Word: secret
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...fact, though, the U.S. military has very secretly been developing an unconventional capability for eight years. In the wake of the disastrous 1980 hostage rescue attempt in Iran, the Pentagon established the closest thing the nation has ever had to a secret army. These clandestine operations and intelligence units are still around. But their history has largely been a sorry tale of bureaucratic bungling and infighting. Says one special operations officer: "The units still exist, but their morale and our ability to use them are in shambles...
From interviews with military, intelligence, Administration and congressional officials, TIME has pieced together how the secret army was organized, some of the operations it conducted and the troubles it encountered. Its small, specially trained units are designed to operate far more covertly than older elite paramilitary units, such as the Army's Rangers and the Navy's Seals. They have been given exotic code names, such as Yellow Fruit, Task Force 160 and Seaspray. New types of equipment have been developed for them, including small, high-tech helicopters and one-man satellite- & communications radios and dishes. In addition...
...units were hampered from the start by bureaucratic feuding between supporters of the secret units and military traditionalists, and between the intelligence and operations sections within this secret army. Operating under loose guidelines, the secret units also proved difficult to control. One got involved in an unauthorized operation planned for Laos. Another became the target of investigations for alleged misuse of funds and other improprieties; three officers eventually went to prison. The Pentagon is now trying to reorganize all special operations units under the newly formed Special Operations Command, and has imposed stricter operational and financial controls on them...
...sources have outlined to TIME a wide range of activities that give a picture of the secret army in action. Among their revelations...
...became involved in an unauthorized plan for a 1981 raid into Laos to find Americans thought to be missing in action since the Viet Nam War. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was so incensed that he ordered the Army's secret intelligence unit disbanded, but it survived to collect information on terrorists in Lebanon, among other activities...