READHEAD BILL IN LANGLEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100090052-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 5, 1999
• Sequence Number: 52
• Publication Date: May 12, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized Approved For Release : CIA-R
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS DIVISION
SP-870 (Supplement)
READIIEAD BILL IN LANGLEY.
[Following is a full translation of an article
by V. Chirkov which appeared in the Russian
C PYRG HT newspaper Moskovskaya Pravda, 12 May 1965.]
On that memorable morning a special plane of the aircraft
company, Aerojet-General Corporation, appeared at the building o
the airport in El Monte, California. The pilot was to take on
board only one passenger--William F. Raborn, a vice-president of
the company, known among his associates by the nickname of ~'
"Redhead Bill". Within minutes,a black limousine appeared and,
with a screeching of brakes, stopped right at the steps of the
plane. Out of it emerged a close-cropped, lean man with a
military bearing, and, after greeting the pilot, he said to one
of those accompanying him:
"Prepare my personal file with all the biographic details.
I may need it soon."
"Yes, Mr. Raborn," answered the clerk, gazing after his
chief with a puzzled expression.
None of his associates in the company knew where he was
bound for, and his words, said in parting, only excited the
general curiosity, without explaining anything. The solution t
the mystery, however, came fairly soon. From Johnson City, Tex s,
where Redhead Bill had arrived by special summons of President
Johnson, came the report of the resignation of Director of CIA,
John McCone. William F. Raborn was appointed in his place.
Thus there appeared a new boss in Langley, near Washington
where the Central Intelligence Agency is located.
The change of leadership in the principal spy center of th
United States took place not without good reason. Too many
exposures of, and failures by, American intelligence were linke
with the name of its former chief. It was decided to remove th
top spy who, had [thus] fallen into disrepute. This was already known
in June of last year. The search for a suitable man dragged ou .
Almost 40 candidates were rejected. This was because the posit on
occupied by McCone is rightly considered one of the key ones in
the American cabinet [sic]. For good reason the CIA is called
the "invisible government" of the United States and the "state
within a state". Behind the scenes there was going on a bitter
struggle of the owners of the big industrial concerns for the
1-00090-052;-1--
 CIA INTERNAL USE ONLY,
Sanitized Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R0001 00090052-1
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS DIVISION
SP-870 (Supplement)
CPYRGHT
right to place their own man at the helm of this spy state. And
the choice fell on Raborn, the president of a gigantic corporation
which was one of the main suppliers of rockets and planes for the
armed forces of the US. This "background" of the new chief of
CIA is very significant. But first,.who is he, this new man in
Langley?
Vice-Adm. (Ret.) Raborn is 59 years old; His whole adult life
was connected with the military service. In 1928 he entered the
Naval Academy in'Annapolis and from that time on moved fairly
successfully up the service ladder. His service record speaks
for itself. From the first steps of his career Raborn carried out
obediently the most sinister plans of the American militarists.
In 1955, by order of Adm..Burke, then Chief of Staff of the
.US Navy, Raborn was entrusted with the development of the Polaris
missile, which was to be launched from atomic submarines. The
Pentagon had placed great hopes in these missiles. Raborn was
.one of the first to give great publicity to these missiles,
describing his creation [detishche] as a "reliable means of
intimidation", or, to put it bluntly, nuclear blackmail. All
20,000 contracts with military industrial concerns participating
in missile development went through Raborn's hands. And the
funds allocated to this work were considerable--3.5 billion
dollars. His business connections later helped the admiral
to amass a fortune and to enlist the powerful support of the
leaders of US="big business."
During the work on the Polaris missile, Raborn was able to
"prove himself". His subordinates worked without any days off, even
on week ends. Redhead Bill drove them with a persistence resembling
fanaticism, striving to put the, Polaris on the production line as
soon as possible and thereby deserve the gratitude of his bosses
both in the Pentagon and in the military industrial concerns. In
this he succeeded. The polaris.was completed far ahead of schedule,
and into the safes of the monopolists flowed a golden stream from
the generous orders of the Pentagon for atomic submarines and
Polaris missiles.. Raborn also moved up on the service ladder,
occupying the position of. Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Navy
for Research and Development.
The tireless activity of Redhead Bill on behalf of the arms
race made him extremely popular with the bosses of the military
industrial concerns. In 1963 the admiral retired and immediately
became engaged in "peaceful business" --the production of missiles
in Aerojet General. Commenting on the appointment of Raborn to the
 CIA INTERNAL USE ONLY
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000100090052-1
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS DIVISION
SP-870 (Supplement)
CPYRGHT
position of director of CIA, the influential American magazine,
Time, wrote in one of its recent issues that now "it is necessary
to place at the helm of CIA an experienced administrator rather
than an experienced spy." Great things are expected of Raborn.
The military monopolies, having placed their own man at the helm
of CIA,. hope to find a wider use for their products with his help
and to extend the tentacles of CIA even farther. The service
record and business qualities of Redhead Bill indicate that their
hopes are most likely justified. His activities in the new position
will certainly bring new profits to the monopolies and new misfortun
for those countries where those under his aegis operate. One. can
also certainly say something else--that even such an "experienced
administrator" as~,Redhead Bill will be unable to avoid failures.
Recently the CIA and its agents more and more often have had to
leave those. countries to which nobody had ever invited them.- The
emissaries of the "invisible government, the agents of those monopo-
lies who have installed the new boss in Langley, have been getting
their just deserts from the peoples of the liberated countries and
of the socialist camp.
CIA INTERNAL USE ONLY
lei
 Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00
SP-870 FOIAb3b
CPYRGHT
An article by V. CHIRKOV inMokovskaya Pravda, 12 May 1965,
entitled "Redhead Bill in Langley," iscussed the resignation of
former CIA director, John McCONE, and the appointment of William F.
RABORN in his place.
According to the article, the name of John McCone has been
connected with too many failures of US intelligence and it was
therefore decided that he should be removed. After a long search
for his successor, "during which almost 40 candidates were rejected,"
the choice fell on Raborn.
The following paragraphs are translated excerpts from the
article:
"Raborn represented a gigantic corporation, one of the principal
suppliers of rockets and aircraft for the US Armed Forces. This
'background' of the new CIA chief is very significant. However,
who is he, this new man in Langley?
"Vice-Adm (Ret) Raborn is 59 years old. His whole adult life
was connected with the military service. In 1928 he entered the
Naval Academy in Annapolis and after that he advanced fairly
successfully on the service ladder. His service record speaks for
itself. From the first steps of his career, Raborn obediently
carried out the most sinister plans of US militarists.
"In 1955, by order of Adm Burke, then Chief of Staff of the US
Navy, Raborn was entrusted with the development of the "Polaris"
missile, which was to be launched from atomic submarines.... Raborn
was one of the first to advertise these misfiles, describing them
as 'a reliable means of intimidation' or, to put it bluntly, nuclear
blackmail. All 20,000 contracts with military industrial concerns
participating in missile development went through Raborn's hands.
The funds allotted for this work were considerable -- 3.5 billion
dollars. With the help of his business connections, the admiral
was later able to scrape up a fortune and to enlist the powerful
support of US 'big business.'
"During the work on the Polaris missile, Raborn was able to
'prove himself.' His subordinates worked without interruption, even
on weekends.... The Polaris was completed ahead of schedule....
Raborn was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff of US Navy fair scientific
research work.
Sanitized - Approved , r r ? " - 0001 R000100090052-1
 fi.i fr r " U~_' tt ,'~
1 i Y a i ' R i uv as ~.. LI L j
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000100090052-1
CPYRGHT
"The tireless activity of Redhead Bill on behalf of the armament
race made him extremely popular with the bosses of military concerns.
In 1.963, the admiral retired and immediately became engaged in 'peace-
ful business,' i.e., the production of missiles by Aerojet General.
"Great things are expected of Raborn. The military monopolies,
having placed their own man at the helrti of CIA, hope to find a
wider use for their products with his help and to extend the tentacles
to CIA even further than before. The service record and business
qualities of Redhead Bill indicate that their hopes will most likely
be fulfilled. His activity on the new post will certainly bring
the monopolies new profits and will create new disasters for those
countries where his men will operate. One can make another definite
statement, i.e., that even such an 'experienced administratmr' as
Redhead Bill will not be able to avoid failures. The CIA and its
agents have recently been forced more and more frequently to leave
those countries where they had never been invited. The peoples of
liberated countries and of the socialist camp have been getting even
with the emissaries of the 'invisible government' and the agents of
those monopolies which installed the new boss in Langley."
Sanitized - Approved For Rele P-e.: 6IRDP75-00001 R000100090052-1