Nation: New Orders for the Admiral

Now he directs more than the Central Intelligence Agency

Since becoming chief of the CIA last March, Admiral Stansfield Turner has come on like David Farragut at Mobile Bay: Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead! Turner gave orders to discharge 820 spooks. He then dismissed Deputy Director for Operations William Wells, who had carried out the firing. The admiral also surrounded himself with former naval officers as high-level subordinates.

Morale has listed at the agency, and old hands have loosed broadsides at Turner, so far with little effect. He has also caused nervousness and...

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