George A Doole Jr

Mr. Doole founded the Central Intelligence Agency's network of covert air operations, including Air America, Air Asia, Civil Air Transport and several subsidiaries such as Intermountain Aviation and Southern Air Transport. In peak periods in the Vietnam War years, Mr. Doole's air operations are said to have employed 23,000 people, more than the parent agency's estimated 18,000 employees worldwide. In the 1960's Southern Air joined with Air America, Air Asia, Civil Air Transport and dozens of tiny puddle-jumping lines to form a far-flung empire of airlines, together known as the CIA “proprietaries.” Most of their work was the routine, above-board hauling of freight and passengers. Yet when necessary, the planes could be used to drop an agent into Red China or supply a secret army in the mountains of Laos. The proprietaries were operated under a single holding company, the Pacific Corp. Its chief executive was the late George A. Doole Jr., a brilliant, tight-lipped man who is something of a legend in CIA ranks. By 1973, newspaper stories and congressional hearings revealed so much about the proprietaries that there was hardly any cover left to blow. The huge fleet was sold to private companies.