John J. Hicks was second director of

National Photographic Interpretation Center The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

(NPIC). Hicks was appointed as the Director of NPIC in July 1973, after retirement of

Arthur C. Lundahl Arthur Charles Lundahl Knight of the British Empire, KBE (1 April 1915 – June 22, 1992) was a forerunner of American Cold War imagery intelligence (IMINT) and aerial reconnaissance known for his discovery of Soviet missile installations in ...

, first director of NPIC. He served as the Director of NPIC from July 1973 to May 1978.

Early life

Hicks graduated in 1943 from Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota with BA in international relations. In 1947, he earned MA in international relations from

School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

, Washington DC.

Career in CIA and NPIC

Hicks served as a combat officer in the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

from October 1943 to March 1946. After his graduate study, he joined the Department of the Army’s G-2 staff, where he served from September 1947 to April 1952. In April 1952 Hicks joined the

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, ...

as an intelligence officer in the Office of Current Intelligence, where he served until 1967. He then served in the Office of Strategic Research for two years. Between November 1969 and August 1973, Hicks held the position of Executive Director of the

. After his term as director of NPIC, Hicks returned to the CIA as an intelligence officer in the National Foreign Assessment Center. He became deputy director of that center in January 1979. Hicks retired from public service in January 1980. He died on March 29, 1997.

Accolades

Hicks was awarded the

Certificate of Merit The Certificate of Merit Medal was a military decoration of the United States Army that was issued between the years of 1905 and 1918. The Certificate of Merit Medal replaced the much older Certificate of Merit which was authorized by the United ...

for his work during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

. He was also awarded the CIA Intelligence Medal of Merit, the

National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal The National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (NIDSM) is a decoration awarded for service to the United States Intelligence Community. The decoration is awarded to any member or contributor to the National Intelligence Community, either c ...

, and the CIA Distinguished Service Medal.

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, John Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal Recipients of the Intelligence Medal of Merit Recipients of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal National security of the United States Cuban Missile Crisis People of the Central Intelligence Agency Military intelligence Intelligence gathering disciplines Espionage People from Chicago Carleton College alumni Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni 1997 deaths