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CIA/CSI/ History Staff Monograph, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 16 July 2002.

Central Intelligence Agency · 406 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is a CIA History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, written in 1992 and approved for release in 2011. It covers the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974 and its two aircraft, the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART. It follows their development, the overflights of the Soviet Union, the downing of Francis Gary Powers in 1960, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."

Open the PDF at page 199 Original source ↗

“Mission Control”17 pages

  • p. 9 …The struggle between the CIA and the US Air Force to control the U-2 and…
  • p. 72 …2 missions. Access to the photographs taken by the U-2 would be strictly controlled, which…
  • p. 73 …This pact gave the Air Force responsibility for pilot selection and training, weather information, mission plotting…
  • p. 81 …Before the start of a mission, the ground crew set the counters to indicate the total…
  • p. 96 …All of the products from this project would be placed in the new control sys- tem…
  • p. 100 …This was an S-band radar used by Soviet forces for early warning and ground-controlled…
  • p. 113 …The President nevertheless maintained tight control over the program and authorized only 10 days of overflights…
  • p. 128 …the following day, whithi next U-2 mission returned from the Middle East. After quickly developing…
  • p. 140 …Welzenbach (S); Mission folder 4020 (18 Marcn n, CJJA rerar9 ITS Codeword). OSA History. chap. 4…
  • p. 142 …of the first series of U-2 missions as condu this research under a project codenamed…
  • p. 147 …not an easy task in crowded Japan.`) Detachment C began conducting missions in June 1957 after…
  • p. 191 …This revised cover story, along with a mission flight plan consistent with it, was sent to…
  • p. 196 …with Abel's "wife" (probably his Soviet control) in East Germany. In November 1961, Acting DCI…
  • p. 204 …in-the DDP in order to maintain control of his overhead reconnais- sance projects (the U…
  • p. 220 …Strongly favoring Air Force control of the U-2 missions over Cuba. the DOD representatives called…
  • p. 335 …The flood of information that the U-2 missions gathered led to a major expansion of…
  • p. 340 …In 1959 Bissell became Deputy Director for Plans but kept the reconnaissance projects under his control…
CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED
Chapter 4
186
snubbed by President Kennedy, who one year earlier had warmly wel-
comed two Air Force RB-47 fliers released by the Soviet Union.
McCone remained hostile to Powers, and in April 1963 he awarded
the Intelligence Star to all of the U-2 pilots except Powers. Finally on
25 April 1965, just two days before McCone's resignation became ef-
fective, Powers received the Star (which was dated 1963 on the back)
from DDCI Marshall S. Carter."
Powers' return from captivity raised the question of what his fu-
ture employment should be. This issue had already been discussed
one year earlier by John N. McMahon, executive officer of the DPD,
who noted that he and Col. Leo P. Geary (the Air Force project offi-
cer) were concerned about a major dilemma for the CIA and the US
Government: I
[012958 1.61d1I11>1010<25Yrs
" OSA History, chap. 14. p. 54 (TS Codeword). Beschloss. Mayday, p. 397.
John N. McMahon to Chief, Cover Staff. DPD. 21 March 1961. Operation
files. OSA records tS).
" OSA History, chap. 14, p. 52 (TS Codeword).
-froacea...
UNCLASSIFIED

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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.