FORT HUACHUCA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000100670010-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2007
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: April 27, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/05/21 : CIA-RDP88-01070R000100670010-1
RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.
4701 WILLARD AVENUE, CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND 20815 656-4068
April 27, 1983 11:30 AM
STATION WTTG TV
Washington, DC
JIM WILKERSON: The federal government is apparently
spending millions of dollars turning Fort Huachuca, Arizona into
a front-line base for US operations in Central America.
Here's an exclusive CNN report from Joe Trento.
JOE TRENTO: More than a hundred years ago the US
Calvalry fought Geronimo at Fort Huachuca. Now, the largely
forgotten second-line post is getting Washington's attention
again. CNN has learned from Senate Intelligence Committee and
CIA officials, who asked that they not be identified, that this
historic post will be the intelligence operation center for the
anticipated covert war in Central America.
Military officials at the post will officially confirm
nothing. Yet, a new $30 million, 12,000-foot long runway is
being constructed at the post airfield. That runway is capable
of handling the largest troop transport planes in the world.
To the residents around the fort, the increased activity
is a mystery. Coincidentally, the town of Sierra Vista is
enjoying a boom. Homes that would normally sell for $35,000 in
nearby communities are commanding prices of a hundred thousand
and more in this desert town. One realtor said that in recent
months 27 FBI and CIA agents have purchased homes in this town of
28,000.
Sierra Vista now has the second highest income of any
Arizona community. Town manager Michael Boyer welcomes the boom
but has no illusions about what it could mean to Sierra Vista.
TOWM MANAGER MICHAEL BOYER: I would expect that Fort
OFFICES IN: WASHINGTON D.C, ? NEW YORK ? LOS ANGELES ? CHICAGO ? DETROIT ? AND OTHER PRINCIPAL CITIES
Material supplied by Radio N Reports, Inc. may be used for file and reference purposes only. It may not be reproduced, sold or publicly demonstrated or exhibited.
Approved For Release 2007/05/21 : CIA-RDP88-0107OR000100670010-1
 Approved For Release 2007/05/21 : CIA-RDP88-010708000100670010-1
Huachuca would be one of several ideal locations to defense that
activity in Latin South American.
TRENTO: The Army claims that the 12,000-foot runway and
other improvements being made at the post are coincidental. The
biggest change in the economy of Sierra Vista is the highly paid
photo interpreter comparative [?] and other intelligence experts
being hired by firms like TRW and Mantech [?] both major CIA
contractors.
For the Residents of Sierra Vista, the mystery of Fort
Huachuca has been a bonanza. But how the rest of the country
feels about the Pentagon and intelligence community remains to be
seen.
This is Joe Trento, CNN, on special assignment.
Approved For Release 2007/05/21 : CIA-RDP88-010708000100670010-1