WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2010


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S THE FEDERAL WORKER CIA’s history lessons in film


Agency delves into documentaries such as ‘Extraordinary Fidelity,’ a tale of two officers shot down over China in 1952 and imprisoned for two decades


by Peter Finn I


t was standing room only inside “The Bubble,” the retro, igloo- shaped auditorium at CIA head- quarters, for the recent world pre- mier of a film that is not — repeat, not — coming to a theater near you. “Extraordinary Fidelity” tells the


story of two CIA paramilitary officers who were shot down over China on their first mission in 1952 and spent two decades, in- cluding long stretches of solitary confine- ment, in Chinese prisons. The film, commissioned by the CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence, is the first in a possible series of documentaries that will highlight key or dramatic mo- ments in the agency’s history. The saga de- picted in “Extraordinary Fidelity” is not well known among today’s personnel, half of whom joined the agency after the at- tacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to agency officials. “For this new generation . . . this is an ef-


fective way of doing our history,” said Nich- olas Dujmovic, a CIA historian. “This, we are hoping, is the start of a series.” John T. Downey, now 80, and Richard G.


Fecteau, now 82, flew into Manchuria in the back of C-47 to pick up a Chinese couri- er, one of a team of agents who were to be part of a CIA effort to promote guerrilla op- erations that would destabilize the govern- ment of Mao Zedong, and later divert Chi- nese resources from the war in Korea. But the team of agents had been turned by the Chinese, and the pick-up was a well- planned ambush. Internal warnings about the integrity of the agents were ignored; one CIA senior operations officer said he was “90 percent” certain the agents had been doubled. And, in any case, an officer like Downey, who had trained the team of agents, should never have been flying over Chinese territory because he knew too much about plans and personnel. “There were serious mistakes made in this operation,” Dujmovic said. Some agency personnel thought Dow-


ney and Fecteau must have been joy-riding, according to an unclassified study, but in fact they were ordered on to the flight. “I felt for him,” Downey said of the man who sent him on the mission, according to an article in the CIA journal “Studies in In- telligence.” “It turned out to be such a god- damned disaster from his point of view.” And everyone else’s as well. Downey and Fecteau had planned to fly


over Manchuria, literally hook onto their agent and winch him into their aircraft. But the plane, after being strafed by Chi- nese fire, crash-landed, killing the pilots, Norman Schwartz and Robert Snoddy. Re- markably, Downey and Fecteau were only bruised. They were quickly identified by the waiting Chinese. “You are Jack,” said a Chinese officer, speaking in English and pointing at Dow- ney. For the next two years, the Chinese said nothing about capturing the two men, who were presumed dead by the CIA. Their families received letters from then Director Allen Dulles. In fact, Downey and Fecteau were being


held first in Mukden and then Beijing. They were subject to constant interroga- tions, sleep deprivation and were forced to stand in leg irons to the point of collapse during questioning. The article in the CIA journal noted that internal records described Downey and Fecteau as having been subjected to “harsh interrogation techniques” or “brutal treat- ment,” but never described what they en- dured as “torture.” Two years after the Americans flew out of an airfield in Korea, the Xinhua News Agency announced that Downey and Fec- teau had been convicted of espionage. Downey was sentenced to life in prison and Fecteau to 20 years. After the crash, the two men saw each other again for the first time at their mili- tary trial as they stood side-by-side in black Mao suits. “Who’s your tailor?” asked Fecteau, in his broad Massachusetts accent, one of nu-


ASSOCIATED PRESS


Fecteau relaxes at the Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, Pa.


merous wisecracks that drew howls of laughter at the CIA screening. The documentary cuts between inter-


views with Downey and Fecteau, and re- created prison scenes with actors that were shot at Fort Washington and an old mental asylum in Petersburg, Va. Both men attended the screening and


drew standing ovations when they were in- troduced to the crowd by CIA Director Leon Panetta. After the hour-long film, agency personnel stood in long lines to meet them and ask for autographs. Neither man would talk to the news me- dia, and they agreed to cooperate in the making of the film only because it was for internal agency use. In December 1971, following national se-


ASSOCIATED PRESS


curity adviser Henry Kissinger’s secret mis- sion to Beijing, Fecteau was released, cross- ing by foot into Hong Kong, where a British officer gave him a beer and a cigarette. Downey was released in March 1973, fol- lowing an appeal from President Nixon. Both men retired from the CIA. Downey went on to be a judge in Connecticut, and Fecteau became assistant athletic director at Boston University, his alma mater. They were awarded the Director’s Medal in 1998. “The story of Jack Downey and Dick Fec- teau is really one of the most impressive and important in CIA’s history,” Panetta said. “It carries enduring lessons about the values of the agency and the caliber of peo- ple who accomplish our mission.” finnp@washpost.com


On Leadership: The Federal Coach 6Excerpts from washingtonpost.com/onleadership


The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and The Washington


Post’s On Leadership site jointly produce the Federal Coach, hosted by Tom Fox, director of the partnership’s Center for Government Leadership.


The goal is to “engage, inspire and learn from you, the federal


worker, whether you are a new hire, a contractor or a manager at the highest level.”


NTSB head sees value in compromise


Deborah A.P. Hersman is chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board and an NTSB member since 2004. During her tenure she has been on the scene of 18 major transportation accidents, including last summer’s fatal collision of two Metro trains. Before joining the Board, she was a senior professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.


What did you learn about leadership while working on the Hill? Working on the Hill I got to see leadership in action — it’s one of the best incubators to learn about leadership. Things move fast, and the stakes are very high. I worked for different people. Some were collaborators, and others were deal-makers, and still others were very principled [and] willing to lose a vote 97 to 3 if they believed their position was right. I had a great chance to learn about leadership. I hope my style took a little bit from each of those leaders.


BY BOB CHILD/ASSOCIATED PRESS


John T. Downey was freed by the Chinese Communist government in March 1973, following an appeal from President Nixon.


Richard G. Fecteau is weighed and measured by a Chinese nurse. Fecteau was released in December 1971 and crossed by foot into Hong Kong.


What lessons did you learn about negotiation and collaboration? I think it’s important to understand that it’s not always a zero-sum game. It’s not: “If I win, you’re going to lose.” There’s often times a win-win solution, but people have to be creative and give a little bit to get a lot. In the end, if you can work with each other, and let other people take the lead or credit, you can accomplish a lot.


How has your past experience helped you work with the Hill as NTSB chairman?


I understand the pace, demand for information and the challenges in balancing the different interests. It allows me to get them the information they need to do their jobs, because I’m familiar with the process. I think that’s one of the challenges — things in D.C. don’t always work like they do in corporate America or on Main Street. You need to understand the environment that you’re working in in order to have maximum effectiveness.


How do you get people to work together during transportation accidents? When we’re on site at an accident, [the staff] is a well-oiled machine. They know what their job is, and they get about the business of doing it straight away. Working with stakeholders is a little bit different because at times, this is their first exposure to the NTSB and what we do and sometimes their first exposure to the federal government. The NTSB comes into a community often during the worst crisis it has faced in a generation and one involving great tragedy. We get key people to work together during those incidents [and] through direct and factual communications, establish an open relationship with them. There are so many people in the federal government who work in anonymity all the time. During accident investigations, the public gets a glimpse into what NTSB employees do. I think that it gives them faith in their


on washingtonpost.com


How diverse is your staff, including its management team — not only in race and ethnicity, but also in gender, age, religion and general backgrounds? What ways might help your staff improve its


diversity or take better advantage of its diversity?  E-mail your answer to federaleye@washingtonpost.com, and include your full name, home town and the agency for which you work. We might include your response in Friday’s Washington Post.


Those top jobs are going fast (lobbyists need not apply) Al Kamen reports that only 43 of the senior Cabinet-level jobs being tracked by The Post remain unfilled, after an uncharacteristic recent surge of activity in the Senate. You might even find one that involves lots and lots of travel. In the Loop, A13.


An effort to stamp out a postage increase As the Postal Service proposes higher prices for several products, the nation’s largest mailers say they’re mounting an unprecedented campaign to stop the increases. The Federal Page, A13.


Joe Davidson is away. The Federal Diary will resume when he returns.


B3


“I think it’s important to understand that it’s not always a zero-sum


game.” — Deborah A.P. Hersman, NTSB head


government and gives them confidence that there are people who are working very hard, looking out for the public interest.


Can you share examples of how you’re putting people in the right jobs?


One of the first challenges as a leader in any organization is making sure that you put the right person in the right job from the start. As leaders, we have obligations to fulfill our mission, but we also have a concurrent obligation to our employees. People spend way too much time on the job not to feel valued and fulfilled in the work that they do. Sometimes it’s about assessing individual strengths and making sure that you’ve matched them up with the needs of the organization. It is a challenge, and it requires ongoing monitoring and making hard decisions.


What leadership lessons have you learned from being a mom of three boys? You need to define your


expectations and hold people accountable, set boundaries and define consequences, and hold to your word even when it’s uncomfortable or you wish you could change things. Sometimes managing people is like working with your family — they might, on occasion, disappoint you, but in the end, you really want them to do well, to flourish and grow.


Please send comments and ideas to fedcoach@ourpublicservice.org. Visit On Leadership at views. washingtonpost.com/leadership/ fedcoach


There are three weekly installments:  Mondays: “Getting Ahead” — advice on “leading up.”  Wednesdays: “View From the Top Floor” — interviews with federal leaders.  Fridays: Answering questions about navigating the federal workforce terrain.


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