'GOOD OLD BOYS' RAISED RUSSIAN SUB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP02-06341R000302420027-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 2011
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: April 8, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

I_ I ~ APR
Approved For Release 2011/08/03: CIA-RDP02-06341 R000302420027-8
WASHINGTON POST
1 n4-, ~~ RN'-i Q 1x11 411
001
CIA :Gloinar Recruits `Cheilled Tobacco and Wore Cowboy Boots'
By Nicholas C. Chris These were 'tough ? old boys, beer. If the boys wanted a (because he Soviet ship
hen who could get drunk and couple of drinks at night, would be contaminated by
d it all the nuclear warheads it
C
h
o
a
and Jerry
fight like a bear.. ole den mother
Los Angeles Times "1 remember Big John sit- there." carried), submarine design
Good old country boys frog in a classroom at Red- Some places around the and the Russian alphabet.
from Dixie, two-fisted drink- wood City, (Calif.), where we . Redwood - City-' waterfront The men learned that al-,
ers' and oil roughnecks, all were studying up on the Ge- were off limits to. the crew phabet so they might recoe
neva convention treaty. because they might he dan- . nize letters on various items
"men; of good true grit."
:were recruited for their reli- That was so we would know gerous, or because of prosti- aboard the Soviet submarine
-:ability, expertise and patri- what.to do if the Russians tutes or simply because of and then relay them
-?otism to man the Central In- decided to come aboard the poor security. through a communications
:telligence Agency ship Glo- Explorer. "`Thes men considered it system connecting them to
mar' Explorer on its cloak "And Big John sitting an honor to be selected two Russian language ex
and dagger mission last there memorizing some part when they found out what perts.
summer. of the Geneva Con: ention we were going to do," said a The CIA used little adver-
"Bimbo," ,Cowboy." " treaty and kidding and say- source who knew most of tising to attract men to the
"Curley" and "Big. John" Ing, '1'11 just knock the he:. the 140_-man crew. job. Rather, the intelligence
he CIA agents handled agency men knew enough to
were some of the nicknames out of any of them Russians The'
of the men selected from Al- who sets his foot on the the crew members, as would realize that word would.
abama, Louisiana. Okla- ship.' any good agent who sends a spread about the Explorer'
homa; . Texas, 'Mississippi I "Of course, we were told spy into the cold-=with re- and its ostensible mission to
men- familiar with drill rigs not anything like that was spect and patience. . . draw off valuable mineral
and :ships, men who wore : to be done and Big John "Everyone we met from deposits in the form of
their patriotism on their knew it,' the source related. the CIA was an expert in nodules from the ocean hot-
.sleeves, pledged to keep 11;111 these men who met something, and a good guy," tom. They offered good
a secret, and kept their the CIA people had nothing
pledges. said the source. money and adventure, and
from but the highest respect for The CIA is keeping in the mystery of being associ-
.. They were men them. The CIA guys knew constant contact with the ted with Howard Hughes,
towns like Houston and their jobs. crew members now that the one of the most mysterious
.'and: - Pasadena and in Bridge TexasCity, "These guys, most of ship is docked at Long of all men.
Brookhaven, Miss.; Slidell; them, chewed tobacco and Beach, Calif. 'Just three "We were hired, many of
La-: ?111i11ry, Ala., and Little wore cowboy boots. And weeks ago an agent dropped us, out of the fifth floor of
-Ark. they all signed documents into a large Southern city the Tishman Building on
RockTheir mission and the Ex- pledging themselves to se- for a meeting with an em- Century Boulevard in Los
plover's was to raise a crecy, and that's hanging ployee of the Glomar Ex- Angeles," said the source.
sunken Soviet submarine over every goddamned one plover venture. "There was a picture of
from -the ocean floor 750 of us right today," he said. "They wanted to let us the Glomar Explorer on the
miles- northwest of Hawaii The crew members hired know they were around,' wall (in the interview room )
last summer. The' 6184oot for the mission were given the source said of his meet- and part of the pitch to the
ship: built by Howard 18-month contracts, which ing with the young CIA new employees was that
Hughes' Summa Corp., sal- included bonuses of $150 agent. "They want to let us Hughes had recently located
a fantastic mineral deposit
'waged parts of the nuclear- monthly. But they knew the know there are future pro-
armed sub which had sunk CIA. treated everyone ,very jects coming up. Sometimes in the Pacific.
-,in 1968- l well and they are still hop- it seems they want to re- ,Host of the time the
,We were looking for a ing they will get bonuses of mind you that when you get response from the prospec-
$5000 of $10,000. hooked up with a project five employees was some
certain type of man." said a
source . familiar with the Indeed, they were treated like this (with the CIA), _thing like, 'We've heard a
CIA hiring procedures. "He well. They were provided sometimes you can't ever lot about this ship.
.had to have a very clearable with spacious quarters on get untangled from it, or
background. You can't imag- the ship, plenty of steaks them- t
Approved For Release 2011/08/03: CIA-RDP02-06341 R000302420027-8
the how many of these men whiskey, 'and a special kind "But they also want to pa
turned up with eight or 10 and lobster tails, beer and you on the back. They're
arrests on their records, and of camaraderie on the part good at that. They tell you,
they had to be turned away. of the CIA agents who 'Don't worry. We're standing
"The man the CIA wanted schooled the roughneck right behind you.' And,
didn't have exceptional in- workers, drank with them, don't you know, it makes
ate at sense but did have a lived with them and earned : you feel fighting good!
greeat sense of loyalty to his their respect. "They want to tell you a
country and "He was his' an expert in To make certain that the lot of reporters may come
-what he did, handling a pipe crew members were - well! knocking on your door. and
.or a crane or whatever. And treated, one man was delc- that we. should stay quiet..
.be knew how to stay quiet. gated to act as a sort of They're real nice , about it,
"den mother," according to but I know they keep track
Lots of these old boys said. don't the source. of everyone."
"You talk much eal nice nyw a ay loot of them "He saw about motel res- The crewmembers at-
didnn't t come in wearing ercations, and rooms and all
suits. Somebody in a fancy sorts of things like that. In tended i0 men in a classes class. with eight t to
to The -
:,suit rpight get thrown out. his room he always kept a . courses consisted of elemen-
couple cases of whiskey and Lary nuclear, studies"
 Approved For Release 2011/08/03: CIA-RDP02-06341 R000302420027-8
OLb &ys . /
There always was'a plentl- -questions were raised.' Why did they ever: use drugs. "t
ful supply of nodules, as a were,so many divers needed One young man who said he
constant reminder to the if the vacuum sweeper.un smoked a lot of marijuana
employees -about the pur der the ship was going to cigarettes was hired anyway
;..pose of the project. suck up the mineral because' someone pulled
The Seascope, * another ' nodules? some strings for him and he
Global Marine ship, had ?. The prospective employ- worked out fine...;.
;. picked ?. them up from the ees first met a CIA contract "Nobody, was hired who
,"ocean' bottom. Often the man who did the initial in had,.ever belonged to a un-
men sitting across from the terviews in the Tishman 'ion because we didn't want
CIA agent doing the hiring building. In a room adjacent union trouble. Sometimes he
saw a nodule or two lying to liis was another CIA,man advertised.. for specialized
H rd Imamura- ` is but most all the
el
on the desk or on a nearby
filing, cabinet.
Sixteen divers were hired
for the mission, and when it
was learned' that so many
divers were sought a lot of
known as owa exp
about:49, who was the osten-- men came because they had
sible.assistant but who actu- heard about the job by word
ally decided' on whether a of mouth. In fact I heard
man was a good enough pro-.. 95 per cent of -the men who
spect-to undergo the clear- called in were not hired;
ance procedures. "No. Jews were hired be-
"Clearance took about cause of some possible in-.
" volvement with Israel. No
three months for each man
,
said the 'source. "If a man one from the Scripps Insti
got that, far we, would .have tute because it had been in-
him sign a', contract saying ? `? volved: in some of kind of
he would ' be paid $25 a