The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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216
Seu et NOi-ORN
Chapter 5
Se&Fat
While the Offshore Islands Crisis was still in progress,
Detachment C began conducting flights in support of its weather re­
connaissance cover story. On 14, 15, and 16 July 1958, U-2s flew
high above Typhoon Winnie, which was causing great damage on
Taiwan. These missions provided the first photography ever obtained
of such a massive storm system. Photographs of the storm were the
subject of articles in the magazine Weatherwise and the 21 July edi­
tion of Aviation Week. In September, Detachment C aircraft photo­
graphed two more typhoons.
U-2 Support for DDP Operations in Tibet
The consolidation of all Agency air activities under the DDP in l 959
led to increased involvement of the U-2 program with clandestine ef­
forts against Communist governments. One important area of DDP
activity during this period was Tibet. In March l 959, the PLA
suppressed an uprising against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and
several thousand Tibetans fled the country along with their spiritual
leader, the Dalai Lama. Afterward, Agency operatives from the
DDP's Far East Division began training some of these Tibetan refu­
gees for paramilitary operations inside Tibet. Once the Tibetans com­
pleted their training, FE Division planned to parachute them back into
Tibet. Such missions, however, required detailed maps and aerial pho­
tographs of the areas of operation. Richard Bissell, therefore, obtained
permission from the President to use Detachment C U-2s to provide
the necessary photography.
Operation MILL TOWN, as the reconnaissance missions over
Tibet were known, consisted of two missions staged from Cubi Point
Naval Air Station on 12 and 14 May 1959. The photography revealed
that Communist China had built new roads with supply and defense
points. Agency photointerpreters also discovered two large new air­
fields at elevations above 13,000 feet. Later in the year, the Far East
Division needed photographs and maps of another area of Tibet. To
conceal the target of this new operation, which was codenamed
SOUTH GATE, the Development Projects Division planned and flew
a total of six missions coverinf. much of Southeast Asia-Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia!
as well as the desired area in Tibet.
Only four of the m1ss1ons involved the area of operational interest.
Five of the flights took place between 29 August and 9 September,
and one additional flight (Operation QUICK KICK) followed on 4
November. All of these missions were "Fast Move" operations in
which necessary supplies and personnel flew to a remote staging area
in a C-130, where they rendezvoused with a U-2 that had been ferried