Francis Gary Powers

Francis Gary Powers with a model of the U-2.

Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose CIA^[1] U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.

Early life

Powers was born in Jenkins, Kentucky, to Oliver and Ida Powers and was of part Melungeon ancestry. He grew up in Pound, Virginia, just across the state border. Graduating from Milligan College in Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1950, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. After completing his training, Powers was assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, as an F-84 Thunderjet pilot. According to his son, he did not fly combat missions during the Korean War, because he was recruited by the CIA for his outstanding record in single engine jet aircraft.^[2] By 1960, Powers was already a veteran of many covert aerial reconnaissance missions.

The U-2 Incident

Powers was discharged from the Air Force in 1956 with the rank of captain. He then joined the CIA's U-2 program. U-2 pilots flew espionage missions using an aircraft that could reach altitudes above 70,000 feet, making it invulnerable to Soviet anti-aircraft weapons of the time. The U-2 was equipped with a state-of-the-art camera designed to take high-resolution photos from the edge of the stratosphere over hostile countries, including the Soviet Union. U-2 missions systematically photographed military installations and other important sites.

Soviet intelligence, especially the KGB, had been aware of U-2 missions since 1956, but lacked the ability to launch counter-measures until 1960. Powers’ U-2, which departed from a military airbase in Peshawar, Pakistan ^[2] and may have received support from the US Air Station at Badaber (Peshawar Airbase), was shot down by an S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Surface to Air) missile^[3] on May 1, 1960, over Sverdlovsk. Powers was unable to activate the plane's self-destruct mechanism before he parachuted to the ground and was captured.

Powers' U-2 plane had been hit by the first S-75 missile fired. However, a total of 8 had been launched. One missile hit a MiG-19 jet fighter sent to intercept the U-2, but which was unable to reach a high enough altitude. The Soviet pilot, Sergey Safronov, crashed his plane in an unpopulated forest area rather than bail out and risk his plane crashing into nearby Degtyarsk. Another Soviet aircraft, a newly manufactured Su-9 in transit flight, also attempted to intercept Powers' U-2. The unarmed Su-9 was directed to ram the U-2. The pilot attempted but missed because of the large differences in speed.

When the U.S. government learned of Powers' disappearance over the Soviet Union, it issued a cover statement claiming a "weather plane" had crashed after its pilot had "difficulties with his oxygen equipment." What CIA officials did not realize was that the plane crashed almost fully intact, and the Soviets recovered its equipment. Powers was interrogated extensively by the KGB for months before he made a "voluntary confession" and a public apology for his part in espionage. The incident set back talks between Khrushchev and Eisenhower. On August 17, 1960, Powers was convicted of espionage against the Soviet Union and was sentenced to a total of 10 years, three years in imprisonment followed by seven years of hard labor. He was held in "Vladimirsky Central Prison", east of Moscow. The prison contains a small museum with an exhibit on Powers, who allegedly had a good rapport with Russian prisoners there.

On February 10, 1962, Powers was exchanged along with American student Frederic Pryor in a well publicised spy swap for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel), a Soviet colonel who was caught by the FBI and put in jail for espionage, at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, Germany.

In 2010, CIA documents were released indicating that "top US officials never believed Powers’ account of his fateful flight because it appeared to be directly contradicted by a report from the National Security Agency".^[4]

Aftermath

Wooden U-2 model - one of two used by Powers when he testified to the Senate Committee. The wings and tail are detachable to demonstrate the aircraft's breakup upon impact.

Powers received a cold reception on his return home. Initially, he was criticized for having failed to activate his aircraft’s self-destruct charge to destroy the camera, photographic film, and related classified parts of his aircraft before his capture. He was also criticized for not using an optional CIA-issued "suicide pin" to kill himself. After being debriefed extensively by the CIA,^[5] Lockheed, and the Air Force, on March 6, 1962, Powers appeared before a Senate Armed Services Select Committee hearing chaired by Senator Richard Russell and including Senators Prescott Bush and Barry Goldwater Sr. It was determined that Powers had followed orders, had not divulged any critical information to the Soviets, and had conducted himself “as a fine young man under dangerous circumstances.”

Kelly Johnson and Gary Powers in front of a U-2

Powers worked for Lockheed as a test pilot from 1963 to 1970. In 1970, he co-wrote a book called Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident. This led to his termination from Lockheed due to negative publicity from the book. Powers became an airborne traffic reporter for radio station KGIL Los Angeles. He was then hired by television station KNBC to pilot their new "telecopter", a helicopter equipped with externally mounted 360 degree cameras.

Fatal crash

Francis Gary Powers died in 1977 in an accident. He was 47 years old. He had been covering bush fires in Santa Barbara County. As he returned, his Bell Jet Rangerhelicopter, registered N4TV, ran out of fuel and crashed in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area several miles short of Burbank Airport.^[6]

Powers was survived by his wife, two children, Dee and Francis Gary Powers Jr., and his five sisters. Powers is buried in Arlington National Cemetery as an Air Force veteran.^[6][7]

Honors

In 1998, newly declassified information revealed that Powers’ mission had been a joint USAF/CIA operation. In 2000, on the 40th anniversary of the U-2 Incident, his family was presented his posthumously awarded Prisoner of War Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star and National Defense Service Medal. In addition, CIA Director George Tenet authorized Powers to posthumously receive the CIA's coveted Director's Medal for extreme fidelity and extraordinary courage in the line of duty.^[8] He was awarded the CIA's Intelligence Star in 1963 after his return from the Soviet Union.

In 1976, Powers' biography (written with Curt Gentry) became a television movie, Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident. Lee Majors played the role of Powers.

References

Further reading

• Nigel West, Seven Spies Who Changed the World. London: Secker & Warburg, 1991 (hard cover). London: Mandarin, 1992 (paperback).
• Sergei N. Khrushchev, Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a Superpower. State College, PA: Penn State Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-271-01927-7.
• Francis Gary Powers, Curt Gentry, Operation Overflight. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1971 (hard cover) ISBN 978-0-340-14823-5. Potomac Book, 2002 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-57488-422-7.

External links

• CIA FOIA documents on Gary Powers
• Documents and Photographs regarding the U-2 Spy Plane Incident of 1960, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Check-Six.com - The Crash of Francis Gary Powers' Helo
• Transcripts of the Soviet court trial (in Russian)
• 1962 Russia frees US spy plane pilot