VIRGINIA HALL'S CAREER IN THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE GROUP AND CIA

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06636306
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: March 16, 2022
• Document Release Date: December 16, 2016
• Case Number: F-2016-02352

Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306
SEC/ET
(U) Virginia Hall's Career in the Central Intelligence Group and CIA
(U) Virginia Hall Goillota is perhaps best known for her wartime service in the British Special
Operations Executive and the American OSS, but she actually spent more time in CIA. She served
as an officer in various elements of the postwar clandestine service from 1946 until her mandatory
retirement in 1966 at the age of 60. She was one of a handful of relatively senior female clandestine
service officers. In 1952, for example, she was one of six female GS-13 officers in the clandestine
service (and one of only 18 in the Agency))b At the time, they were the highest ranking women in the
clandestine services.
(U) After the war, the 40-year-old Hall resigned from the OSS just three days before President
Truman disbanded it. She was eager to remain in the intelligence
business, however, so in December 1946 she took a position with
the Strategic Services Unit (SSU), which had been salvaged from
the OSS. By the time she joined SSU, it had been transferred from
the War Department to the Central Intelligence Group (CIG) to form
the nucleus of the Office of Special Operations (0S0), CIG's
foreign intelligence collection arm. Hall, who spoke Italian fluently,
was assigned to the Italian desk and dispatched as a (b)(1)
contract "field representative.' There she collected and transmitted (b)(3)
economic, financial, and political intelligence with special emphasis
on the Communist movement and its leaders. She found the job
"unsatisfactory" and, in July 1948, resigned.' She did not specify
precisely what she disliked, but later in her career she made it clear
that she preferred paramilitary (PM) work to foreign intelligence (Fl)
collection.2
and in March 1950 began working for the National Committee for a (courtesy of(b)(3)
Free Europe, a CIA front organization associated with Radio Free
Europe. As head of the Albanian, Yugoslav, and Baltic desks, she
handled relations with Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Yugoslav, and
Albanian exiles. In addition to conducting interviews and translating material, she listed her duties as
counselling and assisting the Committees and refugee groups of those countries in their endeavor to
"keep alive the spirit of freedom and resistance in their native lands in their purpose of bringing about
the liberation of all Iron Curtain countries."3
(U) On returning to the United States, Hall settled in New York City (1)
(C) Hall
CIA Museum).
(U) In 1950, Hall applied for employment with CIA, although she had no specific position in mind.
Filling out the forms was a time-consuming process�"a major operation," she wrote to a colleague,
apologizing for taking so long. Her background investigation was underway as early as spring, 1950,
a (U) Hall married her wartime partner, Paul Gaston Goillot in 1957. As she is best known by her maiden
name we will use it throuahout this report
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
SE/RET
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306
SECRET
but she did not leave NCFE's offices in the Empire State Building until December 1951.4 She took
the oath of office with CIA in Washington on 3 December 1951.
(S) Hall entered on duty with CIA as a GS-13 intelligence officer (ops). She was assigned to the
Office of Policy Coordination, the covert action arm that had been established under Frank Wisner in
1948. (In a sense, she had already worked for OPC, which had created NCFE.) As a case officer
(her official title) and head of the paramilitary desk, she planned and directed PM activities for WE/3
(France)�preparing projects, interviewing and recruiting staff agents, planning training and cover for
those agents, and giving support and guidance to the field. Her focus also included planning for
aftermath of a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe: preparing escape and evasion nets,
staybehind resistance and sabotage nets, and collecting operational intelligence to facilitate the work
of those nets.5
(S) During 1952, OPC and OSO were forcibly (and unwillingly) merged by DCI Walter Bedell Smith
to form the Deputy Directorate of Plans (DDP). Hall became one of the DDP's first female operations
officers.� She was assigned to Southern Europe Division's PM staff, where she focused on the
Balkans. In that capacity, she helped prepared overall strategic division and area plans, as well as
special reports and memorandums for senior PM staff. She also monitored and reviewed certain
country operations and supported field operations with guidance and technical support. Pointing to
her wartime experience as a clandestine agent, her supervisors noted that she "has an unusually
clear understanding of agent operations and problems." They deemed her especially suited for
detailed operational planning, but noted that her overall potential would be enhanced if she were
given an opportunity to handle a project in the field. She was also viewed as a potential asset for a
denied-area branch that needed special assistance.'
(S) Hall's next assignment, beginning in July 1954, also involved paramilitary projects. As an ops
officer in Political and Psychological (PP) Staff, she reviewed Western Europe Division's paramilitary
and PP activities in light of changed targets, unconventional warfare requirements, and new
operational concepts. She conducted a country-by-country review to assess overall plans and
operations. Although she was praised for being independent, versatile, and willing to accept
responsibility, her experience was deemed her greatest streng(b)(i )
(b)(3)
(S) In May 1955, Hall transferred to in the Near East and
Africa (NEA) Division, still serving as a paramilitary officer. Her specific assignment, as recorded on
her fitness report, was "planning and implementing a major political action project; arranging and
preparing for participation in the proiect as case officer�principal aaent " The second nart of thp task
required her to conduct a survey
From January to June 1956, she travellec periodically sending back her (b)(1)
observations. On her return to Washington, she wrote a comprehensive report in which she laid out(b)(3)
her conclusions and recommendations.
(S) This stint in NEA may have been the unhappiest period of Hall's career as she and her
supervisor had a serious dispute about the level of her performance.9 Hall was so incensed at the
comments on her fitness report that she wrote a rebuttal and took her case (on at least three
occasions) to Inspector General Lyman Kirkpatrick.10 The supervisor who had sent her on the TDY
(and who had been transferred almost immediately after) endorsed her performance as
"outstanding" and "highly competent." He laid the blame for any perceived failings squarely on the
shoulders of the NEA offices. Without guidance from those offices, he stressed, Hall could not have
been expected to plan third-country operations based on her survey and should not have been
criticized for failing to do so.11
(S) Not surprisingly, Hall left NEA, and in January 1957 she joined the
Western Hemisphere Division. As an area operations officer, she supervised and provided guidance
(b)(1)
SECRET (b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306 '
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306
SECRET
for PP operations in those countries, arranged cover and travel for both staff and contract agents,
and prepared and reviewed project outlines. She seemed to be back in her element: her supervisors
regarded her as a distinct asset, and her fitness reports reflected their respect for her performance.
Again, it was her versatility, intelligence, and competence that stood out. She had, they agreed, "no
outstanding weaknesses."12 She was considered to be one of the most experienced PP/CA officers.
Her varied experiences and keen interest in all aspects of PP activity (as well as Fl problems in her
areas of responsibility) enabled her to approach problems with broad base of knowledge and
understanding.
(S) Durinq 1961, in addition to her normal duties, Hall was assianed important tasks relatina to a
Her performance ratings continued to be
excellent. Her managers highlighted her knowledge of the region and its personalities, her
experience with covert action, and her concise and well-considered dispatches and cables. Although
there was some concern that her absence from the field was leading her to be conservative, this
conservatism was not viewed as affecting her efficient management of the field stations for which
she was responsible, and she was seen as particularly adept at picking out the flaws and pitfalls of
operations proposed by those stations.14
(C) Hall in 1964 (from her CIA
Biographic Profile)
(S) In 1966, having reached mandatory retirement age and suffering
from a series of medical problems, Hall left the Agency. At the time she
began her career, she probably had more combat experience (for
which she was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross) than most of
CIA's male officers�including several future DCIs. She spoke Italian,
French, and German fluently. Nevertheless, in her 14 years at CIA, she
had been promoted only from GS-13 to GS-14. Moreover, despite her
OSS experience and the occasional recommendations of her
supervisors, .she had never served a tour overseas as a CIA officer.
Some male CIA officers felt she had been sidelined�shunted into
backwater accounts�because she had so much experience that she
overshadowed her male colleagues, who felt threatened by her.15 One
later observed, "Her experience and abilities were never properly
utilized."
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306
SECRET
1 (U) Gerald K. Haines, "Virginia Hall Goillot: Career Intelligence Officer," Prologue (Winter 1994), p. 258 (CADRE
C01137583); Virginia Hall Official Personnel Folder; personnel qualifications questionnaire, c. 1953. (S)
2 (U) Hall OPF; December 1956 PAR. (S)
3 (U) Haines, p. 258; Hall OPF; personnel qualifications questionnaire, c. 1953. (S)
4 (U) Hall OPF; letter to 16 August 1951. (U) (b)(3)
5 (U) Hall OPF; personnel qualifications questionnaire, c. 1953. (S)
6(U) Haines, p. 258. (U)
7 (U) Hall OPF; January 1954 PAR. (S)
(U) Hall OPF; December 1.954 PAR. (S)
9 (U) Hall OPF; December 1956 PAR. (S)
10 (U) Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Diary, vol. III, January 1956�December 1958, passim (CADRE CO2210680). (S)
11 (C) Hall OPF; Memorandum for the Record b 31:' Staff, "Fitness Report on Virginia Hall Goillot, (b)(3)
Y
dated 28 December 1956," 14 May 1957; Hall Memorandum for the Record, "Fitness Report dated 28 December
1956." (S)
12 (U) Hall OPF JanuarV1958 PAR (S)
13
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
14 (U) Hall OPF various PARS for period 1961-65 (SI
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2016/12/13 C06636306