William Francis Raborn, Jr., (June 8, 1905 – March 6, 1990) was the United States

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 ...

from April 28, 1965 until June 30, 1966. He was also a career

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer who led the project to develop the

Polaris missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missile ...

system and retired from the Navy in 1963 as a Vice Admiral. Born in

Decatur, Texas Decatur is the county seat of Wise County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,538 in 2020. History Wise County was established in 1856, and Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) was made the county seat. Absalom Bishop, an early sett ...

, he graduated from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

in 1928. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he directed the Gunnery Training Section at the Bureau of Aeronautics. He also served in the Pacific on

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s: Raborn was the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

of the carrier when her deck was damaged by a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

attack. He had the deck repaired in four hours, allowing the ship's aircraft (which had been airborne when the kamikaze struck) to land safely - for this Raborn was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

."A PERT Man for the CIA"
''Time'' magazine, April 23, 1965 He later commanded the carriers and . Raborn was a rear admiral when he was appointed, on November 8, 1955, as Director of Special Projects at the Bureau of Weapons. His task was to develop a

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...

. He reported directly to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral

Arleigh Burke Arleigh Albert Burke (October 19, 1901 – January 1, 1996) was an admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kenne ...

and the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

Charles Thomas. Raborn was told the new system had to achieve interim capability by early 1963 and full capability by early 1965. The , the first ballistic missile submarine, was commissioned December 30, 1959, fired its first test missile July 20, 1960, and departed on the Navy's first deterrent patrol on November 15, 1960. Raborn received the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

and was appointed Vice Admiral in 1960. The same year he was awarded the

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to im ...

for his work on Polaris.Collier 1960-1969 Winners
, National Aeronautic Association Raborn had delivered Polaris three years ahead of schedule, due in part to his application of the PERT methodology. He became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Development in 1962. Raborn retired from the Navy in 1965 and on April 28 of that year, despite his having no intelligence experience,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Raborn as the seventh Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). As DCI, one of his primary responsibilities was to direct 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, ...

. ''Time'' magazine wrote that his organizational skills would be invaluable in a CIA that admitted it was in danger of being "drowned in data", but his tenure was not successful: author David Barrett described Raborn as "incompetent at CIA, not understanding the agency or the intelligence business",''The CIA and Congress: The Untold Story From Truman to Kennedy''
David Barrett, University Press of Kansas, (quote sourced vi

Jeff Stein, '' Congressional Quarterly'', May 9, 2006) and even the CIA's own historians said "Raborn did not 'take' to the DCI job"."John McCone and William Raborn: New Kind of DCI"
''Directors of Central Intelligence as Leaders of the U.S. Intelligence Community'', Douglas F. Garthoff, CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence A later CIA director, William Colby, described Raborn as focused on intelligence technology and not sufficiently attuned to the cultural issues involved in dealing with foreign nationals and governments. Raborn resigned on June 30, 1966, having served for only fourteen months as DCI. He was replaced by his deputy, Richard Helms. He was involved, during his time at the CIA, in its early activities against

Ramparts magazine ''Ramparts'' was a glossy illustrated American political and literary magazine, published from 1962 to 1975 and closely associated with the New Left political movement. Unlike most of the radical magazines of the day, ''Ramparts'' was expensively ...

and its editors. Raborn is buried in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. Raborn was also: *Vice Admiral (

) *Director, U.S. Navy Special Projects Office *Deputy Chief of Naval Operation

*32° Mason ( Scottish Rite, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Of Freemasonrybr>

Other honors and recognition

In 1962, Raborn received the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement.

External links

FBI files on William Raborn
William F. Raborn Collection, 1932-1964, MS 490
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raborn, William 1905 births 1990 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Collier Trophy recipients Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency People from Decatur, Texas Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Aviators United States Navy vice admirals Burials at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery Military personnel from Texas