Approved for Release: 2013/06/25
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Secret NOFORN
Chapter 3
100
long-range area.”¹⁷ Fears of Soviet missile progress increased when Nikita Khrushchev stated on 23 April 1956, “I am quite sure that we shall have very soon a guided missile with a hydrogen-bomb warhead which could hit any point in the world.”¹⁸
Faced with growing Congressional and public anxiety over Soviet offensive capabilities, President Eisenhower approved the proposed overflight program. Colonel Goodpaster relayed this decision to Bissell, Land, and Killian at a meeting on 21 June. The President nevertheless maintained tight control over the program and authorized only 10 days of overflights when operations over the Soviet Union were ready to start in early July 1956.¹⁹
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FIRST OVERFLIGHTS OF EASTERN EUROPE
The CIA initiated U-2 flights over hostile territory even before the President granted final approval for overflights of the Soviet Union. After consulting with the Commander of US Air Force Europe, Richard Bissell used existing Presidential permission for Air Force overflights of the Soviet Union’s East European satellites as his authority to plan a mission over Poland and East Germany. Bissell had informed the President of his intention to conduct such missions in the “AQUATONE Operational Plan” submitted on 31 May.
The first operational use of a U-2 took place on Wednesday, 20 June 1956. Carl K. Overstreet flew a U-2 equipped with an A-2 camera over Poland and East Germany. At the end of the mission, Detachment A immediately rushed the exposed film to the United States for processing. The developed film arrived at the Photo-Intelligence Division (PID) on 22 June 1956. PID personnel considered the pictures obtained by mission 2003 to be of good quality.²⁰
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¹⁷ Robert Hotz, “Firing of 900-Mile Russian Missile Spurs US Changes,” *Aviation Week*, 20 February 1956, p. 27.
¹⁸ “Is Russia Really Ahead in Missile Race?,” *US News and World Report*, 4 May 1956, p. 34.
¹⁹ *OSA History*, chap. 11, pp. 27-29 (TS Codeword); A. J. Goodpaster, Memorandum for the Record, 21 June 1956, WHOSS, Alpha, DDEL (TS).
²⁰ *OSA History*, chap. 11, p. 27 (TS Codeword); Mission folder 2003 (20 June 1956), OSA records, job 67-B-328, box 7 (TS Codeword).
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Secret
Approved for Release: 2013/06/25