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Old 4th Jan 2016, 04:04
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JimNtexas
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
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If you can find a copy,
FGP's autobiography FGP's autobiography
is very interesting. One thing that got my attention was that when he left the USAF for the CIA his class was told that after a few years in CIA they would return to the USAF with no loss of time in service or rank.

Which of course didn't happen with Powers.

A few years ago some retired CIA pilots gave a presentation at Air Venture about Cold War reconnaissance. I asked about this, and was told that none of those early CIA U-2 pilots returned to the USAF. Most of them stayed with the CIA until retirement, many going on to fly the A-12 and WB-57.

As a former WSO/EWO I was happy to hear them complain that the many of the WB-57 backseaters were contractors who made much more money than the pilots.
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