List of CIA station chiefs

The station chief, also called chief of station (COS), is the top U.S. Central Intelligence Agency official stationed in a foreign country, equivalent to a KGB Resident. Often the COS has an office in the American Embassy. The station chief is the senior U.S. intelligence representative with his or her respective foreign government.

Those who have been known to be station chiefs include, in alphabetical order:

Name Location Years Notes Frank Anderson Beirut until 1994 Chief of Near East and South Asia Division Edgar Applewhite Beirut Thomas (2006), p.187.Francis "Frank" Archibald Islamabad c. 2007 Daniel C. Arnold Vientiane beginning in May 1973;Eugene McDermott Library utdallas.edu p.4 Taipei, assumed in 1968; Bangkok, left June 30, 1979 Jonathan Bank Islamabad c. 2010 Milton Bearden Pakistan; Nigeria; Sudan; Germany c. 1986–1995 John D. Bennett Islamabad 2008–2009"Tribute to John D. Bennett", Congressional Record, Volume 159, Number 26, Pages S811–S812, February 25, 2013 N'Djamena; Nairobi c. 2002 Cofer Black Cape Town c. 1985; Khartoum Sudan 1993–1995 Douglas Blaufarb Vientiane, Laos 1964–1966Undercover armies CIA.gov David Blee Pretoria; Islamabad; New Delhi 1965Hoffman (2015), p. 24. Janine Brookner Kingston, Jamaica 1989–1991 William Buckley Beirut 1983–1985 Jim Campbell Venezuela c. 1989 Jeffrey Castelli Rome 2003 Indicted for involvement in the Imam rapito affair Ray S. Cline Taipei 1958–1962;McGehee (1983), p.51. Bonn, 1966–1969 Charles Cogan Paris 1984–1989 William Colby Rome 1953–1958 Saigon, 1960–1962; Head of the Far Eastern Division, 1963–1967; DCI, 1973–1976Smith (2003) p.61.Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 63, 69, 70. Michael D'Andrea Cairo c. 2002–2004 Chief of Counter Terrorist Center, 2006–2015 Peer de Silva Vienna 1956–1959 Seoul, 1959–1962; Hong Kong, 1962–1963; Saigon, 1963–1965; Bangkok, 1966–1968; Canberra, 1971–1972de Silva, Sub Rosa (1978).Smith (2003), p. 73. Jack Devine London 1995–1998 Rome, c. 1980s; Chief of Latin America Division, 1992–1994 Larry Devlin Congo 1960–1961 Vientiane, Laos Jack G. Downing Moscow 1986–1989 Beijing c. 1991 William Duggan Taipei 1954–1958 under the title of: Chief of U.S. Naval Auxiliary Communications Center (NACC) Wm. H. Dunbar Bangui (Central African Republic) 1968–1969Ray, Schapp, Van Meter, Wolf (eds.), Dirty Work 2 (London: Zed 1980). Ron Estes Prague 1965–1967 Madrid 1979 Joseph F. Fernandez Costa Rica 1985–1986 Indicted (charges were dropped in the Iran–Contra Scandal, 1988–1989https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-25-mn-226-story.html) Desmond FitzGerald Manila 1955–1956McGehee (1983), p.32. Harold P. Ford Taipei 1965–1968 NACC Taipei reorganized as U.S. Army Technical Group David Forden Athens 1984–1986 Graham Fuller Kabul c. 1980–1981 Robert Fulton Moscow 1975–1977Hoffman (2015), pp. 26, 33. Clair George Athens c. 1976–1979 Burton Gerber Moscow 1980–1982Hoffman (2015), pp. 102, 215. Robert L. Grenier Algiers c. 1990 Islamabad 1999–2001"Who was who in the hunt for bin Laden", The Week, April 30, 2013 Jerry "Jay" Gruner Geneva, then Paris 1986–1988, 1989–1993 Howard Hart Islamabad 1981–1984 Tehran 1978; Germany John L. Hart Saigon c. 1965,Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 184, 197, 201. c. 1966Mark Moyar, Phoenix and the Birds of Prey (1997), p.50 [per p.47]. Gina Haspel Azerbaijan c. 1996–1998 London, c. 2008–2011, 2014–2017 Gardner Hathaway Moscow 1977–1980Hoffman (2015), pp. 33, 97, 102.Paul B. HenzeAnkara; Addis Ababa1960s or 1970s Dick Holm Paris 1992–1995 Brussels, 1985–1988 Stephen Holmes (aka Steven Hall) Moscow 2013 Revealed by FSB in retaliation for Ryan Fogle's activities Robert Jantzen Bangkok c. 1959–1966Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 97, 170–171, 172.Cf., McGehee (1983), pp. 72, 109, 114–115, 117. Gordon L. Jorgensen Laos c. 1960 Saigon, 1966 – c. 1968Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 97, 98, 101; 161, 181. George Kalaris Brazil c. 1972 Robert Kandra Baghdad c. 2006 Stephen Kappes Moscow 1996–1999 New Delhi; FrankfurtMayer, Jane (2009), "The Secret History", The New Yorker, 22 June 2009, pg 54. Barry Kelly Moscow c. 1977? Subsequently moved to the Directorate of Science and Technology as head of the Office of SIGINT Operations. Negotiated a merger of NSA and CIA covert signals intelligence operations into the Special Collection Service. Mark Kelton Islamabad 2010–2011 Paul Kolbe Moscow c. 2004–2006 Chief of Central Eurasian Division, 2007–2009 Andrew Kim Seoul John Lapham Saigon c. 1966Prados (2003, 2009), pp. 197, 201. James Lawler Zurich c. 1991–1994 Jennifer Matthews Khost 2009 Killed in the Camp Chapman attack (Chief of Base, not COS) Stuart Methven Kinshasa 1975 Hendrik Van Der Meulen Amman c. 2002 Cord Meyer London 1973–1976Smith (2003), p. 169. Gerry Meyer Baghdad, around August 2003 to January 2004Joby Warrick (2015), Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS, chapter 9 William Lyle Moseby C.A.R. (Bangui) c. 1980 Rolf Mowatt-Larssen Moscow c. 1994, 2000 David Murphy Berlin 1959 Paris, 1967Epstein, Deception (1989), p.62 re Paris. Bill Murray Paris 2001–2004Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, pp x, 45–46, , September 8, 2006 Herbert W. Natzke Philippines c. 1979 William Nelson Taipei 1962–1965 William Ross Newland III Buenos Aires c. 2000–2001 Duyane Norman Brazil 2017 Birch O'Neal Guatemala 1953 Craig P. Osth Rio de Janeiro c. 1999 Islamabad, c. 2013 Eloise Page AthensFrom typist to trailblazer. The evolving view of women in the CIA's workforce CIA 1970s"The People of the CIA ... A CIA Trailblazer: Eloise Page", CIA Website First female station chief Richard L. Palmer Moscow 1992–1994 James Pavitt Luxembourg 1983–1986 David Atlee Phillips Santo Domingo 1965–1967 Brasília 1970–1972Smith (2003), p. 188. Henry Pleasants Bern 1950–1956James H. Critchfield, Partners at Creation: The Men Behind Postwar Germany's Defense and Intelligence Establishments. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2003. x + 243 pp, . Bonn, Germany, 1956–1964 Thomas Polgar Frankfurt 1949 Saigon, 1972–1975 Phillip F. Reilly Kabul c. 2003 Manila, c. 2008Robert RicherAmmanc. 20002002–2004 Chief of the Near East/South Asia Division Jose Rodriguez Panama, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic John R. Sano Seoul Chief of East Asia Division, 2004–2005 Winston M. Scott London 1947–1950 Mexico City, 1956–1969 Charles Seidel Cairo c. 2000–2002 Baghdad 2002–2003; Amman 2003–2005 Theodore Shackley Laos 1966–1968 Saigon 1968–1972McGehee (1983), p.146 (Vietnam). John Sipher Jakarta c. 2010 Stephen Slick Budapest c. 1998–2000 Michael Sulick Moscow 1994–1996 Chief of Central Eurasian Division 1999–2002; Deputy Director of CIA for Operations 2007–2010 John Stockwell Katanga 1968 Burundi 1970 Carleton Swift Baghdad 1956–1957Thomas (1995, 2006), p. 184. Hugh Tovar Malaysia and Indonesia 1960s Laos and Thailand, 1970s; Vientiane, Laos, beginning in May 1973 Greg Vogle Kabul 2004–2006, 2009–2010 Terry Ward Honduras c. 1987–1989 Andrew Warren Algeria 2007–2008 convicted of rape while in stationDel Wilber, "Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexual abuse of Algerian woman", The Washington Post, March 3, 2011 Richard Welch Lima 1972 Athens 1975;Smith (2003), p. 244. assassinated by Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N) Terrence L. Williams Taipei c. 2003under the title of Research and Planning Section Chief, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Joseph Wippl Berlin c. 2001–2003 Frank Wisner London c. 1959 formerly DDP 1952–1959Cf. Smith (2003), p. 245. Alan D. Wolfe Lahore c. 1969Kabul; Islamabad formerly chief of Near East and South Asia Division; Rome c. 1980s

Bibliography Edward J. Epstein, Deception. the invisible war between the KGB and the CIA (New York: Simon and Schuster 1989). David Hoffman, Billion Dollar Spy. A true story of Cold War espionage and betrayal (New York: Doubleday 2015). Ralph McGehee, Deadly Deceits. My 25 years in the CIA (New York: Sheridan Square 1983). John Prados, William Colby and the CIA. The secret wars of a controversial spymaster (University of Kansas 2003, 2009). W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency (New York: Facts on File 2003). Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men. The daring early years of the CIA (New York: Simon and Schuster 1995, 2006).

References