NICHOLSON HAD ROUTINE ASSIGNMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404570022-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: March 26, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404570022-9
r ~" ED 1
pTl"tF
WASHINGTON TIMES
26 March 1985
'intelligence-gathering mission
established at the end of World War
11 and considered routine duty today,
The Potsdam Mission ' an opera
tion of the U.S. Army has for four
decades gathered intelligence in
Fast Germany under an accord with
the Soviets and the Western Allies -
Britain, France and the United
St_ateTt;lTnerfectly legal
"They act as military attaches
would;' said a person in the State
Department who is familiar with the
operation. "The Soviets do the same
thing in West Germany."
Manned 24 hours a day, the mis-
sion has a staff of 14 under the com-
mand of Col. Roland Lajoie.
Personnel report for duty in East
Germany but live in West Berlin.
Each of the three missions in East
Germany - British, French and the
U.S. Army- has a house, a suburban
villa, and they have their people
there rotating in and out.
The liaison teams, as they are still
called after their occupation func-
tion, are under the jurisdiction of the
commander in chief, Group Soviet
Forces, Germany, and it is to that
command the United States initially
would lodge a formal complaint con-
cerning the killing.
"There have been incidents over
the years," the State Department
man said. "I would not want to say
there has ever been one this bad:'
The Soviets have three such mis-
sions in West Germany, one in each
of the former allied zones of the
country and each limited to a staff of
14, under the agreement. Germany
was divided into four zones after
World War II, each zone assigned to
one of the four major victors.
The Russians have missions in
Nicholson
had routine
assignment
,THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Arthur D. Nicholson Jr.. the Army
major slain Sunday in East er-
many, was assigned to an
Map by Elaine Cunfer ; The Washington Times
Frankfurt, Bunde and Baden-Baden,
under the eyes of the U.S., British
and French military.
The liaison teams travel regularly
in unrestricted areas. They use mili-
tary vehicles equipped with sensi-
tive listening devices, cameras and
telescopes.
"The Soviets issue maps, just the
way the three allieds do, and they
have the permanently restricted
areas marked:' he said. "From time
to time, temporarily restricted areas
- when there are military maneu-
vers, usually - are announced with
the map coordinates."
While Pentagon officials
conce a a.l. Nicholson was on an
"intelligence-gathering operation"
they rejected the charge that he was
a, spy. Maj. Nicholson, a Russian lin-
guist, was shot Sunday in Ludwigs-
lust, about 85 miles northwest of
Berlin.
"You can't call this man a spy
because the ground rules for the
operation of this mission are quite
specific:' said another source. "It's
all very visible. The men assigned
there can travel without escort, but
they have to carry a special ID and
everybody knows who they are:'
- Miles Cunningham
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404570022-9