[2][3][4] CAT was created by Claire Chennault and Whiting Willauer in 1946 as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (CNRRA) Air Transport to airlift supplies and food into war-ravaged China.

[8] Its civilian-marked craft were frequently used, under the control of the Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force, to launch search and rescue missions for US pilots downed throughout Southeast Asia.

Air America pilots were the only known private US corporate employees to operate non-Federal Aviation Administration-certified military aircraft in a combat role.

Dan Kurtz, originally from Michigan, now living in Tennessee, masterminded the civilian masquerade of commercial pilots that in reality were covert CIA operatives flying rescue and supply missions in the late '60s.

[9][6] Air America flew civilians, diplomats, spies, refugees, commandos, sabotage teams, doctors, war casualties, drug enforcement officers, and even visiting VIPs like Richard Nixon all over Southeast Asia.

Thousands of tons of food were delivered via Air America routes, including live chickens, pigs, water buffalo, and cattle.

During the war, the CIA recruited people from Meo (Hmong) population to fight the Pathet Lao rebels and their North Vietnamese allies.

McCoy writes that "Air America began flying opium from mountain villages north and east of the Plain of Jars to Gen Vang Pao's headquarters at Long Tieng."

[14] Air America were alleged to have profited from transporting opium and heroin on behalf of Hmong leader Vang Pao,[15][16] or of "turning a blind eye" to the Laotian military doing it.

[2][3] This allegation has been supported by former Laos CIA paramilitary Anthony Poshepny (aka Tony Poe), former Air America pilots, and other people involved in the war.

[18] Historian Alfred W. McCoy stated that: In most cases, the CIA's role involved various forms of complicity, tolerance or studied ignorance about the trade, not any direct culpability in the actual trafficking ...

Many disabled pilots were ultimately compensated under the federal Longshoremen's Act after lengthy battles with CIA bureaucrats who denied their connection to the airline for years.

[25] This version of Air America operated Lockheed L-1011 TriStar wide body jetliners with scheduled passenger flights serving Baltimore (BWI), Detroit (DTW), Honolulu (HNL), London (LGW) and Los Angeles (LAX).