List of CIA station chiefs

This is a list of CIA station chiefs. The station chief, also called chief of station (COS), is the top U.S. Central Intelligence Agency official stationed in a foreign country, equivalent to a KGB Resident. Often the COS has an office in the American Embassy. The station chief is the senior U.S. intelligence representative with his or her respective foreign government.^[1]

Those who have been known to be station chiefs include, in alphabetical order:

• John Banks: c. 2010^[2]
• John D. Bennett: Nairobi c.2002; capitals in Southeast Asia and Africa.^[3][4]
• Cofer Black: Khartoum, Sudan from 1993 to 1995
• Douglas Blaufarb: Vientiane, Laos, 1964-1966^[5][6]
• David Blee: Pretoria; Islamabad; New Delhi 1985.^[7]
• William Buckley: Beirut 1983 to 1985.^[8]
• Jeffrey Castelli: Rome in 2003, indicted for involvement in the Imam rapito affair
• Ray S. Cline: Taipei, 1958–62; Bonn, 1966-69.^[9]
• William Colby: Rome 1953-1958; Saigon, 1960-1962. Head of the Far Eastern Division, 1963-1967; DCI, 1973-1976.^[10][11]
• Charles Cogan: Paris, 1984-1989.
• Peer de Silva: Vienna 1956-59; Seoul 1959-62; Hong Kong 1962-63; Saigon 1963-65; Bangkok 1966-68; Canberra 1971-72.^[12][13]
• Larry Devlin: Congo in 1960 and 1961; Vientiane, Laos^[14]
• Desmond FitzGerald: Manilla 1955 &/or 1956
• Graham Fuller: Kabul
• Robert Fulton: Moscow by 1975 to mid-1977.^[15]
• Burton Gerber: Moscow starting January 1980 to 1982.^[16]
• Robert Grenier: Islamabad 1999 to 2001.^[3]
• Howard Hart: Islamabad, May 1981 to 1984, Tehran 1978, and Germany.
• John L. Hart: Saigon c.1965.^[17]
• Gardner Hathaway: Moscow from mid-1977 to January 1980.^[18]
• Stephen Holmes (aka Steven Hall): Moscow, Russia in 2013, revealed by FSB in retaliation for Ryan Fogle's activities.^{[19][20][21][22]}
• Robert Jantzen: Bangkok, c.1959 to 1966.^[23]
• Gordon L. Jorgensen: Laos c.1960; Saigon 1966-c.1968.^[24]
• Stephen Kappes: Moscow, New Delhi and Frankfurt^[25]
• Mark Kelton: Islamabad 2010-2011^[2]
• John Lapham: Saigon c.1966.^[26]
• Jennifer Matthews: Khost, 2009, killed in the Camp Chapman attack.^[3] [Chief of Base, not COS]
• Cord Meyer: London 1973-1976.^[27]
• David Murphy: Berlin 1959; Paris 1967.^[28]
• Bill Murray: Paris in 2001 to 2004.^[29]
• William Nelson: Taiwan in 1963
• Birch O'Neill: Guatemala, 1953.
• Eloise Page: First female Chief of Station, 1970s, location not given.^[30]
• James Pavitt: Luxembourg 1983 to 1986.
• David Atlee Phillips: Santo Domingo 1965-1967; Brasília 1970-1972.^[31]
• Henry Pleasants, Bern, Switzerland, 1950 to 1956;^[32] Bonn, Germany, 1956 to 1964^[33]
• Thomas Polgar: Frankfurt, 1949, Saigon, starting in 1972 to 1975^[32][34]
• Jose Rodriguez: Panama, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.^[35]
• Winston M. Scott: London, 1947 to 1950, Mexico City 1956 to 1969
• Theodore Shackley: Laos, 1966 to 1968, Saigon 1968 to 1972
• John Stockwell: Katanga in 1968, Burundi in 1970.
• Gregory Vogel: Kabul^[36]
• Andrew Warren: Algeria in 2007-8,^[37] convicted of rape while in station.^[38]
• Richard Welch: Lima 1972; Athens in 1975,^[39][40] assassinated by Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N).
• Frank Wisner: London, c.1959; formerly DDP, 1952-[1959].^[41]

Bibliography

• Edward J. Epstein, Deception. the invisible war between the KGB and the CIA (New York: Simon and Schuster 1989).
• David Hoffman, Billion Dollar Spy. A true story of Cold War espionage and betrayal (New York: Doubleday 2015).
• John Prados, William Colby and the CIA. The secret wars of a controversial spymaster (University of Kansas 2003, 2009).
• W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency (New York: Facts on File 2003).

See also

• 2010 CIA Station Chief removal in Pakistan

References

1. Walter Pincus (12 November 2009). "Primacy of CIA station chiefs confirmed, ending interagency row". Washington Post.
2. Miller, Greg. "After presiding over bin Laden raid, CIA chief in Pakistan came home suspecting he was poisoned by ISI". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
3. "Who was who in the hunt for bin Laden", The Week, April 30, 2013
4. "Tribute to John D. Bennett", Congressional Record, Volume 159, Number 26, Pages S811-S812, February 25, 2013
5. http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/48/6_UNDERCOVER_ARMIES.pdf
6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/22/douglas-blaufarb/1ef70b2e-1f82-40a3-b870-8dcec9642575/
7. Hoffman (2015), p. 24.
8. "William Francis Buckley, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army / Assassinated CIA Station Chief", Arlington National Cemetery Website
9. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/16/us/ray-s-cline-chief-cia-analyst-is-dead-at-77.html?pagewanted=1?pagewanted=1
10. Smith (2003) p.61.
11. Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 63, 69, 70.
12. de Silva, Sub Rosa (1978).
13. Smith (2003), p. 73.
14. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/washington/12devlin.html?_r=0
15. Hoffman (2015), pp. 26, 33.
16. Hoffman (2015), pp. 102, 215.
17. Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 184, 197, 201.
18. Hoffman (2015), pp. 33, 97, 102.
19. "Fogle's detention became public because CIA 'crossed the line' - FSB". Voice of Russia, Interfax. 17 May 2013.
20. Vladimir Radyuhin (19 May 2013). "Russia reveals CIA head identity". The Hindu.
21. "Russia: FSB say CIA crossed "red line" with Fogle". Russia Today. 17 May 2013.
22. Matthew M. Aid (18 May 2013). "Russian Online News Agency Prints Name of CIA Station Chief in Moscow, Then Deletes Name". MatthewAid.com.
23. Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 97, 170-171, 172.
24. Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 97, 98, 101; 161, 181.
25. Mayer, Jane (2009), "The Secret History", The New Yorker, 22 June 2009, pg 54.
26. Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 197, 201.
27. Smith (2003), p. 169.
28. Epstein, Deception (1989), p.62 re Paris.
29. Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, pp x, 45-46, , ISBN 0307346811, September 8, 2006
30. "The People of the CIA ... A CIA Trailblazer: Eloise Page", CIA Website
31. Smith (2003), p. 188.
32. James H. Critchfield: Partners at Creation: The Men Behind Postwar Germany's Defense and Intelligence Establishments. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2003. x + 243 pp, ISBN 1-59114-136-2.
33. Kelly, Bill (2008-11-04). "Felix Leiter = Henry Pleasants". Retrieved 2011-11-29.
34. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/world/asia/thomas-polgar-cia-officer-dies-at-91-helped-lead-us-evacuation-of-saigon.html?_r=0
35. Mazzetti, Mark; Shane, Scott (February 20, 2008). "Tape Inquiry: Ex-Spymaster in the Middle.". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-09. serving from Peru to Belize and heading the C.I.A. stations in Panama, the Dominican Republic and Mexico
36. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/politics/deep-support-in-washington-for-cias-drone-missions.html?_r=0
37. Ross, Brian (2009-01-28). "Exclusive: CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rapes". ABC News. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
38. Del Wilber, "Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexual abuse of Algerian woman", The Washington Post, March 3, 2011
39. Smith (2003), p. 244.
40. Shane, Scott (5 August 2002). "Weekly Intelligence Notes #31-02". Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Retrieved 2011-01-09. The third of the Greek terrorists accused of the assassination of CIA Station Chief Richard S. Welch in 1975 has been arrested
41. Cf. Smith (2003), p. 245.