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Chris Wood (CIA)
John Christopher Wood is a retired operations officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was part of the initial team of seven CIA officers that entered Afghanistan in pursuit of al-Qa'ida and the Taliban just 15 days after the attacks. Later he held prominent positions, including Kabul station chief and director of the Counterterrorism Mission Center (CTMC). Early life Wood earned a Bachelor of Arts in government and international politics from George Mason University's School of Policy and Government before joining the CIA. Career Wood joined the CIA in 1985, serving in various roles throughout the agency's Directorate of Operations. In 1997 Wood was assigned as a case officer in Pakistan, working under Chief of Station Gary Schroen on operations to find and capture Osama bin Laden, a role he would hold throughout the leadup to the September 11th terrorist attacks. Wood was a mentor of David Tyson, the CIA case off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and performing covert actions. As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States. President Harry S. Truman had created the Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a Director of Central Intelligence by presidential directive on January 22, 1946, and this group was transformed into the Central Intelligence Agency by implementation of the National Security Act of 1947. Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counterterrorism Mission Center
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center for Counterterrorism (often referred to as the Counterterrorism Mission Center or CTMC, formerly the Counterterrorism Center, or simply CTC) was established in 1986, and is a division of the CIA's Directorate of Operations. It was renamed during an agency restructuring in 2015, and is distinct from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which is a separate entity. The most recent publicly known Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Mission Center was Chris Wood who led the organization from 2015 to 2017.Coll, Steve (2018). ''Directorate S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan''. New York: Penguin Press. pp. 11–16. . Foundation and early years The Counterterrorism Mission Center was established as the Counterterrorism Center in February 1986, under the CIA's Directorate of Operations, with Duane Clarridge as its first director. It was an "interdisciplinary" body; many of its personnel, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of neighbouring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Qajar Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and Qing China. It also held colonies in North America between 1799 and 1867. Covering an area of approximately , it remains the third-largest empire in history, surpassed only by the British Empire and the Mongol Empire; it ruled over a population of 125.6 million people per the 1897 Russian census, which was the only census carried out during the entire imperial period. Owing to its geographic extent across three continents at its peak, it featured great ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic diversity. From the 10th–17th centuries, the land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penguin Press
Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initially owning 53% of the joint venture, and Pearson PLC initially owning the remaining 47%. Since 18 December 2019, Penguin Random House has been wholly owned by Bertelsmann. Penguin Books has its registered office in City of Westminster, London.Maps ." . Retrieved 28 August 2009. Its British division is Penguin Books Ltd. Other separate divisions are located in the |
Mil Mi-17
The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian service. The helicopter is mostly used as a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter, as well as an armed gunship version. Development Developed from the basic Mi-8 airframe, the Mi-17 was fitted with the larger Klimov TV3-117MT engines, rotors, and transmission developed for the Mi-14, along with fuselage improvements for heavier loads. Optional engines for "hot and high" conditions are the 1545 kW (2070 shp) Isotov TV3-117VM. Recent exports to China and Venezuela for use in high mountains have the new Klimov VK-2500 version of the Klimov TV3-117 engine with FADEC control. The designation Mi-17 is for export; Russian armed forces call it Mi-8MT. The Mi-17 can be recognized because it has the tail rotor on the port side instead of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Reilly (CIA)
Philip Reilly (born January 11, 1952) is an American fencer. He competed in the team sabre event at the 1984 Summer Olympics. A resident of Bloomfield, New Jersey, Reilly attended Essex Catholic High School. '' New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ... '', July 27, 1984. Accessed September 30, 2020. "Westbrook and Reilly, both 32, fenced together on the great scholastic teams at Essex Catholic High School ...
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United States Invasion Of Afghanistan
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban government from power. The United Kingdom was a key ally of the United States, offering support for military action from the start of invasion preparations. The invasion came after the Afghan Civil War's 1996–2001 phase between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance groups, resulting in the Taliban controlling 80% of the country by 2001. The invasion became the first phase of the 20-year-long War in Afghanistan and marked the beginning of the American-led War on Terror. After the September 11 attacks, US President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al-Qaeda; bin Laden had already been wanted by the FBI since 1998. The Taliban declined to extradite hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Qala-i-Jangi
The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi (sometimes also referred to as the "Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif") was a six-day military engagement following an uprising of prisoners-of-war on November 25, 2001. The battle took place between November 25 and December 1, 2001, in northern Afghanistan. It followed the intervention by United States-led coalition forces to overthrow the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had been harboring al-Qaeda operatives. More than 400 foreign fighters surrendered outside Mazar-i-Sharif and were held at Qala-i-Jangi fortress by the Afghan Northern Alliance forces, where they were interrogated by Abdul Rashid Dostum's intelligence officers and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel hunting al-Qaeda suspects. The prisoners, who had not been searched properly when they surrendered, violently revolted and the ensuing fighting escalated into one of the bloodiest engagements of the conflict. It took Northern Alliance fighters, assisted by British and Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Micheal Spann
Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann (March 1, 1969 – November 25, 2001) was an American paramilitary officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division. Spann was the first American killed in action, killed in combat during the United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. He died at the Qala-i-Jangi fortress during an Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, al-Qaeda prisoner uprising. Early life Johnny Micheal Spann was from the small town of Winfield, Alabama, the son of real estate agent Johnny Spann and his wife Gail. His name was spelled Micheal because of his mother's Irish ancestry. Spann graduated in 1987 from Winfield City School District, Winfield City High School, where he played football. At 17, he earned his private pilot license and later became a certified rescue diver and parachutist. Military service In December 1991, while attending Auburn University, he joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve. After graduating from Auburn with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist, his group is designated as a List of designated terrorist groups, terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries. Belonging to the wealthy Bin Laden family, Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia. His father was Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire from Hadhramaut, Yemen, and the founder of the construction company, Saudi Binladin Group. His mother, Hamida al-Attas, Alia Ghanem, was from a secular middle-class family in Latakia, Syria. He studied at university in the country until 1979, when he joined Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen, Mujahideen forces in Pakistan Soviet–Afghan War, fighting against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Schroen
Gary Charles Schroen (November 6, 1941 – August 1, 2022) was an American intelligence officer who spent 52 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, most notably as a field officer in charge of the initial CIA incursion into Afghanistan in September 2001 to topple the Taliban and destroy Al-Qaeda. Early life Schroen was born November 6, 1941 in East St. Louis, Illinois to Emil and Fern (née Finch) Schroen. His father was a union electrician, and his mother a homemaker. He joined the Army after graduating from high school in 1959, serving in the Army Security Agency in West Germany for three years. In an incident Schroen called "a bad start" in an unpublished short story, a beer bottle he had left on top of his barracks mailbox spilled on outgoing Christmas correspondence, enraging his commanding officer who threatened to court-martial him for tampering with the U.S. mail. He was reduced in rank to a private instead. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1962, Schroen a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CIA Station Chief
The station chief, also called chief of station (COS), is the top U.S. Central Intelligence Agency official stationed in a foreign country, equivalent to a KGB Resident. Often the COS has an office in the American Embassy. The station chief is the senior U.S. intelligence representative with his or her respective foreign government. Those who have been known to be station chiefs include, in alphabetical order: Bibliography * Edward J. Epstein, ''Deception. the invisible war between the KGB and the CIA'' (New York: Simon and Schuster 1989). * David Hoffman, ''Billion Dollar Spy. A true story of Cold War espionage and betrayal'' (New York: Doubleday 2015). *Ralph McGehee, ''Deadly Deceits. My 25 years in the CIA'' (New York: Sheridan Square 1983). *John Prados, ''William Colby and the CIA. The secret wars of a controversial spymaster'' (University of Kansas 2003, 2009). * W. Thomas Smith, Jr., ''Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency'' (New York: Facts on File 2003). *Evan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
