S. Eugene Poteat
Encyclopedia
S. Eugene Poteat is a retired senior Central Intelligence Agency
executive He was awarded the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the National Reconnaissance Office
Meritorious Civilian Award. He is President of AFIO - the Association For Intelligence Officers and is on the Board of Advisors of the International Spy Museum
. In addition, he serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of Intellaine, LLP, a U.S. defense and risk engineering firm located in Arlington, Virginia.
He graduated from The Citadel (military college)
with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering
in 1957, and holds a Master's degree in Statecraft and National Security Affairs with a specialization in Intelligence Studies from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.
He has also taken graduate courses in foreign policy, national security and intelligence at Cambridge University.
After college he worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey
and Cape Canaveral
.
He joined the CIA in 1960, and worked there for 30 years, also serving abroad in London
and Scandinavia
.
He was a participant in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
.
In the Fall of 1999, he wrote that he was asked in early August 1964 to determine if the radar operator's report showed a real torpedo boat attack or an imagined one. He asked for further details on time, weather and surface conditions. No further details were forthcoming. In the end he concluded that there were no torpedo boats on the night in question, and that the White House was interested only in confirmation of an attack, not that there was no such attack (For a historical parallel to this incident, see Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
.)
He was a program manager for the sensors on the Lockheed U-2
and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
.
He has written about intelligence problems in the AFIO newsletter. He was written about in Wired Magazine, and in a book about CIA science and technology.
He is a 32nd degree Freemason
, a member of the Dorchester Lodge No. 369 of North Charleston, South Carolina
, and a member of the Scottish Rite
Bodies of Charleston.
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...
executive He was awarded the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the National Reconnaissance Office
National Reconnaissance Office
The National Reconnaissance Office , located in Chantilly, Virginia, is one of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. It designs, builds, and operates the spy satellites of the United States government.-Mission:...
Meritorious Civilian Award. He is President of AFIO - the Association For Intelligence Officers and is on the Board of Advisors of the International Spy Museum
International Spy Museum
The International Spy Museum is a privately owned museum dedicated to the field of espionage located within the 1875 Le Droit Building in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across the street from the Old Patent Office Building and one block south of the Gallery Place Metro...
. In addition, he serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of Intellaine, LLP, a U.S. defense and risk engineering firm located in Arlington, Virginia.
He graduated from The Citadel (military college)
The Citadel (military college)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...
with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
in 1957, and holds a Master's degree in Statecraft and National Security Affairs with a specialization in Intelligence Studies from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He has also taken graduate courses in foreign policy, national security and intelligence at Cambridge University.
After college he worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
.
He joined the CIA in 1960, and worked there for 30 years, also serving abroad in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
.
He was a participant in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, or the USS Maddox Incident, are the names given to two incidents, one fabricated, involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin...
.
In the Fall of 1999, he wrote that he was asked in early August 1964 to determine if the radar operator's report showed a real torpedo boat attack or an imagined one. He asked for further details on time, weather and surface conditions. No further details were forthcoming. In the end he concluded that there were no torpedo boats on the night in question, and that the White House was interested only in confirmation of an attack, not that there was no such attack (For a historical parallel to this incident, see Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
During the regime of Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq used, possessed, and made efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction . Hussein was internationally known for his use of chemical weapons in the 1980s against Iranian and Kurdish civilians during and after the Iran–Iraq War...
.)
He was a program manager for the sensors on the Lockheed U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
SR-71 Blackbird
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by the Lockheed Skunk Works. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the...
.
He has written about intelligence problems in the AFIO newsletter. He was written about in Wired Magazine, and in a book about CIA science and technology.
He is a 32nd degree Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, a member of the Dorchester Lodge No. 369 of North Charleston, South Carolina
North Charleston, South Carolina
North Charleston is the 3rd largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina with incorporated areas in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. On June 12, 1972 the city of North Charleston incorporated and was the 9th largest city in South Carolina. According to the 2010 Census, North...
, and a member of the Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...
Bodies of Charleston.