Latest / Short Nonfiction Collection / CIA Avian Training Program, 1973-1974

Transcript

CIA Avian Training Program, 1973-1974 · Short Nonfiction Collection

• 0:00
  C i A Aving Training Program nineteen seventy three to nineteen seventy four. Excerpts
• 0:10
  from declassified historical documents. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are
• 0:18
  in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox
• 0:25
  dot org Historical Collections. An important part of c i a's ongoing effort to
• 0:34
  be more open and to provide for more public accountability has been a recognition of
• 0:41
  the importance of declassifying historically significant agency documents. CIA's Historical Review Program, with
• 0:53
  the exception of several statutory mandated requirements, is a voluntary declassification program that focuses
• 1:02
  on records of historical value. The programs managers rely on the advice and guidance
• 1:10
  of the agency's history staff, the DCI's Historical Review Panel, and the general
• 1:17
  public in selecting topics for review. Under guidelines laid out for the program,
• 1:25
  historical records are released except in instances where disclosure would damage national security. That
• 1:33
  is, for example, where it would reveal sensitive foreign government information or identify
• 1:40
  intelligence sources and methods that are currently in use and that are subject to denial
• 1:47
  and or deception. The Historical Review Program coordinates the review of the documents with
• 1:53
  CIA components and other U S. Government entities before five final declassification action is
• 2:01
  taken and the documents are transferred to the National Archives. D Classified Document number
• 2:09
  one approved for release two thousand nineteen O seven thirty CO six five two seven
• 2:17
  four eight zero twenty December nineteen seventy three Memorandum for the record subject ORD Bird
• 2:29
  Programs. On thirteen December nineteen seventy three, ORD SLASH LSD personnel brief EA
• 2:39
  slash, CCH SLASHOS personnel on their Avian censor and training programs. The avian
• 2:51
  training program involves the use of trained birds to perform some act that is photography
• 3:00
  package emplacement of operational significance in areas inaccessible to human agents. O r D
• 3:07
  personnel are working toward the development of an avian SLASH photographic system applicable to a
• 3:15
  specific target. They are interested in conducting a basic study to determine the limits
• 3:23
  of usefulness of various avian species and are interested in obtaining requirements and possible operational
• 3:31
  scenarios to work against EA SLASH, c H SLASH O S personnel stated that
• 3:43
  they could not identify any requirements, but suggested some possible scenarios. These are
• 3:51
  a photograph of a specific room interior, b aerial photograph of targets located twenty
• 3:59
  miles or more from a suitable launch point, and see emplacement of a line
• 4:06
  between buildings over a distance of fifty feet or more. Declassified Document number two
• 4:16
  Approved for release twenty nineteen O seven thirty C zero six five two seven,
• 4:25
  five four three eight May nineteen seventy four. Progress Report number two Avian Training
• 4:34
  Program March April nineteen seventy four. Program Director Dear sir As. The following
• 4:44
  daily reports will show three of the birds listed have just started to work free.
• 4:50
  Two of these are the Canadian falcons, which have undergone fairly extensive preliminary
• 4:57
  training before they started to work free. We also list the cockatoo, and
• 5:02
  this one is included as a feasibility test. We are completely in the dark
• 5:09
  as to what the possibilities are in regard to this critter. We have not
• 5:14
  been able to dig up any information as regards to its distance possibilities or the
• 5:19
  visual potential. We do know that this particular bird is a clever flyer,
• 5:26
  but seems if it may be too slow to avoid gull attacks. Daily training
• 5:32
  schedule Monday, April twenty second, nineteen seventy four. Dou Da parentheses raven
• 5:43
  three miles from shore to boat. One half mile from boat to target.
• 5:46
  Response and strength, good wind five miles per hour northwest. Dink parentheses,
• 5:56
  Prairie falcon one and one half mile from boat to the target. Refused to
• 6:01
  come to boat, fed and worked on boat wind ten miles per hour northwest.
• 6:08
  This bird is an extremely good prospect. It has shown willingness to work
• 6:14
  over the water, a big question mark in the beginning. As of the
• 6:17
  date indicated here, this bird was working under a severe handicap since the primary
• 6:25
  feathers on one wing have been broken half way up since we first got him.
• 6:30
  These will be replaced later in the year. As the bird molts cockatoo
• 6:36
  fifty yards to the boat. Three flights. Response and strength good ten miles
• 6:43
  per hour wind northwest. Falcon female one mile to target on land. Started
• 6:50
  work on lure in building strength and response good tirsoll male falcon started work on
• 7:00
  lure in building heavy wind thirty to forty miles per hour northwest. Tuesday April
• 7:09
  twenty third, dou dau three miles to boat, three fourth mile from boat
• 7:15
  to target. Response and strength good. Dink one hundred yards to boat.
• 7:20
  Refused second attempt. One and one half miles from boat to target. Heavy
• 7:27
  goal pressure strength questionable. Cockatoo one hundred yards to boat. Three flights strength
• 7:34
  and response good tyarsoll started work to boat fifty yards to boat. Fifty yards
• 7:42
  from boat to target. Carried package with response and strength good. Brandy and
• 7:48
  GB hawks five miles to target very good, altitude response and strength good.
• 7:58
  Avian training program. Wednesday, April twenty fourth, du dah three miles to
• 8:03
  boat, one mile from boat to target. Win five miles per hour.
• 8:09
  South dink short flight to boat, one mile to the target. Made stop
• 8:16
  before coming in response fair but strength questionable. Cockatoo one fourth mile to boat.
• 8:24
  Wind five miles per hour with response and strength good. Falcon three fourth
• 8:31
  mile to the lure, three fourth mile to target. Response and strength good
• 8:39
  tarso one hundred yards to boat and one hundred yards return to target. Lure
• 8:46
  used on target. Response and strength good with ten mile per hour wind.
• 8:52
  Thursday, April twenty fifth, heavy winds all day twenty to forty miles per
• 8:58
  hour to no northeast. All birds flown inside Friday, April twenty sixth,
• 9:05
  heavy winds again thirty miles per hour. All birds flown inside weekend Monday,
• 9:16
  April twenty ninth. Dou DA three and one half mile flight to boat,
• 9:20
  three fourth mile return flight from boat to land response and strength good. Dink
• 9:28
  three fourth mile flight from boat to target again response good by flying capacity questionable
• 9:35
  because of impaired wing. Cockatoo one fourth mile to the boat. Two flights
• 9:43
  with response and strength good. Tyarsoll one hundred yards to boat. One hundred
• 9:48
  yards from boat to target, response and strength good Falcon start work on the
• 9:56
  boat fed and carried on moving boat. Avian training program. Tuesday, April
• 10:03
  thirtieth, du Dah attempted two and three fourth mile flight to boat, but
• 10:09
  bird refused because of high winds, but did come from one and one half
• 10:15
  miles return from one mile. Dink one half mile from boat to target.
• 10:22
  Flight capacity questionable. Tearsoll two hundred yards to boat, three flights with strength
• 10:28
  and response good Falcon close work on boat response good with heavy winds, although
• 10:37
  not indicated here, the hawks worked several times in the time frame of this
• 10:43
  report when other bird work was finished early enough. In following the work of
• 10:48
  the prairie falcon, one will note the bird's limitations due to impaired wing,
• 10:54
  but it can also be noted this one has excellent potential. At the first
• 11:00
  first signs of molt. We expect to put this bird up and feed him
• 11:03
  heavily in order to shorten the molt period and again have him working at full
• 11:09
  capacity. Respectfully. Name has been redacted from the memo and of CIA Avian
• 11:18
  Training Program nineteen seventy three to nineteen seventy four. Excerpts from declassified historical documents
• 11:28
  read for LibriVox by Sue Anderson