Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
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| Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter | |
|---|---|
| May 8, 1897 – June 18, 1982 (aged 85) | |
 Rear Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, Navy, (Ret.) |
|
| Place of birth | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Place of death | New York, New York[1] |
| Resting place | Section 3 Arlington National Cemetery Arlington County, Virginia, USA (38°53′02″N 77°03′55″W / 38.8837738°N 77.0653458°WCoordinates: 38°53′02″N 77°03′55″W / 38.8837738°N 77.0653458°W) |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Rank | Vice Admiral |
| Commands held | Assistant Naval Attache, France: 1933-35, 1938-40, 1940-41 (Vichy regime), and 1946-47 Commanding Officer USS Missouri (BB-63) 1946 Officer in Charge of Intelligence, on the staff of Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Area (Adm. Chester W. Nimitz), September 1942–March 1943 Promoted to Rear Admiral, 29 November 1946 Director of Central Intelligence (CIG) 26 September 1947 Director of Central Intelligence (CIA) 8 December 1947-1950 Commander, Cruiser Division 1, Cruiser-Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet, October 1950–August 1951 Third Naval District, New York (July 1952-August 1956)[2] Vice Admiral, 9 April 1956 Inspector General of the Navy, 1 August 1956 Retired from Navy, 1 May 1957[3] |
| Battles/wars | World War II Korean War |
| Relations | Jane C. Hillenkoetter (April 7, 1913 – March 20, 2001) |
| Other work | Executive |
Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter (May 8, 1897 – June 18, 1982), born in St. Louis, Missouri, was the third director of the post-WWII U.S. Central Intelligence Group (CIG) and the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency created by the National Security Act of 1947. He served as director of the CIG and the CIA from May 1, 1947 to October 7, 1950 and after his retirement from the United States Navy was a member of the board of governors of National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (also known as NICAP) from 1957 to 1962.
Contents |
[edit] Education and Military Career
He graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1919.
He served tours in naval intelligence, several as assistant naval attache to France. He was wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and afterwards was officer in charge of intelligence on Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Fleet staff.
Then Captain Hillenkoetter commanded the USS Missouri (BB-63) in 1946.
[edit] Alleged Membership in Secret Group
He was allegedly[by whom?] a member of Majestic 12, a secret group President Harry Truman supposedly[by whom?] established by Executive Order September 24, 1947. It was supposed[by whom?] to be the main "umbrella group" overseeing UFO research after the Roswell UFO incident, the alleged[by whom?] recovery of a crashed flying saucer and alien bodies that July.
[edit] First Director of the CIA
President Truman persuaded a reluctant Hillenkoetter, then a Rear Admiral, to be Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and run the Central Intelligence Group (September 1947). Under the National Security Act of 1947 he was nominated and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as DCI, now in charge of the newly established Central Intelligence Agency (December 1947). At first, the U.S. State Department directed the new CIA's covert operations component, and George F. Kennan chose Frank Wisner to be its director. Hillenkoetter expressed doubt that the same agency could be effective both at covert action and intelligence analysis.[4]
The U.S. government had no intelligence warning of North Korea's invasion (June 25, 1950) of South Korea. DCI Hillenkoetter convened an ad hoc group to prepare estimates of likely communist behavior on the Korean peninsula; its worked well enough that his successor institutionalized it. President Truman installed a new DCI in October.
[edit] Resumption of Active Military Duty
Admiral Hillenkoetter returned to the fleet, commanding a cruiser division in the Korean War. He held two other commands before his retirement in 1957.
[edit] Board Member of NICAP
The National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena was formed in 1956, with the organization's corporate charter being approved October 24. [5] Hillenkoetter was on NICAP's board of governors from about 1957 until 1962.[6] Donald E. Keyhoe, NICAP director and Hillenkoetter's USNA classmate, wrote that Hillenkoetter wanted public disclosure of UFO evidence.[7] Perhaps Hillenkoetter's best-known statement on the subject was in 1960 in a letter to Congress, as reported in the New York Times: "Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense."[8][9]
[edit] Portrayal
Actor Leon Russom played him in an episode of Dark Skies, a 1996 conspiracy theory television series.
[edit] Dates of rank
| Ensign | Lieutenant Junior Grade | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Commander | Commander | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1919 | tbd | tbd | tbd | tbd | tbd |
| Rear Admiral | Vice Admiral |
|---|---|
| O-7, O-8 | O-9 |
 |
 |
| 29 November 1946 | 9 April 1956 |
[edit] References
- ^ Roscoe H(enry) Hillenkoetter. Almanac of Famous People, 9th ed. Updated: 08/17/2007. Thomson Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Group, 2009 (http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC) Fee (via Fairfax County Public Library). Document Number: K1601044553.
- ^ "Third Naval District - Lists of Commanding Officers and Senior Officials of the US Navy". Washington, D.C.: DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY – NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER. http://www.history.navy.mil/library/guides/rosters/third%20naval%20district.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-31. "1952-1956 RADM Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter July 1952
1956-1958 RADM Milton E. Miles August 1956" - ^ "Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter — Central Intelligence Agency". https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/directors-and-deputy-directors-of-central-intelligence/hillen.html.
- ^ David Fromkin (January 1996). "Daring Amateurism: The CIA's Social History". Foreign Affairs (Council on Foreign Relations). http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/51639/david-fromkin/daring-amateurism-the-cia-s-social-history?page=2. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Dolan, Richard M. (2002). UFO's and the National Security State: Chronology of a Cover-up 1941-1973. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.. pp. 478. ISBN 1-57174-317-0.
- ^ "Photo Bios at NICAP site". Francis L. Ridge. http://www.nicap.org/photobio.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-31. "He resigned from NICAP in February 1962 and was replaced on the NICAP Board by a former covert CIA high official, Joseph Bryan III, the CIA's first Chief of Political & Psychological Warfare (Bryan never disclosed his CIA background to NICAP or Keyhoe)."
- ^ Keyhoe, Donald E. (1973). Aliens from space; the real story of unidentified flying objects (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0385067518. (page 28 in the Dutch translation of that book)
- ^ "AIR FORGE ORDER ON 'SAUCERS' CITED; Pamphlet by the Inspector General Called Objects a 'Serious Business'" (Fee). New York Times: p. 30. February 28, 1960. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50A12F9345D1A728DDDA10A94DA405B808AF1D3. Retrieved 2009-03-30. "WASHINGTON, February 27 (UPI) – The Air Force has sent its commands a warning to treat sightings of unidentified flying objects as "serious business" directly related to the nation's defense, it was learned today."
- ^ CIA Chief Reports on UFO Cover-up in New York Times
[edit] External links
- New York Times article quoting Hillenkoetter on UFO cover-up
- Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter at Find a Grave
- Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter at Find a Grave
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ? |
Commanding Officer USS Missouri (BB-63) 1946 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by Lt. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg |
Director of Central Intelligence May 1, 1947-October 7, 1950 |
Succeeded by Gen. Walter Bedell Smith |
| Preceded by RADM Walter S. DeLany |
Commanding Officer Third Naval District July, 1952-August, 1956 |
Succeeded by RADM Milton E. Miles |
