Says Vietnam Contract Flyers Owed Federal Benefits

Like other pilots who flew throughout Southeast Asia in the 1950s and 1960s for companies like Air America, Civil Air Transport, and Air Asia, Jack Stiles was actually flying for the Central Intelligence Agency -- although he didn't know it at the time. The CIA has long since owned up to the fact it operated those airlines... and Stiles believes that means he, along with his fellow pilots and ground workers, are entitled to government compensation.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Stiles is part of a group pressuring Congress to pass legislation granting retirement benefits for pilots and other workers who served their country, without their knowledge at the time.

Looking back with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, there were signs the private flying job Stiles applied for after returning from Korea wasn't entirely on the up-and-up... but Stiles says he didn't notice them. He didn't think it was odd the interviewer already had his Navy service records, for example... and he didn't question why he was soon flying US passengers and cargo over Vietnam, in American planes but with French markings.

"All I knew was it was a flying job," Stiles said, adding the true nature of his mission became clearer when he and other Civil Air Transport pilots "began flying in Laos, making air drops to indigenous forces."

While it's no secret today the CIA operated the airlines Stiles and others worked for, the clandestine agency does not officially recognize their contributions when it comes to paying out benefits. A previous attempt to change that was shot down in appeals court, and a current bill aimed at changing the system is stuck in committee.

Supporters of the proposed legislation say time is running out for Stiles and other pilots.

"If the government waits long enough, they won't have to pay us because we'll all be dead," Stiles told the Atlanta newspaper.

"If it doesn't happen this year, it's not going to happen," added former Air America attorney William Merrigan, who now works as an Army attorney in Washington.

Merrigan says there are some signs of hope for Stiles and others, however. Nevada Senator Harry Reid has sponsored a bill to bring workers for Air America and other such airlines under the federal umbrella. Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) -- whose district includes a large number of former Air America pilots -- has offered a similar bill in the House of Representatives.

"The employees of Air America risked life and limb for our nation, and they should be recognized for the role they played in our military efforts in East Asia," Berkley said.

Stiles says it didn't matter to him at the time who he was flying for... and in fact, many pilots considered themselves a vital part of US efforts to thwart the spread of communism throughout the world.

But at the time, it did not matter to him, or to most of the other pilots. They saw themselves as part of the effort to stem the advance of communism in Southeast Asia.

"I've always been a patriot," Stiles said. "If you don't pay me anything, that's fine. I believe in what I'm doing."

In was that esprit de corps that kept Stiles and others from seeking out benefits until the 1980s. When those pilots did ask for retirement pay and other benefits, they learned the Office of Personnel Management had changed its regulations, barring contract workers from claiming federal benefits.

Current efforts to change the rule are opposed by the CIA, and the OPM.

"Granting retroactive retirement benefits to former Air America employees would undermine principles of fairness and consistency and could prompt countless requests from other individuals who have served the Government in similar capacities. Such requests could compromise Agency activities and carry a significant cost burden," the CIA wrote Senator Reid in 2005.

Merrigan counters it would only cost the government around $25 million, at most, to provide benefits for the roughly 500 workers remaining, and surviving widows. "A lot of the people who will get the money will be the widows of these people who made an awful lot of sacrifices. Many of them are living only on Social Security," Merrigan said.

Stiles says it isn't about the money, but rather the principle of the government caring for its own.

"I think it's justified," he said. "I think it's way overdue."

FMI: www.air-america.org