WAYNE J. MCNULTY

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06903495
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: July 11, 2023
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2022
• Case Number: F-2015-02404

Approved for Release: 2022/01/13 C06903495
S;.L91(ET
Wayne J. McNulty
(14 September 1921-15 August 1968)
(Insert photo. Caption: 'Wayne McNulty')
Directorate of Plans (now the Directorate of Operations)
Operations Officer
GS-13
(.81Wayne J. McNulty died in August 1968, when a helicopter in which he was a passenger landed
in a rice paddy in Laos. He was shot to death by a sniper.
XWayne McNulty, a native of Columbus, Montana, joined the US Army in 1940 as a First
Lieutenant. He served in World War II as a regimental intelligence and reconnaissance platoon leader.
Honorably discharged in 1946, he became a self-employed salesman of electrical appliances while also
taking college courses. In 1952, McNulty was recalled to active duty. The Army sent him on assignments to
Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan, Germany, and Vietnam. He retired from the military in 1966
as a Lieutenant Colonel.
SArf McNulty joined the CIA in March 1966 as a GS-13 contract employee. He became a
paramilitary officer in the Special Operations Division of the Directorate of Plans (forerunner to today's
Directorate of Operations). After he had completed training in basic operations and had begun learning the
Vietnamese language, McNulty was sent to Southeast Asia as a naramilitary onerations specialist. His first
assignment in 1967 was in Pakse, Laos. He trained Imen and
conducted a series of successful reconnaissance, security patrol, and verations
against enemy forces. McNulty was responsible for
conducting paramilitary operations
he supervised
teams
In the late 19601 he was shifted to Savannakhet, where
Of As of 15 August 1968, McNulty was in charge of an Air America helicopter on a mission to a
forward area in Laos. His mission was to contact and brief a battalion engaged in a major
offensive operation aimed at retaking a strategic location near Muong Phalane, Laos. Although he knew
that enemy forces were in the immediate area, McNulty landed and completed his briefing of the battalion
commanders. Before he or his pilot and crew could reboard the helicopter, they came under enemy fire.
McNulty quickly assisted everyone onboard. Before he could hoist himself through the door, four enemy
rounds hit the helicopter; one of these, a sniper's bullet, hit McNulty in the head. He was airlifted to
Savannakhet and then on to Bangkok�where he died from his bullet wound. Wayne McNulty was married
SegfWayne J. McNulty was posthumously awarded the CIA's Intelligence Star.
Se(ET
(b)(6)
Approved for Release: 2022/01/13 C06903495