SHADOW AGENCIES
Syllabus
In this course, participants will go deep into the hidden operations of various intelligence and research organizations post-World War II. Students will explore the origins, operations, and impacts of entities like the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA), Manhattan Project, Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The course also covers controversial projects such as Operation Paperclip, Japan's Unit 731, and the U.S. Army Intelligence Support Activity, providing a comprehensive understanding of their historical and modern implications.
Our goal is gain further knowledge on agencies that have been lurking in the shadows since World War II. We will be examining the history and present activities of some of these agencies, confirmed and speculated.
- Explain JIOA
- Operation Paperclip
- Vannevar Bush and his role as Director
- Manhattan Project and the role of the gadget
- Role in overseeing the construction of the Pentagon and the Manhattan Project
- Contributions to physics
- Communist ties and inclusion in the Manhattan Project
- Location and construction
- Background of workers
- Location selection by Groves and Oppenheimer
- Life at the site
- Origins of OSS
- Agents’ tools and training
- Relationship with Special Operations Executive
- Significance of Dick Ellis
- Operation Jedburgh
- Formation and types of operations
- Missions and involvement in the Global War on Terror
- History and operations with CIA’s SAD and JSOC
- Support for other intelligence agencies
- Precursor to ARPA/DARPA
- History and significance of General Curtis LeMay
- Purpose and subsequent programs like MK Ultra/Artichoke
- Contributions to NASA
- Activities, personnel, and impacts
- Functions and bioweapons program during WWII
- Role in recent pandemics and partnership with DARPA
- Formation and partnerships
- Creation of the internet
- Vaccines, Operation Warp Speed, and Moderna