The most accomplished intelligence officer in Air Force history was probably Charles P. Cabell. After graduating from West Point in 1925, Cabell flew observation and fighter aircraft for the next decade, while also becoming well known as a photoreconnaissance expert. During the London blitz, he was sent to Britain to study Royal Air Force (RAF) photointerpretation procedures, and his subsequent report greatly impressed his superiors. As a result, Hap Arnold formed an "advisory council" in early 1942 that initially consisted of only two people, Lauris Norstad and Cabell. Their task was to perform "blue sky thinking" and any special projects Arnold threw their way. Often referred to as the "brain trust," the council played an important role in Arnold's somewhat anarchic management style. In 1943 Cabell was sent to England to command a bomb wing, and thence to the Mediterranean to serve as Ira Eaker's chief of intelligence. During the last year of the war, he had fairly extensive dealings with the Soviets over events in the Balkans and soon earned a healthy respect and distrust for them. After the war he served briefly on the US delegation to the United Nations discussions in London and then returned to the States in 1948 to become the deputy chief of staff for intelligence for the Air Force as a major general. After two years he became the director of the joint staff as a threestar, and in 1953 he was named the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He remained in that position as a full general until his retirement in 1962.
Cabell wrote a very detailed and interesting autobiography titled "Memoirs of an Unidentified Aide," which is located in the Air Force historical archives at Maxwell AFB, Alabama (although family permission is required to quote from the manuscript). Throughout, Cabell takes pains to describe the people he serves with, providing excellent personality sketches of such men as Arthur Tedder, Trafford LeighMallory, George Patton, Carl Spaatz, and Ira Eaker. Also of interest is his discussion of the oil campaign conducted by the strategic air forces in 1944-45. This issue caused a great deal of controversy then and since, and Cabell's treatment is insightful. So too is his explanation of the need for a special type of air intelligence that was fundamentally different from that traditionally required by surface forces. A new organization was needed to gather, analyze, and disseminate this new type of air intelligence; Cabell was instrumental in performing that role. Overall, this is an excellent memoir that deserves to be published.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.
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