Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a CIA-owned airline that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Covert operations are military or political activities that are not only clandestine (undertaken in a manner that disguises the identity of the perpetrators) but also covert, i. ... Geographic scope of East Asia East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

CAT was created by General Claire L. Chennault and Whiting Willauer in 1946 as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (CNRRA) Air Transport. Using surplus World War II aircraft, CAT airlifted supplies and food into war-ravaged China. During the Chinese Civil War, under contract with the Chinese Nationalist government and later the Central Intelligence Agency, CAT flew supplies and ammunition into China to assist Kuomintang forces on the Chinese mainland. With the defeat of the Kuomintang in 1949, CAT helped to evacuate thousands of Chinese to the island of Taiwan. Maj. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead:17 million Civilian dead:33 million Total dead:50 million Military dead:8 million Civilian dead:4 million Total dead:12 million World War II... Combatants Chinese Nationalist Party Chinese Communist Party Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Mao Zedong Strength 3,600,000 circa June 1948 2,800,000 circa June 1948 The Chinese Civil War (Traditional Chinese: 國共内戰; Simplified Chinese: 国共内战; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally Nationalist-Communist Civil War) was a conflict in China between the Kuomintang (Chinese... The CIAs seal features an eagle atop a sixteen-point compass. ... The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional Chinese: 中國國民黨; Simplified Chinese: 中国国民党; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung1-kuo2 Kuo2-min2-tang3; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhōngguó Guómíndǎng), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ...

By 1950 the airline was facing financial difficulties. The CIA formed a private Delaware corporation called Airdale, Inc., which formed a subsidiary corporation called CAT, Inc. The subsidiary corporation purchased nominal shares of the Civil Air Transport. CAT maintained a civilian appearance by flying scheduled passenger flights while simultaneously using other aircraft in its fleet to fly covert missions. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On 29 November 1952, during the height of the Korean War, a CAT C-47 left Seoul on a mission to collect an anti-Communist Chinese agent in the Manchurian foothills, using a "pole and line" technique. The mission appears to have been compromised and Chinese forces were waiting for them. Approaching low over the ground, it was set upon by small-arms fire and crash-landed near the town of Antu in China's Jilin province . The pilots, Robert Snoddy and Norman Schwartz were killed during the crash and subsequent fire, and were buried nearby. The two CIA officers, John T. Downey and Richard G. Fecteau survived and were immediately taken prisoner by Chinese forces, who were waiting for the flight. Downey and Fecteau were held by China and regularly interrogated for nearly twenty years. Fecteau was released unexpectedly following Nixon's visit to China in 1972, but Downey was only released after Washington publicly acknowledged their spy mission in 1973. November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Overview map of the Korean War The Korean War from June 25, 1950 to cease-fire on July 27, 1953 (the war has not ended officially), was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ... Douglas DC-3 VH-AES at Avalon in 2003. ... Jilin (Chinese: 吉林; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chi-lin; Postal System Pinyin: Kirin), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. ...

At the time, the families of the pilots were told that they crashed into the Sea of Japan on a routine flight to Tokyo, in order to keep the CIA's covert actions in China secret. In 2001, China allowed the US Defence Department's Prisoner of War and Missing in Action (POW/MIA) office to conduct a recovery effort for the bodies of the pilots. In 2005, the POW/MIA office announced that it had identified the remains of Robert Snoddy using DNA analysis. Schwartz's remains have not been successfully recovered. Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... MIA is a three-letter acronym that is most commonly used to designate a combatant who is Missing In Action, and has not yet returned or otherwise been accounted for as either dead (KIA) or a prisoner of war (POW). ...

During the Korean War, CAT airlifted thousands of tons of war materials to supply United States military operations, including support of Kuomintang holdouts based in Burma. CAT also transported supplies and troops for French operations during the First Indochina War, playing a prominent role in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. For their performance, the seven of the surviving CAT pilots were given the title Chevaliers de la Légion d’Honneur at a special ceremony at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 2005. Overview map of the Korean War The Korean War from June 25, 1950 to cease-fire on July 27, 1953 (the war has not ended officially), was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ... Combatants French Republic Viet Minh Commanders Strength 500,000  ? Casualties 94,581 dead 78,127 wounded 40,000 captured 300,000+ dead 500,000+ wounded 100,000 captured The First Indochina War (also called the French Indochina War) was fought in Southeast Asia from 1946 through 1954 between the nation... Dien Bien Phu (Điện Biên Phủ) is a small town in northwestern Vietnam in the province of Điện Biên. ...

With the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia, CAT’s mission changed. In 1959 it was reorganized as Air America, which supported covert operations throughout Indochina during the Second Indochina War, particularly in Laos. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Air America pilot cap Air America was a CIA airline proprietary, a commercial organization secretly controlled by the CIA, that supplied covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. ... Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. ... The Vietnam War was a war fought between 1957 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos (See Secret War) and in bombing runs (Rolling Thunder) over North Vietnam. ...

At the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. in may 1954, CAT supplied the French garrison by parachuting troops and supplies with C117 "Flying Boxcar."

External links

• The CAT / Air America Archive
• Air America web site
• BBC News: Search for 'spy' pilots in China
• National League of POW/MIA Families