Documents / FOIA release
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."
“Sea”17 pages
Secre FORN Chapter 2 61 44" AP- Osmund J. Ritland CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED project—the construction and testing of the aircraft—remained the ex- clusive province of Lockheed:9 As a result of this agreement, CIA remained in control of the program, but the Air Force played a very important role as well. As Richard Bissell later remarked about the U-2 project, "The Air Force wasn't just in on this as a supporting element, and to a major degree it wasn't in on it just supplying about half the government personnel; but the Air Force held, if you want to be precise, 49 percent of the common stock." 3° One of the first Air Force officers assigned to Project OILSTONE was Col. Osmund J. Ritland. He began coordinating Air Force activi- ties in the U-2 program with Richard Bissell in December 1954. On 27 June 1955, Ritland became Bissell's deputy, although Air Force Chief of Staff Twining did not officially approve this assignment until 4 August, the day after the signing of the CIA–Air Force agreement. In March 1956, Colonel Ritland returned to the Air Force and was fol- lowed as deputy project director by Col. Jack A. Gibbs. - - Another Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Leo P. Geary, joined the pro- gram in June 1955 and remained with it until August 1966, longer than any of the other project managers. Using the Air Force Inspector General's office as cover with the title of Project Officer, AFCIG-5, Geary served as the focal point for all Defense Department support to the U-2 and OXCART programs. His II years with the overhead reconnaissance projects provided a high degree of Air Force continuity!' TECHNICAL CHALLENGES TO HIGH-ALTITUDE FLIGHT To get the U-2 aircraft ready to fly, Lockheed engineers had to solve problems never before encountered. Among these problems was the need for a fuel that would not boil off and evaporate at the very high altitudes for which the aircraft was designed. Gen. James H. Doolittle OSA History, chap. 3, p. 15 and annex 14 (TS Codeword). Speech given by Richard Bissell at CIA Headquarters, 12 October 1965 (TS Codeword). " Brig. Gen. Leo A. Geary (USAF-Ret.), interview by Donald E. Welzenbach, tape re- cording, 3 April 1986 (S); OSA History, chap. 3, p. 3 (TS Codeword). ret UNCLASSIFIED
Not linked to a story yet.
FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.