Dick Holm
Encyclopedia
Also known as Richard Holm or Richard L. Holm, Dick Holm is a famed American CIA
Operations Officer who served under 13 CIA directors and was winner of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal
, the CIA’s highest award.
Holm joined the CIA in the 1960s, and in his first assignment served in the CIA's secret war in Laos
against the communists in the lead-up to the Vietnam War
. Holm was then posted to the Congo
and suffered near-fatal burns over 35% of his body from a plane crash. His horrific burns were treated by local tribesmen with a black paste made of snake oil and tree bark. He remained in their care for 10 days until he was finally rescued and quickly sent back to America for medical care.
His body permanently scarred, Holm returned to service after two years of extensive and expensive medical care in the United States, serving for several more decades in the CIA and achieving legendary status within the Agency. Holm worked in Hong Kong
and Paris
and was instrumental in anti–terrorism operations during Carlos the Jackal’s international terror campaign.
Holm's final assignment was Chief of the CIA Station in Paris, where he was held responsible when French authorities uncovered a CIA operation involving economic espionage. In the operation, a female American CIA undercover operative, posing as the representative of a US non-profit, enjoyed clandestine meetings with a French official to obtain secret trade information. The American operative fell in love with the French official and allegedly behaved irresponsibly, her lack of discretion leading to the discovery of the operation. Holm was publicly expelled by the French Government along with several other CIA agents posing as diplomats; Holm denied responsibility by claiming the American operative hid her romantic relationship with the French official from the CIA. The circumstances surrounding Holm's expulsion were also described in The C.I. Desk: FBI and CIA Counterintelligence As Seen From My Cubicle by Christopher Lynch, Dog Ear Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-160044-739-8. According to this book, the "weak link" was unfairly made the scapegoat for a series of problems at the station despite having '"had little or nothing to do with some of the cases and officers involved."
In 2004, Holm published his memoirs, The American Agent (ISBN 1-903608-14-7). Another volume of his memoirs, The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA, was published in August 2011 by Mountain Lake Press (ISBN13-978-098-14777374).
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
Operations Officer who served under 13 CIA directors and was winner of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal
Distinguished Intelligence Medal
The Distinguished Intelligence Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for performance of outstanding services or for achievement of a distinctly exceptional nature in a duty or responsibility.-Notable Recipients:Robert G. Brewster...
, the CIA’s highest award.
Holm joined the CIA in the 1960s, and in his first assignment served in the CIA's secret war in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
against the communists in the lead-up to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Holm was then posted to the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
and suffered near-fatal burns over 35% of his body from a plane crash. His horrific burns were treated by local tribesmen with a black paste made of snake oil and tree bark. He remained in their care for 10 days until he was finally rescued and quickly sent back to America for medical care.
His body permanently scarred, Holm returned to service after two years of extensive and expensive medical care in the United States, serving for several more decades in the CIA and achieving legendary status within the Agency. Holm worked in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and was instrumental in anti–terrorism operations during Carlos the Jackal’s international terror campaign.
Holm's final assignment was Chief of the CIA Station in Paris, where he was held responsible when French authorities uncovered a CIA operation involving economic espionage. In the operation, a female American CIA undercover operative, posing as the representative of a US non-profit, enjoyed clandestine meetings with a French official to obtain secret trade information. The American operative fell in love with the French official and allegedly behaved irresponsibly, her lack of discretion leading to the discovery of the operation. Holm was publicly expelled by the French Government along with several other CIA agents posing as diplomats; Holm denied responsibility by claiming the American operative hid her romantic relationship with the French official from the CIA. The circumstances surrounding Holm's expulsion were also described in The C.I. Desk: FBI and CIA Counterintelligence As Seen From My Cubicle by Christopher Lynch, Dog Ear Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-160044-739-8. According to this book, the "weak link" was unfairly made the scapegoat for a series of problems at the station despite having '"had little or nothing to do with some of the cases and officers involved."
In 2004, Holm published his memoirs, The American Agent (ISBN 1-903608-14-7). Another volume of his memoirs, The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA, was published in August 2011 by Mountain Lake Press (ISBN13-978-098-14777374).