CI Analysis and Cpt. "Bear" Anderson

By Jim Purcell

Throughout the last part of 1985 and nearly all of 1986, I was a 20 year-old Army Intelligence Analyst assigned to Co. A, 319th MI Battalion, 525th Military Intelligence Brigade (CBT) (CEWI) (ABN) at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Though I reported to a company area not far from the 19th Replacement at the XVIII Airborne Corps, I actually did my work across the parking lot from the Corps' Headquarters, in the basement of the Directorate of Security, at the XVIII ABC Counterintelligence Analysis Branch, where, despite my extreme youth (and inability to grow more than peach fuzz on my face) I was assigned as the Senior Human Intelligence Analyst for the 12-person shop. At the time, I was every bit a Private First Class but eventually earned Specialist 4th Class at the section.

To begin with, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary states counterintelligence is: "Organized activity of an intelligence service designed to block an enemy's sources of information, to deceive the enemy, to prevent sabotage, and to gather political and military information." Another definition is: "Activity meant to hide the truth from an enemy or to prevent the enemy from learning secret information." So, now we all know the ballpark we are playing in.

At the time, CI Analysis was the main Counterintelligence agency for the entire Corps, which meant, specifically: the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions, the 24th Infantry Division, 525th MI Bde, Corps Artillery, 35th Signal Brigade, 1st Corps Support Command, the Dragon Brigade and a few other units. Additionally, at that time, the XVIII ABC commander, then-LTG James "Jumping Jim" Lindsey also had operational control of several specialized units when the Corps was mobilized as the U.S. Rapid Deployment Force, when placed in that status by the National Command Authority.

CI Analysis dealt with CI needs throughout the Corps' physical area, as well as its needs in its areas of influence and interest. Since the Corps' mission was to be the Airborne first response by the United States anywhere on the planet Earth in 18 hours, that left the mission pretty wide open. It was safe to say no one was contemplating a Russian or Chinese invasion, and no one was talking about any smack in Malaya, but aside from that it was anyone's game, anywhere.

As one might imagine, the shop's business was classified, without exception. So, I will not flirt with any disclosures. Instead, I will not mention any of our work, or where that work was focused. Instead, I would like to use this space to discuss the way the shop was led and how its commander, CPT (later MAJ) John P. Anderson (I faked up his name a bit), organized his people functionally for success, focusing on compartmentalization, old-fashioned studying, instructing the finer points of sound, real-world analysis and building esprit d'corps throughout. I will also say one or two stories that were funny.

Let's lead with 'funny.' I have been dying to print this story since 1986 and cannot see why I should not for a moment longer. So, CPT Anderson, who was nicknamed "Bear" by people in the shop for not only his stature, which was heavily muscled and hairy, but also because he tended to be very thoughtful and work for long periods of time in his office. He would address various missions the shop had fastidiously. In fact, he was not unlike a bear, hibernating in his office and moving around the shop, going about the business of checking his stores.

Well, the Bear was also a Jumpmaster, and a great trooper. He had commanded a Field Artillery Battery in the 82nd before switching over to the  MI career field and was non-nonsense, while being very versatile and competent. So one day he was jump-mastering this flight over -- I think -- Sicily Drop Zone at Bragg. Anyway, though the plane, in this case a US Air Force C-130 Hercules, was operated by the pilot and crew, the jumpmaster -- him -- had control enough to allow the 64 paratroopers to exit the aircraft while still in flight when the questioned turned to if the aircraft may or may not crash -- without the consent of the pilot or crew -- and to their surprise.

I don't know what happened mechanically. I would wager CPT Anderson was never apprised of what exactly went wrong with the aircraft that day. But, in his words when he came back to the office that day, he said to someone on the phone, "I wasn't going to hang around and put these guys in danger while [the flight crew] was [figuring it out] either." Yes, the Bear cursed. Loudly and profoundly when roused to anger by stupidity.

Apparently, the flight he was on had real problems. The long and the short of it was that there was a feeling by everyone there, probably the flight crew too, that the aircraft may go down. So, rather than going down with the paratroopers inside the aircraft, he opted to let them out and leave the flight crew to deal with their issues. Thankfully, they did and the flight landed safely back at Pope Air Force Base, co-located with Bragg. But there was hell to be had. When the troopers left the aircraft, the unexpected weight loss, I am told,  made the plane harder to control for a few moments.

No one from the shop was on the flight but we became mannequins as CPT Anderson roared his displeasure with the Air Force trying to castigate him for trying to maintain the lives of 63 other soldiers. He did not speak kindly to them. They did not speak kindly to him. And, the Bear's supervisors, while apparently sympathetic with him, officially had to bring him to task.

Still, the CI Analysis Branch was made up of mostly Airborne soldiers and when Anderson left for lunch that day, SSG Mark Smith (again, swapped out the name), a CI Agent who came over from the 82nd just a few weeks before, said aloud: "Now there is a [gosh darn] jumpmaster! Just because the Air Force can't fly their plane they expected his troopers to die up there too? F-them! That man is hung like a damn dinosaur!" I laughed until I almost fell over in my chair.

One of the other, non-Airborne CI Agents said, "Well, don't you think he should have consulted with the crew before he made the call?" SFC Whitmore, who was both genius and cranky most of the time walked straight over to the NCO's desk, lowered his head and said quietly, "Are you a dumbass? Cause you're sure as [heck] talking like one. You don't smell like one -- but you sound like it." Whitmore was both Airborne and one of the few CI Agents still in service from the Vietnam War. He could curse someone out and make it feel like art. He restrained himself that particular day, but he gave the old man a lot of credit for what he did.

By the time I had gotten back to the Company Area, word had spread. Though Anderson was never one to crow about his achievements, he was the talk of the day. I never heard these MI troopers, most of whom were as vain of their intellect as they were of their toughness as paratroopers, go on so glowingly about anyone ever before, or hence -- especially an officer! If the Bear was Catholic and we were in Rome, someone would have made him Pope before he returned from chow.

If someone were to offer CPT Anderson any kind of praise, he wouldn't know what to do with it. He knew how to work. He knew how to lead. But, he didn't know what the heck to do with a compliment. I think all of the support he got would have taken him by surprise if he knew about it. I don't know if he ever found out, but the Army spreads gossip faster than a quick greyhound can be in the money at the track.

Though he had ruffled some Zoomy Officers ("zoomy" was a term of affection we had for the Air Force) -- the boss took the heat for making a call. A lot of people never find out if they have a set that big. He did and may very well have saved some lives if the mechanical issue had gone another way. Though he was never "Mr. Popularity" with pencil pushers, I don't know a trooper who didn't look up to the man when his name was spoken.

Well, he told me once that the section -- CI Analysis -- was as much his brainchild as it was an official section in the Master Table of Organization and Equipment for the Corps. In this age before computerization, Anderson organized the office by missions, and had the staff working in specific teams for specific missions. Working with a handful of Counterintelligence Agents, Electronic Warfare Analysts, Signal Intercept Analysts, and the lone ranger here for Human Intelligence Analysis, he worked us like a football coach would a team.

On one project, there would be two agents, a signal analysts, maybe me and maybe not. Perhaps the shop's language specialist would be in on that one. The teams regularly changed with the 'plays' being made. I was involved in 3 or 4 projects -- one very seriously. Meanwhile, I would be supporting the other projects I was in, and absolutely oblivious to the others circling around me -- and there were many. In the midst of all of our work, in so many places around the globe, there was Anderson -- like the late Conductor Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops -- controlling the band from the podium. No computers. No army of analysts. And, the work was outstanding. OK, I may be prejudiced, but the work I was aware of was absolutely good.

For my part, whenever I would interrupt Anderson, who was really the chief analyst in the Corps (if you ask me), for a moment's time to explain something or give me an opinion -- he did. Though famous for his anger when ticked off, Anderson was also a bona fide genius where it involved counterintelligence. There could not have been a better teacher for the work. And, that I rarely caused him to wonder how I came up with particular analyses was, as I took it, some proof I listened to what he had to say.

An old drinking buddy from the section said, when sober on one occasion, that there is no strategic mission anywhere that is more dynamic, at that point in time, than what we were doing. He loved it a lot. A hold-over from the old Army Security Agency days of a decentralized approach to intelligence during the Vietnam Era, SFC Jones (yup, fake name) said, "I do believe there is not another carnival sideshow I would rather be in than this one right here. And...we even have a talking bear." Jones had been in the Army 21 years at that point and said he had gotten more done in the last 2 years than he had the 10 before that combined. I offered, 'So this is the show?'

Jones looked up to me and said, "Yeah, kid, just like the NFL, which means 'Not For Long' if you mess up. So stay straight." Eventually I moved on. Everyone did in the Army back then. But I never forgot CI Analysis, the way an old Indy racer never forgets his first racecar. It brought me a lot of places I had no idea I would go, but was glad to have taken the ride.

(Jim Purcell is a former U.S. Army Paratrooper and Intelligence Analyst (96B2P), who graduated from the Intelligence Analyst Course at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona from the United States Army Intelligence Center and School. He served in a variety of assignments, including at the XVIII Airborne Corps, 7th infantry Division, 2nd Armored Division and the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT), among others. During his service, Mr. Purcell earned the rank of Sergeant/E-5.)