Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

old Office of Strategic Services (OSS) espionageand counterintel-

ligenceoperations that had been transferred to the War Department

when the OSS was abolished in 1945. Despite these gains, CIG’s ef-

forts remained disorganized, and disaffection with the American in-

telligence effort probably contributed to the establishment of the

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1947. See alsoNATIONAL

SECURITYACTOF 1947.

CHALET (SYSTEM).SeeVORTEX.

CHAOS (OPERATION).Ajoint Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) operation initiated dur-

ing the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnsonto determine

whether or not the Vietnamantiwar movement was manipulated or

financially supported from abroad. Both agencies opened files on

many Americans, which, in the CIA’s case, was a violation of its

mandate. Even though the operation found no foreign links, it lasted

well into the administration of President Richard M. Nixon. See also

COINTELPRO.

CHEKA.The All Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating

Counterrevolution and Sabotage, or Cheka, was formed in December

1917 by Vladimir I. Lenin and entrusted to a corps of international

revolutionaries. By 1921, Cheka had grown to a cadre of more than

250,000 men and women, and by the mid-1930s, although renamed

several times, it had become the largest secret service in world his-

tory. Prior to World War II, Cheka was known as NKVD, which

stood for the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the prede-

cessor to the KGB, the Committee on State Security. See alsoSO-

VIETUNION.

CHIEF OF STATION (COS).The chief of station is the most senior

official of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) appointed to su-

pervise and manage the CIA station and its activities in a foreign

country. The COS is a key advisor to the ambassador and is usually

a member of the ambassador’s country team. As a senior CIAcase of-

ficer, the COS is normally under cover, but he may be “declared” to

the host government for intelligence liaisonpurposes.

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