Government tried to make Air America appear as an organization created for business ventures for plausible deniability. Ironically, although Grundy was married and had outside interests, he too requested no funeral both Grundy and Doole died in virtual anonymity. He was a lifelong bachelor, and there was no obituary, flowers, or funeral. Officially, the CIA says there is no record of him working for them. It is unclear whether Doole was a staff employee or contracted to work under a personal service agreement. However, George Doole, the CEO of Air America from 1959 until 1971, worked for the CIA overseeing various contract companies that included Air America. Air America's president, Hugh Grundy, was not a CIA employee. For the most part, the Air America complex was administered internally by non-CIA personnel. There was, however, a CIA connection, and initially, CIA personnel managed the company, though that did not last long. Grundy went on to say, "CAT/Air America offered Government a means of conducting vital activities that, due to political or other restraints, could not employ military forces in the usual manner, and CAT/Air America sometimes substituted for a military presence and often worked hand-in-hand with the military, especially in covert operations." įurther evidence dismissing the false notion about CIA ownership comes from a statement made by CIA Assistant General Counsel James Harris on December 5, 1978, where he said, "In the case of Air America, Inc, it would have been virtually impossible to preserve the cover story had all corporate employees been advised they were really employees of the United States Government.” "From the time of its secret purchase, in about 1950, from commercial, profit-seeking owners, until its dissolution in the mid-seventies, when it was perceived as no longer needed after the Vietnam War ended, the CAT/Air America complex was owned by the United States government, administered through its Central Intelligence Agency." Here is an excerpt of CAT, Inc.'s president Hugh Grundy's letter to the Civilian/Military Service Review Board supporting veteran status. Whether operated independently or administered by the CIA, USAF, NAVY, or Army, all priority companies are U.S.
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Therefore, saying the CIA owns something is impossible because the NSC approves every action the CIA takes. Government, and the Director of Central Intelligence answers to the National Security Council. The Agency is an integral part of the U.S. Government got away with under a cloud of secrecy. However, an ordinary citizen could not do what the U.S. Government developed an airline with some semblance of integrity. For brevity reasons, I will say in the end, after everything was said and done, the U.S. This historical synopsis does not begin to explain what happened in the 1949-50 era. Government and their Central Intelligence Agency, the Nationalist Chinese, and the Communist Chinese. The prevalence of money and equipment issues, legal entanglements, lawsuits, imprisonments, personality conflicts, and deaths further complicated the mayhem between the U.S. CNAC, CATI, Civil Air Transport, CAT, Inc., and to further complicate the issue, many of these different companies were all called CAT by the employees. Many companies were vying for the same equipment and a slice of the pie with various acronyms. A large portion of the secret history available to the public remains heavily redacted. The complexity of what was going on in China during the 1949-50 era is difficult to grasp. Government regarding ownership and responsibility is understandable. The confusion concerning the CIA and the U.S. However, the United States Government was the owner of Air America, not the CIA.
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Authors of books and articles assume, imply, or assign CIA ownership because of the spy agency's romantic overtures and eye-catching appeal. Government purposely obfuscated the true nature of Air America, making it difficult to unravel.
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The history of Air America is enigmatic and complex because distortion of facts occurs.
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The purpose here is to challenge an urban legend and explain who Air America was and wasn't. This synopsis concerns a single airline and not a study of other aviation units that operated in Southeast Asia. A synopsis only scratches the surface and cannot provide all the ins and outs of a company that lasted twenty-five years in sixteen pages. The war in Vietnam and Laos is even more complex. To comprehend Air America, one would need to read many books and articles, and many may arrive at different conclusions. A Historical Synopsis from the Beginning to End