Edwin Kennedy Wright, also known as Pinky (December 28, 1898 – September 3, 1983). was a career

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer and Deputy Director of the US

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

Biography

Wright was born on December 28, 1898, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

. He attended

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

and enlisted in military service in 1920 with the Oregon National Guard. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the regular Army on July 3, 1923. Wright achieved distinction as an Armored Force (tank corps) Instructor and G-3 operations officer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he became an intelligence briefing officer on the staff of General Omar N. Bradley at 12th US Army Group in Europe. After the war, Wright became executive director of the Intelligence Division, US Army general staff in the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

(Feb-Jun 1946) under General George C. Marshall. On Bradley's recommendation, Wright became Deputy G-2 under then Army-Air Forces Major General

Hoyt S. Vandenberg Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (January 24, 1899 – April 2, 1954) was a United States Air Force general. He served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence. During World War II, Vandenberg was ...

(G-2). President Harry Truman appointed Vandenberg to replace Admiral

Sidney Souers Sidney William Souers (March 30, 1892 – January 14, 1973) was an American admiral and intelligence expert. Rear Admiral Souers was appointed as the first Director of Central Intelligence on January 23, 1946 by President Harry S. Truman, where ...

as the second Director of Central Intelligence (CIG-CIA) on January 20, 1946. Wright became Vandenberg's ''Executive to the Director of CIG'' the same date. The

National Security Act of 1947 The National Security Act of 1947 ( Pub.L.br>80-253 61 Stat.br>495 enacted July 26, 1947) was a law enacting major restructuring of the United States government's military and intelligence agencies following World War II. The majority of the pro ...

, signed into law by Truman, gave legislative authority to the new Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Wright was promoted to brigadier general on February 3, 1947, becoming the first deputy director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) (1947-1949), serving under both Vandenberg and his successor (the third DCI) Adm.

Roscoe Hillenkoetter Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter (May 8, 1897 – June 18, 1982) was the third director of the post–World War II United States Central Intelligence Group (CIG), the third Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and the first director of the Central ...

. Hillenkoetter and the new defense secretary,

James Forrestal James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic fami ...

, injected DDCI Wright into interagency disputes over which department was to direct 'black activities' under

clandestine operation A clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed by the general population or specific enemy forces. Until the 1970s, clandestine operations were primarily political in ...

s. General Wright insisted that the CIA "was and had to be the sole agency to conduct organized foreign clandestine operations." In 1949, Wright was assigned to

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

's G-3 operations staff at headquarters Far East Command (Tokyo). He was promoted to Major General on March 8, 1952, becoming Commander of the US Military District of Washington (1952-1954), then took over as commanding general of the 6th US Army Infantry Division at Fort Ord, California. Wright retired on September 30, 1955. He was awarded the Silver Star Medal (1950 - for "''conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy in Korea''") followed by the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. Th ...

(1952). Wright died on September 3, 1983, at age 85.Edwin K Wright: http://yellowlegs-and-others.com/Biography/biography-detail/W/Wright,_Edwin_Kennedy_(Pinky)_ Gen_G-3_FEChtm

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Edwin Kennedy 1898 births 1983 deaths United States Army generals Recipients of the Silver Star