PROFILE OF FORMER SPOUSES OF CIA OFFICERS EXCLUDED FROM THE PROVISIONS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM SPOUSES' EQUITY ACT OF 1982

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP10-00750R000100550001-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP10-00750R000100550001-9
PROFILE OF FORMER SPOUSES OF CIA OFFICERS EXCLUDED
FROM THE PROVISIONS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM
SPOUSES' EQUITY ACT OF 1982
Prepared by Members of the Association of American
Foreign Service Women Who Are Themselves
Former CIA Spouses
The purpose of this profile is to acquaint you briefly with a group
of women who were excluded from coverage of the 1982 Act, because
of Act's provisions were not automatically extended to a small group
of older women divorced before 15 November 182, the date when the
Act became law. A oug earned equally 7y all former spouses of CIA
overseas employees who were married 10 or more years, the pension
rights provided by the 1982 Act were denied we estimate to about
65 women nationally on the basis of their date of divorce. Thus,
the women who were the reasons for the Act's enactment, who served
as examples of service rendered and established need, were omitted
from coverage. In discussions and correspondence, Congress took note
of the inequities dealt to these loyal women and acknowledged its
responsibility to address the issue of a just and fair compensation
for them.
We have contacted 45 divorced and widowed CIA spouses through an
informal network of communication that provides information on
legislation, while providing peer support. We estimate that
approximately 60 former spouses of CIA employees did not receive
retirement and survivor annuity benefits under the 1982 Act.
Through our informal surveys, we have determined that these older former
spouses typically had been married 24 years or more and some as long
as 40 years before divorce occurred. They had spent 23 or more years
as a CIA dependents and over half of these years they lived abroad.
Two of these former spouses are already widowed; only two have
remarried. (See summary statement attached.)
Almost all of these women, while contributing to their husband's career,
spent substantial portions of their married years raising families
overseas, frequently in developing countries. The living conditions
in these areas subjected them to the hazards of rigorous climate,
endemic disease, inadequate medical and hospital services, and even fear
and physical danger during times of indigenous political upheavals.
Reported illnesses from living abroad included hepatitis, meningitis,
amoebic dysentery; and malaria.
Many of these women have health problems exacerbated by the inadequate
medical care available abroad, including lasting amoebic damage, chronic
gynecological problems, spinal deterioration from calcium deficiency
through lack of milk products, and permanent liver damage.
Several have children psychiatrically disturbed by their overseas
experiences; three have children with physical disabilities.
Like the spouses of officers in other US overseas agencies, many of
these women served when their participation in a wide variety of
official and unofficial duties was traditionally--and in many instances,
officially--required. Their husbands' efficiency reports included
evaluations of the wives' cooperation and helpfulness. In 1972 a
Joint State-AID-USIA Directive permitted spouses of Foreign Service
officers to go abroad as private persons. They were no longer required
to donate their time to mission-supporting duties. The tradition of
service continued, however, even after the Directive.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP10-00750R000100550001-9
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22: CIA-RDP10-00750R000100550001-9
A worldwide survey by the Association of American Foreign Service
Women has shown that American diplomatic wives have continued to
fulfill--as in the past--a variety of unpaid assignments. Some wives
reported voluntarily serving a total of 40 hours or more per week.
Their volunteer tasks included developing English-as-a-second-
language curriculum, lecturing on US customs, organizing and staffing
charity benefits, translating for visiting officials, and serving
as nurses and teachers in local health and welfare organations and
schools.
Our informal contacts with CIA spouses have shown that a CIA dependent
wife faces additional responsibilities and stresses because of
her spouse's employment in the US overseas clandestine service. One
wife reported an additional 20 hours per week in CIA-related service
over the 35 or more hours weekly-demanded by her diplomatic role.
During their overseas years, many of the CIA dependent spouses faced
the hardship of family separation and episodes of violence. They
described shootings, bombings, floods. Some had had their homes
attacked by gunfire or they and their children had been caught in
mobs of anti-American demonstrators. Their children, some stated,
had had serious accidents and illnesses without adequate medical care;
some very small children--including premature newborns--had died.
In this country and abroad, a CIA wife--like the Foreign Service wife--
has special impediments to economic independence resulting exclusively
from the husband's employment. Cultural, legal, and linguistic
barriers prevent her working overseas. When she can work, constant
international mobility usually prevents her from vesting in any sort
of retirement plan. When divorced, these women are left after long
years of unpaid government abroad, with no employment record, no
modern skills, and no Social Security. ,
Most former CIA spouses worked before their marriages and most, after
being divorced in middle age, have resumed working. Unfortunately,
their reentry into the workforce--after perhaps 20 to 25 years of
absence--commonly has resulted in low-paying jobs with limited
advancement potential. Women trained as teacher, geographer,
journalist, translator and nurse are working as secretary, saleswoman,
receptionist, and real estate agent. Some cannot work because of
health problems, and some are still seeking employment. Only a
few have reported that they can expect to be financially secure in
their retirement years.
The entry of these women into the workforce, when most employees are
contemplating retirement, has precluded the possibility of their
providing independently for their retirement or subsistence during
old age, when they are no longer physically able to work. This
is especially critical because only a few of these former spouses
reported that provisions were made at divorce for their old age.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP10-00750R000100550001-9