CIA sent four men on doomed spy mission as branch struggled for validity, feature recounts
@CIA
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The Maritime Branch is a CIA paramilitary component, one of the four principal elements within the Special Operations Group of the CIA’s Special Activities Centre, typically tasked with clandestine operations. The other elements include the Air Branch, the Ground Branch, and the Armour and Special Programs.
In 2008, the Central Intelligence Agency sent four people on a mission into the Philippine and South China Seas and no-one came back
The mission was conducted before the South China sea became an apple of discord in the area, at a point in time when the CIA's Maritime Branch was adrift, struggling to prove the reason for its existence and competing with the Navy.
In an attempt to accomplish the espionage venture, the four-strong crew, led by Stephen Stanek, a covert CIA operative, and his younger mission partner Michael Perich sailed into a hurricane, Tropical Storm Higos, to never be heard from again.
https://sputniknews.com/us/202009201080518431-cia-sent-four-men-on-doomed-spy-mission-as-branch-struggled-for-validity-feature-recounts/