AIR AMERICA: FLYING FOR U.S. AND PROFIT IN ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00499R000100050001-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 13, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved ForIease 2005h'fGSft4-0049100100050001-0
Air
erica: mlyin for U.S, and Pr
By JOHN BURGESS
Special to The Star-News
BANGKOK - "The flying is
non-military; in other words,
`civilian flying. You are flying
for the U.S, government, that
is government agencies such
as USOM, USAID, USIS, etc.
While these agencies may be
under CIA direction, you don't
know and you don't care. The
government agencies direct
the routings and schedulings,
your company provides the
technical know-how and you
flythe airplane."
Thus an unnamed American
.pilot d e s crihes "civilian
?flying" in Southeast Asia for
Air America and the lesser
known Continental Air Serv-
ices - both private companies
on contract to the U.S. govern-
ment. The. pilot's comments
are part of a confidential,
16-page brochure available at
certain Air Force personnel of-
fices. it is shown to Air Force
rpilots interested in flying for
,one of the companies upon
completing their military serv-
ice.
The brochure lists no author
or publisher, but it offers an
illuminating view into the in-
:ternal operations of Air Amer-.
' ica, which has played a cru-
~cial role ,in the Indochina war
'theater since the 1950s. Air
America, along with the other
c o m p a n i.e s, has airlifted
troops, refugees, CIA agents,
American politicians, war ma-
terial, food and occasionally
prisoners all over Southeast
Asia.
Extravagant Salaries
The brochure, dated June 29,
1972, boasts that Air America
:ranked as one of the most
profitable corporation in the
United States in 1969, a year
when most of the world's air-
li
es lost he vily Air Ameri-
n
government. v a major role in post-war China
It employs about 436 pilots, supplying Nationalist troops.
according to the pamphlet, of CAT also supplied the French
which 384 are working In during their phase of the war
Southeast Asia. The center of in Indochina.
Air America's operation is Air America is commonly
Laos, where the presence of considered an arm of the CIA.
military or military-related In Laos, the CIA for the. past
'personnel is prohibited by the 10 years or more has main-
I d `lrm of hi!l tribe-
n y
much-abused Geneva Confer- tame a
ence of 1962. men, mainly Thai and Lao
Air America's profits are mercenaries. Most of the air
1 and transport needs for
p
Seattle First National 'Bank;
director of General insurance
Co.; director of Boeing Co.;
director of Pacific Car Found-
ry Co.; director of Northern
Pacific Railroad; director of
'Stanford Research Institute.
Arthur Berry Richardson -
foreign service officer in Rus-
sia, China and England from
'1914 to 1936; chairman of the
'b o a r d of Cheesehorough
Ponds, Inc. from 1955 to 1961;
director of United Hospital
Fund, New York; trustee of
Lenox Hill Hospital.
James Barr Ames - law
partner in Ropes & Gray, Bos-
ton; director of Air Asia Co.,
'Ltd.., director of International
'Student Association; member,
Cambridge Civic Association
and trustee of Mt. Auburn
Hospital.
trustee, Columbia University.
high despite the somewhat ex- th s
army been handled
travagant salaries it pays for y William A. Reed - chair-
flying personnel. According to by Air America. , man of the board of Simpson
the report, a pilot with 11 Military Assistance Timber Co.; chairman of the
,
years experience, flying a board, Simpson 1,ee Paper
UH-34D helicoptero,`~t n h the brochure does
Udorn air base in ha~'i~~''an ??aid F~?@,i2QJQ51; C'Fl~-go~}~F10050001-0
average of 1.00 hours monthly,
will take home $51,525. All sal-
aries are tax free.
A newly hired pilot flying a
C-7 Caribou transport based in
Vientiane, averaging 100 hours
flying time monthly, would
earn a minimum $29,442. The
U.S. commercial pilot average
is $24,000.
Also available to Air Ameri-
ca personnel, in addition to a
liberal expense account, is life
and medical insurance, two-
weeks leave, tickets on other
airlines at 20 percent normal
cost, PX and government
mailing privileges and educa-
tional allowances for depend-
ents. Many Air America pilots
are retired military men re-
ceiving military pensions.
? 'Good' Investment
Americans can also become
"air freight specialists", com-
monly called kickers. Their
job is to push cargo out over
drop zones. Salary is
$1,600-$1,800 per month. Quali-
fications: American citizen-
it hints at the subject of con-
traband:
"Although flights mainly
serve U.S. official personnel
movement and native officials
and civilians, you sometimes
engage in the movement of
friendly troops, or of enemy
captives; or in the transport of
cargo much more potent than,
rice and beans! There's a war
going on. Use your imagina-
tion ! "
Air America works hand-
in-hand with the U.S. Air
Force. At Udorn air base in,
Thailand, Air Force mechan-
ics repair the airline's trans-
ports and helicopters, many of
them unmarked. The Air
Force has reportedly leased
giant C130 transports when the
planes were needed for opera-
tions in Laos. In the section on
Air America's benefits, the
brochure lists in addition to
normal home and sick leave:
"Military leave will be grant-
ed appropriately" - an appar-
ent acknowledgement t h a t
there are military people
ship, air borne trauung, expe-
rience with the U.S. Air Force working directly with Air
preferred. America.
Air America, Inc., is owned One should not conclude,
a private aviation invest- however, that the salaries, ex-
by ment concern called the Pacif- 'mean and tax advantages
. Dunn and Brad- hope that Air. America pilots
is street's Corp. directory the war will continue. As
places its assets in the $10-$50 the brochure's author notes in
million category, and rates it a typed postscript:
"good" as an investment risk. "Foreign aid situation un-
Air America itself employs al- clear pending outcome mili-
toether about 8,000 persons, tary situation in RVN (Repub-
g lie of Vietnam), but it looks as
ranking in size just below Na if we'll. finish the war (and
tional Airlines and above most peace terms favorable for our
of. the smaller U.S. domestic side); if so, it is expected that
airlines. a boom among contract opera-
Formerly called Civil Air tors will result when imple-
Transport (CAT), Air America mented, due to inevitable re-
was organized after World habilitation and reconstruction
War II by General Claire 'aid in wartorn areas.... Job
Chennault, commander of the market.highly competitive and
i
d
'
rons
n you
ll need all the help you
American fighter squa
Burma and China known as can get.".
According to Pacific News
Service, the following men sit
on the Air America board of
directors:
Samuel Randolph Walker -
chairman of the board of Wm.
C. Walker's Son, New York;
director of Equitable Life As-
surance Society; member of
Federal City Council, Wash-
ington, D.C.; member of Ac-
tion Council for Better Cities,
Urban America, Inc., and life
 G'HICAGb TRIBUNE
Approved Fo'elease 26C%/UM419 IA-RDP84-0049x 000100050001-0
BY WAYNE TtIOMIS An increasing series of such I
[Aviation Editor] , I raids have come from the sea-
tChicaao Tribune Press Service]
SAIGON, Viet Nam, June 14 coasts and from helicopter air-
--IIanoi broadcasts infrequent-1 bridge links in Laos and Thai,
ly, mention "works of s a b o - land to points where damage
tours" in North Viet Nam's can be done or information oh-
panhandle, and Saigon's ver-
nacular press occasionally re-
port odd little aircraft acci-
dents with nonmilitary planes Comminist broadcasts from
in mountainous regions of Hanoi in the past have used
Laos, Northwestern South Viet "saboteur" in an ideoligical
Nail, and sometimes in North- sense. Now they are referring
eastern Thailand.' to actual dynamitings by these
These are mere pecks by the raiders. They specialize in tar-
general public at a tremen- gets which are too difficult for
dour submerged "iceberg" of.~ bombers to identify from the
clandestine operations continu- air, or are too well hidden to
ously and now increasingly be spotted by aerial photogra-
carried out against the Conl- phy.:fhey a?Iso carry out a
munist North. traffic in agents not otherwise
These actions probably nev possible under present condi-
er will be disclosed in full de- tioils,
tail but it can be said respon-
sibly that today they constitute
an important phase 'of this
Southeast Asia battle.
It is a silent war.. It is car-
ried out by special forces and I
by mercenaries. It is a hit-
and-run war, in which units are
airlifted or sea borne deep into
North Viet Nam for demolition
missions, for seizure of prison-
ers, for probing forays, and---it
tailed from the North Viet.
nanlese, it was learned from
reliable sources.
Size, Bin?at.ion Vary
Reports filtering from Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency and
associates ? military establish-
ments indicate such raids may
vary from 20 to several hun-
dred men. They may stay in
North Viet Nam from'a few
minutes to 24 hours.
Mercenaries enlisted for
such secret actions include
Europeans, Chinese, Malays,
mulation of information oil Japanese and Americans. T h e
American prisoner of war camp oerations are c a r e f u I I y
locations. I planned and surrounded by the
This type of action has been
taking place in the North Viet-
namese panhandle f r o in the
Demilitarized Zone I to well
north of Vinh during the last
60 days.
its/Ilc- $y,5"-11
now is understood--for accu-
tight security.
The CIA now believes the
1large-scale, American attempt
to-free prisoners from a camp
hear Hanoi a year ago failed.
11 because of a security leak
which resulted in a prisoner
shift.
The raiders are heavily ar-
med. Not one operation has
failed, and none of the raiders
have been trapped, according
to informed sources.
Casualties among these spe-
cial -forces have been low. Pay
scales are said to be "quite
high" and morale among these
specialists in demolition, elec-
tronics sabotage, and interro-
gatioh is very high. The men
regard themselves as an elite
corps.
Financed by CIA
The mysterious, CIA-financed
Air America civil flying fleet
seems to operate on a super-
national basis across Cambo-
dian, Thai, Laotian, and South
Vietnamese. borders. It has
had a part in some of this
work. However, much of the
work is being done by mil-
itary detachments, temporarily
posted to the special forces.
The military establishment
here generally attempts to
suppress mention of this side
of the war for a number of
reasons, with security against
enemy knowledge being the
least important. The North Vi-
etnamese are fully aware of
the nature of the CIA-directed
and financed special opera-
tions.
It is known that after each
such raid all civilians and mil-
itary personnel in the North
who have had contact with the
raiders are subjected to rigor-
ous and lengthy questioninf; by
Communist secret police and
political commisars.
The U. S. forces seek to hide
the clandestine side of the war
to prevent embarassment to
Thai, Cambodian, and Laotian
governmental departments.
It is recognized by American
leaders that such concealment
is merely "token" but Is re-
quired In certain diplomatic
relationships which the coun-
tries fringing South Viet Nam
Approved For Release 2005/07/14: GATRUP84-00499R000100050001-0
 BULLETIN
E - 634, 3'f pproved Fo 5/tJ /14''' CI -RDP84-00499R0 00050001-0
,o ver, the pilots Piave'
-
701,743 -
some pretty . spooky passen-'
~f A hl 0 1972
lAir America
Pilots Aging
c
In" Laos War
Americans with code -names,
'Unidentified Asians from sev-.l
eral, different countries, men
-with guns who ask to be land-
cd*'at little-known airstrips in
the jungled mountains behind
'Enemy lines.
"I don't know who they are
Vientiane, Laos - (AP) -
..ThG;y fly long hours in the
flak-filled skies of Laos and
play hard in exotic Oriental
fleshpots.
But behind the swashbuckl-
ing+ facade, Air America pilots
are often men with mort-
gages, sagging waistlines and
even grandchildren. The sol-
diers of fortune are going
gray. They now have some-
. thing to lose. -
If they get shot down, their
lives are only worth two kilo-
'grams of gold - worth about
$3,300 in Europe. This reward
is offered to primitive hill?tri.
besmen for surviving crew
members by the private com-
pany, a civilian contractor
which takes orders from the
Agency -for International De-
velopment.
"The average age of my
pilots is.43," said James Cun-
ningham, the Air America
chief in Laos. "They're still
wild, some of them still break
the rules all the time and fly
by the scat of their pants. But
they're also serious family
men with business interests.
125 Professional Pilots
Often called the CIA airline
because of its contract work
for Washington's paramilitary
involvement in Laos, Air
America has 125 professional
pilots flying 35 fixed-wing
planes and 36 Thailand-based
helicopters..
Cunningham pooh-poohs
talk of clandestine "spook
missions" and "black oper-
- rations" allegedly performed
':China, and North Vietnam:
?.w Y."That's a lot of drivel," he
~oaid. "We haul, passengers,
-fuel. and supplies, any cargo
id bhif
',j equrey te servces o his,. country. I'm not saying
'thero isn't a CIA presence in
`'Laos, but if I found any of my
,pilots taking orders from the
'CIA they'd get canned.
.-You see those planes out
-there? At 125 knots they
)vQujdrL{t last live minutes
over Chin or North -VIe1
/Imam; -::~~
hand I don't want to know,"
said one pilot. "All I know is
a guy could get fired talking
about them."
Pilots also have helped res-
cue downed U.S. Air - Force
;,fliers.
Air' America itself -has lost
five planes in the past two
months and nearly 50 have
been shot up by antiaircraft
"fire. Pilots also are being buz-
zed by Soviet-built MIGS' of.
the North Vietnamese air
.force.
Danger Is Rife
-: Antiaircraft sites are so
thick in Laos that some areas
are technically off limits to
unarmed civilian aircraft. But
"'there's written policy and
unwritten policy," explained
one Air America man.
"We fly anywhere, and It's
jetting worse all the time,"
he added. "This country is
going to hell. No place is safe
any more." .
~-Flying An high-risk areas
Nnd earning night differential,
some of the pilots make
$40,000 a year. .
"I earn every penny of it,"
Mid pilot James Russell, 49, a
,dncorated World War II
bomber pilot.
"I fly where other pilots
'
don
t fly because I need the
money," the Texan said. "I
have several deals cooking. I
have a wife and three beau-
ful children to support. I
want to expand my cattle
ranch," a 25,000-acre spread
4-r Brazil.
Plane Destroyed
Last week Russell's plane
was destroyed on the ground
by enemy mortar fire. He was
on a 'clandestine. mission in-
v o l v i n g six unidentified
Asians, including a CIA agent
code-named Swartt`jwnRut,,,,Rus-
sell outran pursuing North
Vietnamese soldiers for two
miles before a helicopter pick-
ed him up.
"Right now there's a well-
dressed North Vietnamese
wearing a singed $65 flying
jacket," he drawled. "I'd just
bought that damn thing in . .
Hong Kong ? and like a fool 1-
Approved For Release 2005/07/14: CIA-RDP84-00499R000100050001-0
 V ASflINGTOn
DAILY Haws
Approved Fq,Release 2005/p'/'M~lCIDP84-0040PR000100050001-0
750 sorties in one day
`3A "air
rc&' fu~*:
By JAMES FOSTER part that stands as a buffer along Thailand's
scr:pps-fwward staff writer border - it is apparent the United States will
UDORN, Thailand, Jan. 27 - The United have to do it. ,
tates is throwing more and more of its own For similar` reasons the seven operating air
it power and support for native ground forces bases in Thailand are U.S. built, -financed and
ito the struggle against Communist take-over ? run, but title was turned over to the Royal
f Laos. Thai Air Force. In this manner the United
U.S. air missions Into Laos are said to be up States becomes a guest and can't be accused
00 per cent over a year ago. Some days as of owning any bases where it.isn't supposed to.
nany as 750 bombing sorties are flown from Several. of these bases are within a stone's
even strategically located,bases in Thailand. throw of the Thai-Laotian border. Air control-
Laotian government troops can't stand up Iers at Nakhon Phanom, In the northeast, for sun rise over Laotian
1UNA et fed 40,000
ignn
mNorth Vietnamese instance unisrebels who -mountains I3tcmileseaway. The border is only
n
ste
h
,. ,.... -
e Ba
,treaay control t
djacent to North Vietnam. And Udorn, south of the border, Is 19 min, The CIA also hires Thai guerrillas and sup-
t temainIng him is to be served.,;,Athe,,,utest;,,by jet from the PWn_o[ dars~main?bntth-a. !,ports a 40,000-man army of Lao hilt tribesmen.
I By using civilians and the Air Force the U.S.
hedges its claim of having no "combat troops"
Inside Laos.
While ground operations are -relatively inex-
.pensive and Inconspicuous, Air America and
lContinental Air Service are not. They seem to
-1. be Indicate the scope of their sper operations, is might
den in the CIA budget which is immune to
0
ground in the see-saw fight for control of the
northern sector of Laos.
Udorn is said to be the busiest field in Thai-
land with 6,500 U.S. Air Force personnel (there
are 38,000 in all of Thailand) and an undis-
closed number, of civilians working for Air
America.
Air America is the largest of two air forces
operated by the U.S. Central Intelligence'
Agency (CIA). The second is Continental Airy
Service.
Other U.S. civilians hired by the CIA give
on-the-job training- to guerrillas, operate a
communications network along the border.,
'carry out intelligence missions and -run other
Approved For Release 2005/07/14: CIA-RDP84-00499R000100050001-0
 SECRET (When Filled In)
AREA OR COUNTRYIS) I ORGAHIZATIr
HQ p e-or,BP
Proprieteries
Press
Public Image
IDENTIFICATION OF DOCUMENT (author, form, addressee, title & length)
File of press clippings concerning Air America
CLASS. , None
HS/HC-845
ABSTRACT
News items dealing with Air America and CIA involvement.
(Also see: CSHP-160, Subject:- Aspects of the Air and Ground War
in Laos; HS/HC-844 and HS/HC-677 re Laos; and HS/CSG-547, 1488,
and 2340 re Air America.)
1089 2525 aDITION: PREVIOUS
HISTORICAL STAFF SOURCE INDEX SECRET
Approved For Release 2005/07/14: CIA-RDP84-00499R000100050001-0
PERSONALITIES DOCUMENT
DATEt
10 Aug 1972
 HS/HC.,$ I place card upright in place of char
_ i returned
CHARGE TO DATE C ARGE TO !7
CASE FILE CHARGE-OUT CARD
FORM NO. li9 REPLACES FORM.36.152
I AUG 54 WHICH MAY BE USED.
Approved For Release 2005/07/14: CIA-RDP84-00499R000100050001-0
ged out folder.
file folder.