News


President selects Air Force general as deputy CIA director

Released: Jul 22, 1997


WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- President Clinton announced July 21 his intent to nominate Air Force Lt. Gen. John A. Gordon as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Gordon currently serves as associate director of central intelligence for military support at the CIA. Prior to his tenure at the CIA, he was special assistant to the Air Force chief of staff for long-range planning.

The general also served as the director of operations for Air Force Space Command, responsible for overseeing and developing policy and guidance for the command's operational missions. Gordon previously worked with the National Security Council in the areas of defense and arms control, including the oversight and completion of the Strategic Arms Reductions Talks II negotiations.

Gordon received his bachelor of science degree with honors in physics from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and completed his master of science degree at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. He then received his master of arts degree in business administration from the Highlands University, Las Vegas, N.M.

The CIA was established by the National Security Act of 1947 as an independent agency under the direction of the National Security Council. The director of central intelligence and the deputy director of central intelligence have overall responsibility for the direction of the CIA and of the Intelligence Community as a whole.

The deputy director acts for and exercises the powers of the director in the director's absence or disability or in the event of a vacancy in the position of director.