THIS DAY IN MY LIFE – JULY 26 – MY CIA CONNECTION

THIS DAY IN MY LIFE – JULY 26 – MY CIA CONNECTION

On this day, July 26, 1947, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act that set up the Central Intelligence Agency.

‘The Cold War Era’ secret diplomacy shaped the course of my life that began in Mylapore, Madras, Chennai. My Life’s Journey from Mylapore to Doom Dooma, Assam and later to Ann Arbor, Michigan is direct consequence of my CIA Connection destined on July 26, 1970.

I was granted Short Service Regular Commission in Indian Army Medical Corps in the rank of Lieutenant on July 26, 1970. On completion of my military training, I received promotion, the substantive rank of Captain with effect from July 26, 1971. My first posting of Military Service sent me to Special Frontier Force, Headquarters Establishment No. 22 in support of CIA’s Mission in South Asia. I describe “My CIA Connection” as ‘Kasturi-Sarvepalli-Mylapore-Madras-India-Tibet-US Connection’.

On July 26, 1986 I left Muscat, Oman to arrive in the United States in search of my Final Destination in Life.

On July 26, 2017, I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan still hoping to arrive at my Final Destination in Life. My CIA Connection may either sanction Life of Slavery in the United States or Prisonhood in Enemy’s Camp.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

This Day in History

JULY 26

1947

Truman signs the National Security Act

Author
History.com Staff

Website Name
History.com

Year Published
2009

Title
Truman signs the National Security Act

URL
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-signs-the-national-security-act

Publisher
A+E Networks

President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act, which becomes one of the most important pieces of Cold War legislation. The act established much of the bureaucratic framework for foreign policymaking for the next 40-plus years of the Cold War.

By July 1947, the Cold War was in full swing. The United States and the Soviet Union, once allies during World War II, now faced off as ideological enemies. In the preceding months, the administration of President Truman had argued for, and secured, military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to assist in their struggles against communist insurgents. In addition, the Marshall Plan, which called for billions of dollars in U.S. aid to help rebuild war-torn Western Europe and strengthen it against possible communist aggression, had also taken shape. As the magnitude of the Cold War increased, however, so too did the need for a more efficient and manageable foreign policymaking bureaucracy in the United States. The National Security Act was the solution.

The National Security Act had three main parts. First, it streamlined and unified the nation’s military establishment by bringing together the Navy Department and War Department under a new Department of Defense. This department would facilitate control and utilization of the nation’s growing military. Second, the act established the National Security Council (NSC). Based in the White House, the NSC was supposed to serve as a coordinating agency, sifting through the increasing flow of diplomatic and intelligence information in order to provide the president with brief but detailed reports. Finally, the act set up the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA replaced the Central Intelligence Group, which had been established in 1946 to coordinate the intelligence-gathering activities of the various military branches and the Department of State. The CIA, however, was to be much more–it was a separate agency, designed not only to gather intelligence but also to carry out covert operations in foreign nations.

The National Security Act formally took effect in September 1947. Since that time, the Department of Defense, NSC, and CIA have grown steadily in terms of size, budgets, and power. The Department of Defense, housed in the Pentagon, controls a budget that many Third World nations would envy. The NSC rapidly became not simply an information organizing agency, but one that was active in the formation of foreign policy. The CIA also grew in power over the course of the Cold War, becoming involved in numerous covert operations. Most notable of these was the failed Bay of Pigs operation of 1961, in which Cuban refugees, trained and armed by the CIA, were unleashed against the communist regime of Fidel Castro. The mission was a disaster, with most of the attackers either killed or captured in a short time. Though it had both successes and failures, the National Security Act indicated just how seriously the U.S. government took the Cold War threat.

1908

FBI founded

On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is born when U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte orders a group of newly hired federal investigators to report to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch of the Department of Justice. One year later, the Office of the Chief Examiner was renamed…

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