The Distinguished Intelligence Cross is the highest decoration awarded by the United States

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. It is given for "a voluntary act or acts of extraordinary heroism involving the acceptance of existing dangers with conspicuous fortitude and exemplary courage". Only a handful of people have been awarded this medal in the history of the agency, most posthumously. As a consequence, it is one of the rarest awards for valor in the United States. The cross is the agency's equivalent of the military's Service Cross, i.e.,

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

, Army Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross. The agency has two awards for valor; the other is the Intelligence Star, which is analogous to the military's

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

Known recipients

* Leo F. Baker, posthumously for the

Bay of Pigs invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

* William F. Buckley * John T. Downey * Richard Fecteau * Wade C. Gray, posthumously for the

* James Monroe, CIA paramilitary officer during Vietnam War * Thomas W. "Pete" Ray, posthumously for the

* Riley W. Shamburger, posthumously for the

* Greg Vogle, paramilitary officer and CIA trailblazer * Molly Huckaby Hardy, posthumously for the

1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 220 people were killed in two nearly simultaneous car bomb, truck bomb explosions in two East African capital cities, one at the Embassy of the Uni ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

* David N. Tyson, for actions during the

Battle of Qala-i-Jangi The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in Afghanistan (sometimes also referred to as the "Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif") was a six-day military engagement following an uprising of prisoners of war who had been taken into custody by U.S.-led coalition forces on ...

Harnden, Toby, "First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11". Little, Brown, 2021. p. 310-311

References

{{reflist Awards and decorations of the Central Intelligence Agency

Known recipients

See also

References