CIA Trailblazers

The CIA Trailblazer award was established in 1997 when CIA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Nominations were open to officers of any grade, in any field, at any point in CIA’s history, who distinguished themselves as leaders, made a real difference in pursuit of our mission, and who served as a standard of excellence for others to follow.

A special steering committee selected 50 individuals from over 300 nominations. These trailblazers received medallions from then-Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet.

Over the years, several additional CIA officers have been identified as CIA Trailblazers: Currently, 83 officers or teams have received the coveted award. We’ve publicly released the names of 73 Trailblazers.

The following individuals are a sampling of the many talented CIA officers who have received this prestigious award.

The First Trailblazers:

Robert C. Ames

Joseph A. Baclawski

Matthew Baird

Richard M. Bissell

David H. Blee

Paul A. Borel

Patricia L. Brannen

Archie R. Burks

Joseph B. Castillo

David E. Coffey

John E. Craven

James H. Critchfield

Benedetto DeFelice

Leslie C. Dirks

William F. Donnelly

Janet V. Dorigan

Carl E. Duckett

Allen W. Dulles

Agnes D. Greene

Howard P. Hart

Earl M. Harter

Richard M. Helms

Evan Hineman

Lawrence R. Houston

Paul L. Howe

Sherman T. Kent

Lyman B. Kirkpatrick

George Kisevalter

Lloyd Lauderdale

Richard T. Lehman

Henry S. Lowenhaupt

Arthur C. Lundahl

Harold M. McClelland

John N. McMahon

Antonio J. Mendez

Cord Meyer

Eloise R. Page

John Parangosky

Walter L. Pforzheimer

Carol A. Roehl

Linus F. Ruffing

Howard Stoertz

John R. Tietjen

Omego J.C. Ware, Jr.

John S. Warner

Albert D. Wheelon

Lawrence K. White

Frank G. Wisner

2007 Trailblazers:

Charles E. Allen

Woodbury Carter

Leslie A. Dreiling

Patsy Hallums

Bonnie Hershberg

John T. Lewis

Daniel McGrath, Jr.

John E. McLaughlin

George J. Methlie II

Betty Crawford Villemarette

Afghanistan Team

A.Q. Khan Takedown Team

Libya WMD Removal Team

2008 Trailblazers:

Tom Fosmire

2009 Trailblazers:

Paul Kaschak

John Guilsher

2010 Trailblazers:

Jack Downing

Helene L. Boatner

2011 Trailblazers:

Arthur “Mick” Donahue

John McCone

2012 Trailblazers:

Walter Bedell Smith

Howard Gamertsfelder

2013 Trailblazers:

Jack Davis

Elizabeth Sudmeier

2014 Trailblazers:

Donald R. Cryer

2017 Trailblazers:

Greg Vogle

2022 Trailblazers:

Tracey Ballard