Air America Pilots Cap

Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Air America pilot cap. ... Air America pilot cap. ... The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an intelligence agency of the United States government. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

Organization

In 1950, the parent company of Air America's forerunner, Civil Air Transport (CAT), was reorganized. The owner, Claire Lee Chennault, was approached by the CIA, who bought out the company through the American Airdale Corporation, a holding company based in Delaware, a state that had long had favorable incorporation laws. Under this agreement, CAT was allowed to keep its initials and the company was reorganized as Civil Air Transport, Inc. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a CIA-owned airline that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. ... Claire Lee Chennault Lt. ... A holding company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. ...

On 7 October 1957, American Airdale was reorganized to add another layer of obfuscation to its ownership. The new Pacific Corporation became a holding company for Air Asia Company, Ltd; Air America, Inc; Civil Air Transport, Inc; Southern Air Transport; Intermountain Aviation; Bird and Sons (known as Bird Air); and Robinson Brothers. CAT attempted to change its name to Air America at the same time, but objections from Air France and American Airlines delayed the name change for two years. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pacific Corporation (originally Airdale Corporation), was a holding company that the Central Intelligence Agency used to control several aviation front companies. ... Air France (Compagnie Nationale Air France) is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. Before its merger with KLM, it was the national airline of France, employing 71,654 people (as of March 2004). ... American Airlines (AA) is the largest airline in the world in terms of total passengers-miles transported[1] and fleet size, and the second-largest airline in the world (behind Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues. ...

Air America's slogan was "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Professionally". This was not an exaggeration, as Air America aircraft flew many types of cargo to countries such as the Republic of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Laos, and Cambodia. It operated from bases in those countries and also from bases in Thailand and as far afield as Taiwan and Japan. It also on occasion flew top-secret missions into Burma and the People's Republic of China. National motto: ??? Official language Vietnamese Capital Saigon Last President Duong Van Minh Last Prime Minister Vu Van Mau Area  - Total  - % water 173,809km² N/A population  - Total  - Density 19,370,000 (1973 est. ... The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar (commonly known in the west as Burma) and the Peoples Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. ...

Vietnam Conflict

From 1959 to 1962 the airline provided direct and indirect support to CIA Operations Ambidextrous, Hotfoot, and White Star, which trained the regular Royal Laotian armed forces. Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

From 1962 to 1975, Air America inserted and extracted U.S. personnel, provided logistical support to Hmong army of Vang Pao, transported refugees, and flew photo reconnaissance missions that provided valuable intelligence on enemy activities. Its civilian-marked craft were frequently used, under the control of the Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force to launch search and rescue missions for U.S. pilots downed throughout Southeast Asia. Air America pilots were the only known private U.S. corporate employees to operate non-Federal Aviation Administration-certified military aircraft in a combat role, although many of them were actually military personnel who had been transferred to the airline. 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Hmong may refer to: Hmong people, an ethnic group in China and Southeast Asia Hmong language, a cluster of closely related Hmong-Mien languages Hmong customs and culture Category: ... General Vang Pao was an American-allied Hmong military leader in the Second Indochina War. ... The Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force was organized on 6 January 1966 and stationed at Udon Thani, Thailand. ... “FAA” redirects here. ...

By the summer of 1970, the airline had some two dozen twin-engine transport aircraft, another two dozen short-take off-and-landing aircraft, and 30 helicopters dedicated to operations in Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. There were more than 300 pilots, copilots, flight mechanics, and airfreight specialists based in Laos and Thailand. During 1970, Air America delivered 46 million pounds (20,000 t) of food in Laos. Helicopter flight time reached more than 4,000 hours a month in the same year. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... STOL is an acronym for Short Take-Off and Landing, a term used in the aircraft industry to describe aeroplanes with very short runway requirements. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... (Redirected from 1 E7 kg) Categories: Orders of magnitude (mass) ...

Air America flew civilians, diplomats, spies, refugees, commandos, sabotage teams, doctors, war casualties, drug enforcement officers, and even visiting VIPs like Richard Nixon all over Southeast Asia. Its non-human passengers were even more bizarre on occasion; part of the CIA's support operations in Laos, for instance, involved logistical support for local tribes fighting the North Vietnamese forces and the Pathet Lao, their local opponents. The war created a disruption in local food production, so thousands of tons of food had to be flown in, including live chickens, pigs, and cattle. On top of the food drops (known as 'rice drops') came the logistical demands for the war itself, and Air America pilots flew thousands of flights transporting and airdropping ammunition and weapons to friendly forces. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Pathet Lao (Laotian, Land of Laos) was a communist, nationalist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid 20th century. ...

Flying for Air America was hazardous and the pay was better than for both normal civilian and military aviation. An Air America pilot could earn as much in a week as another pilot would in a month, and the pay combined with the promise of adventure attracted many pilots. But the work was dangerous; even without conflict, pilots had to deal with poorly charted mountainous terrain, few radio beacons for navigation, bad weather, and often overloaded planes.

Helicopter pilots had to deal with high altitude flights into mountains in tropical heat, which diminished the lift the rotors could give, and it took a great deal of 'unconventional' flying to get the job done. The conflict itself created an even more dangerous environment, and AA pilots flew missions that no military pilot would dare, coming under fire almost on a daily basis. Many AA pilots were shot down, sometimes multiple times over the course of the war.

According to The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, a 1972 study by historian Alfred W. McCoy, Air America transported opium and heroin on behalf of Hmong leader Vang Pao. [1] However, William M. Leary, professor of history at the University of Georgia, claimed that his two decades of research had uncovered no evidence that the airline was involved with the drug trade. [2] Some Air America pilots believed that may have been possible that their aircraft carried drugs, but since the airline believed in a 'you call, we haul' philosophy, if drugs were carried, it was without the knowledge of the airline or its pilots. However even Leary admits "If the CIA was not involved in the drug trade, it did know about it." 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Alfred W. McCoy is a noted historian and current Professor of History in the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Heroin ((INN) Diacetylmorphine, (BAN) diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid. ... Hmong may refer to: Hmong people, an ethnic group in China and Southeast Asia Hmong language, a cluster of closely related Hmong-Mien languages Hmong customs and culture Category: ... The University of Georgia (UGA) is the largest institution of higher learning in the state of Georgia. ...

This iconic photo taken by Hubert Van Es shows South Vietnamese civilians scrambling aboard an Air America helicopter during the U.S. evacuation of Saigon.

When North Vietnamese forces overran South Vietnam in 1975, Air America helicopters participated in evacuating both South Vietnamese and American civilians from Saigon. The photograph that most individuals remember vividly from the final evacuation, which showed a helicopter taking people off of the CIA apartment building, was actually an Air America aircraft. Image File history File links Vietnamescape. ... Image File history File links Vietnamescape. ... Hubert van Es photo. ... Combatants North Vietnam National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam South Vietnam Commanders Van Tien Dung Tran Van Tra Duong Van Minh Strength 100,000+ 30,000+ The Fall of Saigon (in Vietnamese: Sự kiện 30 tháng 4, or April 30 Incident), was the capture of the... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ...

After the War

After pulling out of South Vietnam in 1975, there was an attempt to keep a company presence in Thailand; after this fell through, Air America officially disbanded on June 30, 1976. [3] 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ...

See also

• Front organization
• Shell company
• Anthony Poshepny

A front organization (or organisation), also known as a front group (if it is structured to look like a voluntary association); a front company, a shell corporation or simply a front (if it is structured to look like a company), is any entity set up by and controlled by another... For the oil company, see Royal Dutch-Shell. ... Anthony Poshepny (September 18, 1924-July 27, 2003), known as Tony Poe, was a CIA paramilitary officer who led the United States Secret Army in Laos during the Second Indochina War. ...

References

• Cockburn, Alexander & St. Clair, Jeffrey. Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. (Verso, 1998) ISBN 1-85984-258-5
• Conboy, Kenneth & Morrison, James. Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos. Boulder CO: Paladin Press, 1995.
• Dale Scott, Peter. Drugs, Oil, and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Columbia and Indochina (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003) ISBN 0-7425-2522-8
• Robbins, Christopher. Air America (Corgi, 1988) ISBN 0-552-12821-X (Note: This book is also known under other names and ISBNs)
• Robbins, Christopher. The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War of Laos (Asia Books Co., 2000) ISBN 974-8303-41-1
• Love, Terry. Wings of Air America: A Photo Hstory (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998) ISBN 0-7643-0619-7
• Parker, James E. jr. Covert Ops: The CIA’s Secret War in Laos (St Martin’s Press, 1995) ISBN 0-312-96340-8
• Leary, William M. Perilous Missions: Civil Air Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia. (The University of Alabama Press, 1984) ISBN 0-8173-0164-X
• Vietnam Magazine, August 2006
• CIA CAT activity elsewhere in the Asian theater is discussed in the context of Agency officers John T. Downey and Richard Fecteau, shot down and imprisoned in China in 1952-1973. [files/prisnors.html# ftnref24]

John T. Jack Downey was a 1951 Yale University graduate who joined the Central Intelligence Agency soon after graduation and became one of two CIA officers (the other was Richard G. Fecteau, a Boston University graduate) who survived the shoot-down of their mission over the Peoples Republic of...

External links

• Air America Association web site
• Online Archive Materials about Air America in the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech
• The CAT / Air America Archive
• Supporting the "Secret War" (CIA Center for Studies in Intelligence)
• The Air America years John Deakin was a pilot for Air America
• Air America - Roll of honour and images.