National Clandestine Service ). In 1978, Hart began working on the streets of Tehran . His reports that, contrary to over 15 years of CIA estimates, the Shah's rule was far from stable or secure were suppressed by more senior personnel within

33840-498: Was reduced to a single man over the course of engagements by the ROKA 8th Division . The second was annihilated by a two-battalion hammer-and-anvil maneuver by units of the ROKA 6th Division , resulting in a toll of 584 KPA guerrillas (480 killed, 104 captured) and 69 ROKA troops killed, plus 184 wounded. By the spring of 1950, guerrilla activity had mostly subsided; the border, too, was calm. By 1949, South Korean and US military actions had reduced indigenous communist guerrillas in

34028-421: Was serving as an instructor for Cuban exile pilots in the Congo during the Simba Rebellion when his T-28 Trojan was shot down. He was severely injured in the crash and died several weeks later after a delay in medical attention and evacuation caused his physical state to deteriorate, resulting in his death in 1964. Howard Hart had a Ph.D. in Asian politics and spoke both the Hindi and Urdu languages. He

34216-417: Was something John and I had talked about – 'Don't go down with the airplane, your chances are better if you get out.'" In 1973, SAD and the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology built and deployed the USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193) , a large deep-sea salvage ship, on a secret operation. This operation was called Project Azorian (erroneously called Project Jennifer by the press). Her mission

34404-443: Was supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union , while South Korea was supported by the United Nations Command (UNC) led by the United States . The conflict was thus the first major proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. Fighting ended in 1953 with an armistice but no peace treaty , leading to the ongoing Korean conflict characterized by phases of diplomacy and confrontation. After

34592-429: Was the Soviet reaction if the US intervened. The Truman administration was fearful a Korean war was a diversionary assault that would escalate to a general war in Europe once the US committed in Korea. At the same time, "[t]here was no suggestion from anyone that the United Nations or the United States could back away from [the conflict]". Yugoslavia —a possible Soviet target because of the Tito-Stalin split —was vital to

34780-429: Was the air component of the CIA's paramilitary mission in Southeast Asia and was responsible for all combat, logistics and search and rescue operations in Laos and certain sections of Vietnam. The ethnic minority forces numbered in the tens of thousands. They conducted direct actions missions, led by Paramilitary Operations Officers, against the communist Pathet Lao forces and their North Vietnamese allies. Elements of

34968-400: Was the head of the OSS. Donovan was a soldier and Medal of Honor recipient from World War I . He was also a lawyer and former classmate of Roosevelt at Columbia Law School . Like its successor the CIA, the OSS included both human intelligence functions and special operations paramilitary functions. Its Secret Intelligence Division was responsible for espionage, while the Jedburgh teams,

35156-425: Was to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, K-129 , which had been lost in April 1968. A mechanical failure caused two-thirds of the submarine to break off during recovery, but SAC recovered two nuclear-tipped torpedoes, cryptographic machines and the bodies of six Soviet submariners. An alternative theory claims that all of K-129 was recovered and that the official account was an "elaborate cover-up". Also, in

35344-412: Was well equipped and scored a number of early successes against the Bolivian army in the difficult terrain of the mountainous Camiri region. In the late 1960s, the CIA deployed teams of Paramilitary Operations Officers to Bolivia to train the Bolivian army in order to counter the ELN. These teams linked up with U.S. Army Special Forces and Bolivian Special Forces to track down and capture Guevara, who

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