ALLEGED IRAN-CONTRA PLAYERS NO STRANGERS TO SPY AFFAIRS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000201030001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 21, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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intervention In the Vietnam War be-
gan In 1965.
From A
ugust 1966 to August
B Robert Tim
Y berg 1968. Mr. Secord was an "air advis-
Washington Bureau of The Sun er" statl
o
d
WASHINGTON - Manv of the
alleged players in the Iran-cow af-
fair have deep roots in the nation s
intelligence community and have
worked together over years on
various cT -an a er operations
in Vietnam and
Laos during the
United States'
involvement in
Southeast Asia.
Some o the names that have sur-
faced as potentially important fig-
ures in the controversy seem to have
been especially involved in the se-
cret war waged by the Central Intel-
ligence Agency in Laos. which took
place at essentially the same time as
the Vietnam conflict.
Those who were in Laos or have
studied the American effort there
say it was an ideal training ground
for men who might later participate
In the sort of clandestine activities
that have characterized the Iran
arms sales and the alleged diversion
of funds to support the contras.
In particular, they point to the lo-
gistical expertise that many men de-
veloped there. as well as the skills
needed to mobilize and train guerril-
la units, set up dummy companies.
handle secret bank accounts and.
perhaps most importantly. cover
their tracks.
Those who saw action in South-
east Asia and whose names have
ropped up in the current controver-
v include:
Richard V. Secord: A highly dec-
rated retired Air Force major gener-
1 and West Point graduate. Mr. Se-
brd is said by a variety of sources to
ave played Mr. Outside to Marine
Lt. Col. Oliver L. North's Mr. Inside
in the Iran-contra affair.
Mr. Secord. sources say, used his
old military and intelligence contacts
to set up the supply line that provid-
ed logistical support and possibly
weapons to the contras after Con-
gress, by the 1984 version of the
Boland Amendment, forbade the
government from doing so.
According to his official Air Force
biography. Mr. Secord went to
Southeast Asia in March 1962 as an
adviser to the South Vietnamese.
During this period, the biography
says. he flew Vietnamese Air Force
AT-28s and logged more than 200
combat missions.
Officially at least. the United
States at that time was in an adviso-
ry role in Vietnam. Direct American
Alleged Iran-contra players no s
BALTIMORE SUN
21 December 1986
spy affairs
e
n at Udorn Royal Thai
Air Force Base, his biography says.
Not mentioned, however. Is the fact
that Thailand was the staging area
for the secret war in neighboring
Laos. In which numerous sources
said Mr. Secord was deeply involved.
Thailand, for that matter, was sup-
posedly neutral in the Laotian con-
flict.
William M. Leary, a University of
Georgia history professor who is
working on the second book in his
two-volume history of CIA air activi-
ties in the Far East, said Mr. Secord
probably was flying forward air con-
trol missions, that Is. spotting enemy
targets and calling in air attacks on
them.
An intelligence source said.
-There is no doubt at one time he
was connected with the war in
Laos."
Mr. Secord also shows up in Laos
In the early 1970s, although his bi-
ography makes no direct mention of
it. Instead, it says that in June 1972
he was assigned duties at the Penta-
gon that included desk officer for
Laos. Thailand and Vietnam.
In July 1973, moreover. he be-
came executive assistant to the di-
rector of the Pentagon's Defense Se-
curity Assistance Agency. which
handles military aid to foreign na-
tions.
Military historian Shelby L. Stan-
ton. a retired Army Green Beret offi-
cer who served in Laos, said that he
knows from a variety of sources and
documents that Mr. Secord was
working on the Laotian war out of
Udorn air base during 1972 and
1973.
Mr. Stanton. author of "Vietnam
Order of Battle" and "Green Berets at
War." recalls personally dealing with
him on one occasion during his tour
with the Green Berets in 1972-1973,
when he said Mr. Secord was de-
tached from the Air Force to the CIA.
At that time. Mr. Stanton said,
Mr. Secord was a planning officer for
the Thai Special Guerrilla Units. es-
sentially large units of Thai merce-
naries that the CIA was running into
Laos against the communist Pathet
Lao.
He was at the funding end of the
Thai SGU program," Mr. Stanton
said. He was one of the guys in
charge of the money ... of getting
the money for the mercenary troops
involved in the illegal war."
1LE ONLY
Attempts to reach Mr. Secord
through his Washington attorney.
Thomas C. Green, were unsuccess-
ul.
John K. Singlaub: Mr. Singlaub
as the commander of U.S. troops in
uth Korea in 1977 when he pub-
licly disagreed with then-President
Jimmy Carter's plan to cut Ameri-
can troop strength there.
Fired from his Korean post by the
president. Mr. Singlaub retired in
1978 as a major general and not
long after became involved with the
conservative New Right network
that was beginning to flourish under
such men as the direct-mail fund-
raiser Richard Viguerie and Howard
R. Phillips of the Conservative Cau-
cus.
Until September. Mr. Singlaub
was chairman of the World Anti-
Communist League, and remains on
the organization's board. But the or-
ganization he devotes most of his
time to is the United States Council
for World Freedom. the WACL's
American affiliate, which operates
out of Phoenix. Ariz.
With the passage of the 1984 ver-
sion of the Boland Amendment.
which cut off military aid to the con-
tras. Mr. Singlaub was reportedly re-
cruited by the NSC's Colonel North
to assist in raising funds to help con-
tinue aid to the contras while the
congressional cutott was in effect.
Mr. Singlaub has deep roots in
the nation's Intelligence establish-
ment going back to the World War If
Office of Strategic Services, forerun-
ner of the CIA.
During the war. Mr. Sfnglaub
helped organize French Resistance
forces and worked closely with a
more senior OSS officer. William J.
Casey. currently the Director of Cen-
tral Intelligence. said Joyce Downey.
Mr. Singlaub's assistant.
Mr. Singlaub was also deeply in-
volved in Intelligence work during
the Korean and Vietnam wars. In
Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, Mr.
Singlaub headed the super-secret
MACV-SOG, or Military Assistance
Command. Vietnam-Studies and
Observation Group.
Mr. Stanton said MACV-SOG was
Involved In highly classified mis-
sions aimed at Interdicting the
movement of North
Vietnamese men
and supplies Into South Vietnam.
"There were a lot of strange
things that they did and a lot of
strange people who worked for
them.- he said. "This is a unit that is
not going to mess around with a lot
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of people. They did a lot of things, name of Bird Air. ley's ties to Laos. 2-
and they didn't answer a lot of ques- The assistant chief pilot for Bird where he served
CIA station chief during the m ddls
[ions about it." Air. Mr. Leary said, was Wallace B. to late 1960s and effectively com-
e ub'
one of
the untt~miSttt havesai conductedd some op- s kaleyer .when the C thret 123K men manded a private army comprising
cargo Meo tribesmen and their American
erations in Laos, not as part of the plane carrying Eugene Hasenfus military advisers; CIA o
secret war, but rather against that went down In Nicaragua. air force made up in part an
portion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Mr. Aderholt is in Europe and America and other CIA-af ll ated air?
m
ain Viet Cong supply line, that ran could not be reached for comment, lines as well as American military
thro
ap Core- lots: aircraft manned by U.S. military p
Mugh Laotian Singly b'sedep y at MACV- mando Assoc at] n.oDr the ick Air
Harry ( peated the retired general's denial lots: and ne other Alu elite military
n
SOB was H C. (Heine) Aderholt, personnel that included ded elGreen
now a retired Air Force brigadier that the organization had been in- Berets.
general. who was named by The volved in any way with the contras. Without spelling it out, .
New York Times as part of the net. But the spokesman confirmed Sha Mr
ckley, who achieved the rank of
work that ran the contra supply op- that Mr. Aderholt knew many of the deputy director for operations. mak-
eration. He has denied the allega- people whose names have surfaced ing him the No. 2 man in the na-
tion. in the Iran-contra matter. "He tion's clandestine services, rein.
On Mr. Singlaub's relationship knows all of these people." he said. forces his Laotian ties in the dedica-
with President Reagan, Ms. Downey Mr. Zappe said that Mr. Aderholt tion of his 1981 book, he Third
said he hasn't spoken to him for two had worked for Mr. Singlaub in Option: An American View of Coun-
months, but added, "He's had a fair Southeast Asia and remained "good terinsurgency
bit of access to the president in the friends" with him. In addition, he Operations."
P
about. she ast." Asked what the two men talk said, the general worked with Mr. 1`01c heo hill tribes of orthtLa se-hhe The
conversations are ener lllyabout the comun st Secord d "red and -hiso ro15 t ye. "and wrote. "1 hope it will bring some
movement all over the world." Mr. zappe also sa o that William small recognition to a nomadic, free-
Harry C. (Heine) Aderholt: Al- J. Cooper. the pilot who was killed dom-loving people who fought the
though he has adamantly denied it. when his plane was shot down Oct. full military power of North Vietnam
Mr. Aderholt. a retired Air Force 5 in Nicaragua, was a member of the to a standstill.-
brigadier general living on the Flori- Air Commando Association although Peter Maas. in a 1986 book.
"
"!M
anhunt.
about the ex-CIA opera-
da panhandle. has been named by his flights on behalf of the contras
The New York Times as part of the had nothing to do with the organiza- tive and convicted arms smuggler
largely clandestine United States- tion. Edwin Wilson, notes that Mr. Second
based supply operation for the Nica- The association's current news- "operated closely" In Laos with Mr.
raguan contras. letter, Mr. Zappe said. carries an 'in Shackley and a key subordinate
Mr. Aderholt heads the Air Com- memoriam" for Mr. Cooper, calling there. Thomas G. Clines. whose
mando Association, based in t him "not a soldier of fortune," but name has also come up in the Iran-
town of Fort Walton Beach on t rather "a true humanitarian." contra matter.
Florida panhandle and comprise Theodore G. Shackleyt Mr. After Laos, Mr. Shackley moved
veterans of the Air Force's elite co Shackley. a retired senior CIA officer to Saigon as the CIA chief of station
ert operations force, similar tot who Professor Leary and others said there. In 1972, Mr. Maas writes, he
Army's Green Berets. for a time ran the secret war in Laos. returned to the agency's headquar-
As an Air Force officer, Mr. Ade surfaced in a New York Times story ters to Langley. Va., as head of the
holt was legendary in Southey that said he had participated in a Latin American division. He could
According to Professor Leary. MI which a key itantan middleman i~ ThO~ G Clines, Ex CIA opera
American intelligence officials wit 1r. Second apparently began during
numerous landing strips that he sal
were used extensively by the CIP an offer to trade hostages for money a Laos days and has continued
owned Air America airline to su According to the Times, Manuch ght up to the present, reportedly
port Its covert operations in Laos. r Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arm andled the hiring of pilots for air
Vietnam at MACV-SOG. the clan- met with the the old intelgence offi hackley in a number of locales, in-
destine unit that ran secret raids in cials in a Hamburg, West Germany udtng Laos and Vietnam. Before
Vietnam. Laos and Cambodia. hotel room and laid out the offer. aos. Mr. Shackley and Mr. Clines
Military historian Stanton said Sources told the Times that Mr orked together in Miami in the af-
that Mr. Aderholt. in the early Shackley wrote up a detailed report rmath of the aborted Bay of Pigs
1970s. ran the "special operations including telephone numbers in Eu vasion. reportedly dispatching ex
wing" stationed at the huge air base rope for Mr. Ghorbanifar. an trtate Cubans into Cuba on a vari-
at Nakon Phanom on the Mekong passed it on to the administration Y of anti-Castro missions. He could
That unit. Mr. Stanton said, was went to a Cabinet officer or a mem Donald P. Gregg: Mr. Gregg, Vice
involved in an array of top-secret ben of the National Security Counci ident George Bush's national re-
missions in Laos." including bomb- staff. My adviser. is a retired CIA officer
ing, strafing, leafleting and air res. If Mr. Shackley played a further who has acknowledged meeting with
cue." role in the Iran-contra affair. it has an old agency friend. Felix Rodri-
In 1974. Professor Leary said. Mr. not taken public shape yet. although guez. about a dozen times since No-
Aderholt set up the airlift to resupply he is an associate of Mr. Second and vember 1983.
the besieged Cambodian capital of others whose names have cropped
Phnom Penh. using C-130 cargo up in the current controversy.
Planes flying under the corporate There is little doubt of Mr. Shack-
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After his capture. Mr. Hasenfus
said that Mr. Rodriguez. whom he
knew as Max Gomez, was one of two
men who ran the contra resupply
operation from the (lopango air base
in El Salvador,
But according to a statement rer
-
leased last week by the vice presi
dent's office. Mr. Rodriguez neve
airlines in the Far East. Mr. Leary
said. Those airlines were held under
a front organization called the Pacif-
ic Corporation. During this period.
Mr. Bastian served as vice president
and secretary of the organization.
Mr. Leary said.
Efforts to reach Mr. Bastian were
turned 60. he was out of a job. You
can't get many jobs as a pilot after
you reach 60. and he needed mon-
ey."
But. Mr. Leary continued. "The
Sandinistas couldn't have paid him
enough to work for them. He was. in
his way. a quiet patriot. He wasn't
the kind of guy to go to soldier-of-
raised the subject of supplying the
with him three times, or any of the
Mr. Gregg, who retired from the
CIA in August 1982 after 31 years,
18 In Asia, met Mr. Rodriguez. a CIA
operative, in Vietnam in 1970, ac-
cording to the Bush statement. This
Is about the time Mr. Shackley was
Saigon station chief.
"Working together with other CIA
officials. they developed an effective
operational concept for use against
guerrilla units operating in the prov-
inces near Saigon." the statement
mid.
Mr. Rodriguez retired from the
CIA on a disability resulting from a
back injury sustained in a helicopter
crash in Vietnam. but he and Mr.
Gregg "maintained sporadic contact"
in the intervening years, the state-
ment said.
Mr. Gregg declined comment. Mr.
Bush. who served as director of cen-
tral intelligence under President
Gerald R. Ford, has called Mr. Rodri-
guez a patriot. but has denied that
he or his staff were in any way in-
volved in directing. coordinating or
approving military aid to the contras
and any knowledge of the diversions
of funds from Iranian arms sales to
support the insurgents.
James H. Bastian: Mr. Bastian.
an attorney. is chairman of
Southern Air Transport. the one-
time CIA airline that the FBI is in-
vestigating for potential links to the
contra resupply operation.
Mr. Bastian worked in the 1960s
for George A. Doole Jr . the CIA offi-
cer responsible for all agency-owned
unsuccessful.
Eugene L. Hasenfus: Mr. Hasen-
only survivor of the C-123K cargo
forces, he told reporters in Managui
ores, Mr. Hasenffus later went to
vork for Air America. the CiA-
wned airline that operated out of
Vientiane. Laos. as an air freight
pecialist. or "kicker." Mr. Leary
d.
He was serving In that capacity
hen his plane was shot down.
ried by a Nicaraguan court. he was
entenced to 30 years for aiding the
ontras. He was released last week
!y Nicaraguan President Daniel Or-
Willlam J. Cooper: A 62-year-old
avy veteran from Reno. Nev., Mr.
ooper was killed when the cargo
lane he was piloting was shot down
'er Nicaragua Oct. 5 by the Sandi-
Professor Leary said Mr. Cooper
orked for Air America, the CIA air-
tine. from 1965 until shortly before
it was sold off in the mid-1970s.
much of the time as assistant chief
pilot for C-123s, forerunner of the
C-123K in which he was killed.
He was one of their most senior.
most experienced air drop special-
ists.' Mr. Leary said. adding that Mr.
Cooper was stationed in the Laotian
capital of Vientiane for the entire pe-
riod of his Air America service.
Of Mr. Cooper's involvement in
the contra supply operation. Mr.
Leary. who interviewed him for his
book two years ago, said. "He had
fortune conventions wearing a 'Kill
mmies' T-shirt."
Wallace Blaine Sawyer Jr.: Mr
.
.7-killed 41, of Magnolia. Ark., was
so killed in the downing of the C-
2.
A 1968 graduate of the U.S
Air
.
Force Academy, Mr. Sawyer spent
six years in the service piloting cargo
planes. Professor Leary said that af-
ter Mr. Sawyer left the Air Force in
1974. he went to work for Bird Air.
an airline that had handled numer-
ous CIA contracts In Laos but denied
being a so-called CIA proprietary like
Air America.
With Bird Air as an assistant
chief pilot. Mr. Leary said. Mr. Saw-
yer was part of the airlift into embat-
tled Phnom Penh run by retired Air
Force Ger ?ral Aderholt.
Until about a year ago. Mr. Saw-
yer was employed by Southern Air
Transport. according to published
reports.
Sun researcher Robert Fahs
contributed to this article.
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