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Intelligence Support Activity

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Intelligence Support Activity patch

The US Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA, frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity or ISA, and nicknamed The Activity) is a United States Army Special Operations unit originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) but now part of the Joint Special Operations Command. It is tasked to collect actionable intelligence in advance of missions by other US special operations forces, especially Delta Force and SEAL Team Six/DEVGRU in counter-terrorist operations.

USAISA was the official name of the unit from 1981 to 1989 ; previously it was known as the Field Operations Group (FOG), created in September 1980. In 1989, the then USAISA commander sent a telex "terminating" the USAISA term and his Special Access Program GRANTOR SHADOW, but the unit continued under a series of different codenames which are changed every two years ; known codenames include CENTRA SPIKE, TORN VICTOR and GRAY FOX.

History

The Field Operations Group

File:Col Jerry King.jpg
Colonel Jerry King, founder and first commander of the FOG and eventually the ISA

The Field Operations Group (FOG) was created in summer 1980 in order to take part to a second attempt to rescue the U.S. hostages held in the Tehran embassy after the failure of the operation Eagle Claw. Operation Eagle Claw had highlighted the U.S. lacks in intelligence gathering[1], in spite of the attempts by Major Richard J. Meadows, who operated undercover in Tehran during the operation[2].

The Field Operations Group was under command of colonel Jerry King, and operated in Iran, accomplishing various covert intelligence-gathering missions. The work accomplished by the FOG was successful but the second attempt, called Operation Credible Sport, never happened because the air assets needed were not available[3].

After the cancellation of operation Credible Sport, the FOG, although having been created only for that mission, was not disbanded because its unique abilities were needed to meet future Special Operations contingencies, as many units created for the operation Credible Sport (including the special command structure which became the Joint Special Operations Command, the Joint Communication Unit and Task Force 160). So, on March 3, 1981, the FOG was established as a permanent unit and renamed US Army Intelligence Support Activity[4].

The US Army Intelligence Support Activity

Build-up

The Intelligence Support Activity began to immediately select new operators, growing from FOG's 50 people to about 100. The ISA remained extremely secret ; all its records were classified under a Special Access Program (at first named OPTIMIZE TALENT) ; the ISA was given its first secret budget of $7 million, a secret headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and cover name, the Tactical Concept Activity[5]. ISA included three main operations branches (command, SIGINT and Operations), and an analysis branch, whose name changed over the years (i.e. Directorate of Intelligence, Directorate of Intelligence and Security)[6]. Colonel Jerry King became ISA's first commander[7].

ISA mission was to support Special Operations Forces (basically the Delta Force and SEAL Team Six) in counter-terrorists operations and other special missions, by actionable intelligence gathering, pathfinding and providing operational support. The ISA performed a lot of operations, mainly in Latin America and Middle East, but also in East Africa, South-East Asia and Europe during its existence[8].

First missions

The ISA conducted various missions, including giving protection to the Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel and attempting to buy a Soviet T-72 tank from Iraq (a deal that was finally stopped by the Iraqis)[9].

The Dozier kidnapping

On 17 December 1981, the senior U.S. Army officer in NATO southern European Command, Brigadier General James L. Dozier, was kidnapped by Italian Red Brigades terrorists. The search for the place where General Dozier was held saw the deployment of a massive effort by Italian and U.S. forces, including "remote viewers" which were part of Stargate Project. An ISA SIGINT team was sent to Italy, and used electronic detection devices from special helicopters and on the ground to monitor radio communications. ISA provided useful intelligence, enabling Italian police to arrest several Red Brigades terrorists in mid-January 1982. Although the way the Italian police were able to locate General Dozier in late January was never disclosed, it is suspected that it is the result of ISA's SIGINT specialists. General Dozier was freed by NOCS operators January 28, 1982[10].

Operation Queens Hunter

In beginning-1982, the ISA was needed to support a SIGINT mission in El Salvador, a mission that the CIA, the NSA and INSCOM were not able to accomplish. The task was submitted to the U.S. Army Special Operations Division (SOD), which started operation Queens Hunter. Operating from a Beechcraft model 100 King Air flown by SEASPRAY (a clandestine military aviation unit) based in Honduras, ISA SIGINT specialists monitored communications from Salvadorian leftist guerillas and fascist death squads, providing intelligence which helped the Salvadorian Army defend against guerillas attacks. The success was such that the operation, planned to last a month, ran for more than three years. More aircraft were deployed, and eventually included eavesdropping on Honduran guerillas too, as well as Nicaraguan Army units fighting against the Contras[11].

The POW/MIA affair

The ISA has also conducted an operation to search for U.S. MIAs (soldiers reported as Missing In Action) allegedly held in South-East Asia in secret POWs camps in the 1980s. In 1979, U.S. intelligence thought it had located a POW camp in Laos using aerial and satellite photographs. A ground reconnaissance was needed to determine if people seen on photographs were really American POWs. At the same time, former Special Forces Colonel James G. “Bo” Gritz planned a private rescue mission with others S.F. veterans. Having informed U.S. government officials about the mission, Bo Gritz was first told to abort his "mission", but was eventually approached by the ISA. Nonetheless, Gritz was not believed to be doing serious work, and Pentagon officials ordered the ISA to terminate their relationship with him when they discovered that ISA had provided him with money and equipment[12].

ISA remained a very poorly known force for the public. Some rare quotes of the ISA exist, including :

  • the Robert Littell's novel An Agent in Place[13]
  • the video game Black (video game), which mentioned briefly ISA
  • the NBC television soap opera Days of our Lives has featured a top-secret intelligence agency called the ISA since the early 1980s, with several of the main characters having served as operatives at one time or another, but this is in fact a different, fictional organization tasked with more of a crime-fighting mission (although at times it has been represented as something of a paramilitary force).

See also

References

  1. ^ Memorandum for Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
  2. ^ Special Forces, by Tom Clancy, 2001 ; biography of Maj Dick Meadows
  3. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson (see bibliography)
  4. ^ Brief History of Unit ; Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  5. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  6. ^ USAISA 1986 Historical Report and 1987 Historical Report
  7. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  8. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  9. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  10. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  11. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  12. ^ Truth Conquers All Chains, by Jeffrey T. Richelson
  13. ^ An Agent in Place, Robert Littell, ISBN 0143035649

Bibliography

Non-directly referred bibliography

  • Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Force Unit, by Michael Smith, Orion Publishing Co, 2006 ISBN 0304367273 online presentation
  • Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era, by Steven Emerson, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1988 ISBN 0-399-13360-7
  • Crippled Eagle: A Historical Perspective of U. S. Special Operations, 1976-1996, by Colonel Rod Lenahan, USAF (Ret.), Narwhal Press, 1998
  • Killing Pablo: the hunt for the world's greatest outlaw, by Mark Bowden, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2001 ISBN 0-87113-783-6
  • Hunting the Jackal, by Billy Waugh, Avon Books, New York, 2004
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