Name= CIA Letter of Recommendation for Ralph McGehee

The CIA in a letter of recommendation for Ralph McGehee upon
his retirement in 1977 said:

 " It gives me great pleasure...

   I have the highest regard for Ralph as a person of impeccable
integrity....

   In the course of his tours...Ralph gained recognition
as one of the Agency's most knowledgeable officers on Asian communism. 
...he performed original research, undertaking special projects on trips 
overseas, and devising innovative means of collecting information from 
normally inaccessible sources and areas. He composed original studies 
on Asian communist parties that were widely praised in the U.S. government
...and was in demand ...as a briefer on communist strategy and tactics.

   Ralph [received] the Career Intelligence Medal...reflecting
`exceptional achievement that conspicuously contributed to the
mission of the Agency.' `[He received] a cash award for proposing 
a method for learning about and countering communist insurgency.
This method of gathering, collating, and processing intelligence
was the product of his resourcefulness, initiative, and ingenuity...
he requested to be assigned...to the most seriously threatened
...province in order to select, train, and organize team personnel
and implement his plan...He formulated and implemented a unique
counter-revolutionary methodology and this approach resulted in 
complete coverage of the insurgency. The information produced
was so detailed and the procedures used so carefully designed 
not to alienate the people that the revolution collapsed....'"

   "The above citation alone capsulates Ralph's abilities neatly.
But he was commended many times, in writing for his work here and
at CIA field stations overseas.  After a recent trip abroad, one
commendation read, in part: `He was relentless in digging into the 
materials at hand, pursuing various avenues of investigation, and 
seeking new information and channels as he proceeded with his research. 
He well demonstrated his perseverance, intellectual keenness, and 
analytical ability...' Another recent field recommendation reads: 
`His dedication, enthusiasm, and perseverance were outstanding...' 
he `has few peers at this type of research and analysis...' Still 
another praised the `quality and scholarship' of a briefing paper....
His performance evaluations are full of superlatives, especially for 
his last half dozen years of research, analysis, and briefings in 
the field of Asian and international communism...."

(Name)
Retirement Affairs Division

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