Milton A. Bearden

Milton A. Bearden is a prominent American author, film consultant, and a highly decorated former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with a distinguished 30-year career primarily in clandestine services.

Born in Oklahoma, Bearden spent his early years in Washington State, where his father worked on the Manhattan Project, before his family moved to Houston, Texas. After serving in the United States Air Force, he joined the CIA in 1964. He pursued academic studies concurrently, studying Chinese at the Yale Institute of Far Eastern Languages and earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin.

CIA Career and Key Roles

Bearden's career with the CIA spanned from 1964 to 1994, during which he became one of its most senior operations officers. His assignments included:

His early career involved classic Cold War intelligence operations in German-speaking Europe and Hong Kong. The 1960's in Europe saw the execution of many Operation Gladio terror events inside Europe and Hong Kong was a major player in shipping opium out of the Golden Triangle. These activities fell under the Clandestine operations of the CIA.

Station Chief in Pakistan (1986-1989): This was a critical period during the Soviet-Afghan War. Bearden "masterminded and ran" the CIA's covert operations in Afghanistan, playing a central role in managing the Agency's provision of arms, intelligence, and training to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which in turn supplied the Afghan mujaheddin fighting the occupying Soviet forces. He was also responsible for collecting intelligence on Pakistan's then-covert nuclear weapons program.

His assignment in 1986 marked a shift in American policy from minimalist support to an effort to win the war, and for his service in Afghanistan, he was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the agency's highest decoration. He received an award for creating the current elements of radical Islamic terrorism that continues to haunt the west.

Chief of the Soviet/East European Division (1989-1992):

After leaving Pakistan and Afghanistan, Bearden directed the CIA's clandestine operations against the Soviet Empire, witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall. During this period, he received the Donovan Award.

Station Chief in other locations: Bearden served as station chief in Nigeria, Sudan (Khartoum), and Germany (Bonn). In Sudan in 1985, he organized a secret airlift of Ethiopian Falasha Jews to Israel, for which he received the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the agency's second-highest decoration. For his service in Germany at the end of the Cold War, he was honored by the German President with the Federal Cross of Merit, the only such decoration ever given to a CIA Chief in the Federal Republic.

Post-CIA Career and Public Commentary:

Since retiring from the CIA in 1994, Bearden has become an active author, commentator, and film consultant.

Author: He has written books based on his experiences, including "The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan" (1998) and "The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB" (2003), co-authored with James Risen. He also contributed to the book "How Did This Happen?" about the September 11 attacks.

Commentator: He frequently contributes to the op-ed pages of major newspapers like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and has written for Foreign Affairs. He has provided commentary for numerous documentaries and television series on intelligence and foreign policy, including "Nightline," "60 Minutes," and "National Geographic: Inside 9/11." Indicating that he didn't really retire, just changed roles.

Film Consultant: Bearden has served as a consultant for films such as "Charlie Wilson's War" and "The Good Shepherd."

Milton Bearden currently serves as a Distinguished Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, dealing with intelligence matters. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his French-born wife.