Jack Gregory Downing (October 21, 1940June 27, 2021) was an American field officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He served as its

Deputy Director for Operations The deputy director of the CIA for operations is a senior United States government official in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency who serves as head of the Directorate of Operations. The position was established December 1, 1950 and from Janua ...

(DDO) from 1997 until July 1999. He was the only person to act as the agency's station head in both Moscow and Beijing.

Early life

Downing was born in Honolulu on October 21, 1940. His father, John, served as an officer in the United States Navy and died in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

at the start of World War II, when Downing was a year old. His mother, Benita (Harding), consequently relocated to her parents' home in Texas, together with Downing and his sister. He attended The Hill School in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

, before studying

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and history, and

Asian studies Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asian ...

at Harvard University. After graduating in 1962, he served two combat tours in Vietnam as an infantry lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. He was discharged in 1967 and was sworn in as an officer for the CIA three days later.

Career

Downing served as station chief in Kuala Lumpur. He was also special assistant to

Stansfield Turner Stansfield Turner (December 1, 1923 January 18, 2018) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as President of the Naval War College (1972–1974), commander of the United States Second Fleet (1974–1975), Supreme Allied Commander N ...

during the latter's tenure as

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...

under the

Carter administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...

. During the early 1980s, he worked with Tony Mendez to develop a graduate course for spies, training them to work clandestinely in capital cities abroad. Downing went on to learn Russian and was chief of station in Moscow from 1986 to 1989. There, he stymied efforts by the KGB to place Russian double agents. He then served as station chief in Beijing and eventually became chief of the CIA's East Asia Division. As of 2021, he was the only person to have served as the agency's station head in both Moscow and Beijing. He retired from his post in 1995, and became vice president of an information systems and consulting firm. Downing left retirement two years later when he was asked by

George Tenet George John Tenet (born January 5, 1953) is an American intelligence official and academic who served as the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a Distinguished Professor in the P ...

, the Director of Central Intelligence at the time, to head the Directorate of Operations in 1997. When he took over the post, the agency was plagued by management turmoil and budget cuts, which led to a reduction in the number of case officers and poor morale overall. Under Downing's leadership, resignations by DO case officers markedly declined "by one-half to two-thirds". He worked with Porter Goss to increase funding for foreign espionage operations, warning field officers in his first address to them after taking the reins that "trying to do more with less only means we will do nothing". Downing was also responsible for speeding up recruitment, enhancing training for spycraft and foreign languages, and resuming operations of stations in Africa. He brought back parachute training for operations officers, reasoning that "ordinary people are not inclined to jump out of an airplane, and we are not looking for ordinary people". Downing retired for the second and final time in 1999. Goss credited him with placing the DO "in a position to collect intelligence on whatever threats and challenges come our way in the next century". He was succeeded by

James Pavitt James L. Pavitt (born February 19, 1946 - died December 22, 2022) was Deputy Director for Operations (DDO) for the CIA from 23 June 1999 until July 12, 2004, when he resigned a day after George Tenet. The CIA said the resignations was for personal ...

, who was his deputy. Together with former director Richard Helms, Downing played a key role in establishing the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation. The charity assists in funding the education of children of agents killed in the line of duty. He was awarded the

Distinguished Intelligence Medal The Distinguished Intelligence Medal is awarded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for performance of outstanding services or for achievement of a distinctly exceptional nature in a duty or responsibility. Recipients This list includes only ...

, the CIA's highest distinction.

Personal life

Downing was married to Suzanne (née Leisenring) until his death. Together, they had two children: John and Wendy. Tenet described Downing as "a Renaissance man horeads

Chinese poetry Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry ...

for kicks". Downing died on June 27, 2021, in Portland, Oregon. He was 80, and suffered from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

prior to his death.

References

Bibliography

CIA press release announcing Downing's resignation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Jack 1940 births 2021 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Oregon Harvard College alumni The Hill School alumni People from Honolulu People of the Central Intelligence Agency United States Marine Corps officers Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War