States Information Agency(USIA)employed a variety of open tech-
niques—cultural exchanges, newspapers, newsreels, libraries, and the
like—to disseminate favorable information about the United States.
Propaganda activities continue to be integral parts of open and covert
government propaganda activities. See alsoUNITED STATES IN-
FORMATION AGENCY; RADIO MARTI; RADIO SAWA.PROPRIETARY COMPANY. Proprietaries are front organizations
covertly owned by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to carry
out special activitiesand other covert actions. These seemingly pri-
vate commercial or nonprofit entities have facilitated and provided
coverfor clandestine operations.
Historically, there have been two types of proprietaries. Operating
companies actually served the general public and even generated in-
come; nonoperating companies appeared to be doing business but actu-
ally performed services exclusively for the CIA. Among the more
prominent proprietaries were the International Armaments Corporation
(Interarmco) and the Civil Air Transport (CAT), which operated out of
Taiwan and was organized as a Delaware corporation in the 1950s. The
CIAexpanded its holdings to include Air America(which operated in
Southeast Asia and grew huge with the American involvement in Viet-
nam), Air Asia (a major repair and maintenance facility based in Tai-
wan), Southern Air Transport(SAT), acquired in 1963, and Inter-
mountain Aviation (a parking, repair, and maintenance facility and
“charter service” operating from a private airfield near Tucson, Arizona).
Because these proprietaries in some cases have been highly prof-
itable, legitimate carriers have complained of unfair competition. Al-
though the CIAcontinues to own proprietaries for covert action, it di-
vested itself of most of its air proprietaries by 1975.PROTECTING SOURCES AND METHODS. The protection of
sources and methods is the justification for the classifying and com-
partmentingof intelligence information. What is secret about intel-
ligence is the identities of information sources and the methods em-
ployed to acquire information. Intelligence officers must protect their
sources, virtually at all costs, because without them, they have no in-
telligence information. They must also obfuscate their intelligence
methods in order to thwart denial/deception operations.164 • PROPRIETARY COMPANY05-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 164