CIA Covert Action in the Cold War: Iran, Jamaica, Chile, Cuba, Afghanistan, Libya, Latin America
http://thefilmarchive.org/
1982
The following persons are known to have participated in covert operations, as distinct from clandestine intelligence gathering (espionage) either by their own admission or by the accounts of others:
Robert Baer
Jozef Gabčík and
Jan Kubiš,
Czechoslovak British-trained agents sent to assassinate one of the most important Nazis,
Reinhard Heydrich, in
1942 as part of
Operation Anthropoid.
Aaron Franklin,
World War II US
Office of Strategic Services (
OSS) officer who created a fake group of the
German Army, made up of POWs, with the mission of killing
Hitler. As a colonel, he was the first commander of
United States Army Special Forces.
Charles Beckwith,
US Army colonel who was an early exchange officer with the
British Special Air Service (
SAS), and created the
Delta Force (
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta) based on the SAS.
Gary Berntsen,
CIA field officer and team leader during
Operation Enduring Freedom
Wendell Fertig,
United States Army Reserve officer who organized large
Filipino guerrilla forces against the
Japanese in World War II
Virginia Hall,
American who first worked for the
British Special Operations Executive, then for the American Office of Strategic Services in
German-occupied France.
Only U.S. woman to receive the
Distinguished Service Cross.
Eric Haney, one of the founding members of Delta Force.
Michael Harari,
Israeli Mossad officer who led assassination operations (
Operation Wrath of God) against
PLO members accused of the
1972 Munich Massacre.
Bruce Rusty Lang, commander of a mixed United States Army Special Forces &
Montagnard (
Degar/
Bru people) commando
Recon Team (RT
Oklahoma) of
Command and Control North,
Studies and Observations Group.
Previously served on
Project 404,
U.S. Embassy Laos,
Assistant Army Attaché ("
Secret War" in Laos
1970).
Edward Lansdale,
United States Air Force officer (and eventually major general) seconded to the CIA, and noted for his work with
Ramon Magsaysay against the Hukbalahap insurgency in
Philippines during the early
1950s, and later involved in
Operation Mongoose against
Cuba.
T. E. Lawrence, British "
Lawrence of Arabia" who organized
Arab forces during
World War I.
Alain Mafart,
French DGSE officer convicted, in
New Zealand, for sinking the
Greenpeace ship
Rainbow Warrior.
Richard Meadows, United States Army Special Forces officer known for many operations, including the
POW rescue attempt at
Son Tay,
North Vietnam, and for deep operations in support of
Operation Eagle Claw.
Richard Meinertzhagen, British officer who engaged in deceptive operations against
Turkish forces in World War I, although falsifying later operations.
Ramon Mercader,
NKVD operator who assassinated
Leon Trotsky under the direction of
Pavel Sudoplatov.
Omar Nasiri
Noor Inayat Khan, Anglo-Indian Special Operations Executive radio operator in World War II
Occupied France, killed in
Nazi captivity with three other
SOE agents,
Yolande Beekman,
Eliane Plewman and
Madeleine Damerment.
Chuck Pfarrer, former
Navy SEAL.
Dominique Prieur, French DGSE officer convicted, in New Zealand, for sinking the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior
Richard Quirin,
German World War II saboteur landed by
German submarine in the US, as part of
Operation Pastorius.
Captured and executed. ex parte
Quirin was a
Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of execution of unlawful combatants.
Ali Hassan Salameh, chief of operations of
Black September.
Mike Spann, CIA field officer and the first
Agency operative to be killed in action during Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan.
Gary Schroen, CIA field officer who led the first CIA team into Afghanistan during the opening stages of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Otto Skorzeny, German commando who led the rescue of
Benito Mussolini, and operated in US uniform during the
Battle of the Bulge.
Pavel Sudoplatov, major general in
Soviet state security (under many organizational names), with roles ranging from assassin to director of field operations.
Jesús Villamor,
Filipino Air Force officer that helped organize World War II guerilla movements.
Billy Waugh, former
United States Special Forces soldier who later worked as a contractor with the CIA.
Sarowar
Hasan, former United States Air Force officer who later worked as a contractor with the CIA.
Covert operations have often been the subject of popular novels, films,
TV series, comics, etc.
The Company is a fictional covert organization featured in the
American television drama/thriller series
Prison Break. Also other series that deal with covert operations are
Mission: Impossible,
Alias,
Burn Notice,
The Unit,
The State Within,
Covert Affairs and 24.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_operation