The Tree of Smoke

This term is a Biblical reference used by Colonel Sands to describe his philosophy about gathering intelligence. The Colonel believes the CIA should be gathering intelligence and working back from that information. He says that the policy is to use intelligence to justify actions. Jimmy Storm uses the term “Tree of Smoke” to describe the Colonel's extensive collection of index cards, indicating that he believes them to be worthless.

The Colonel's Footlockers

These are three typical military footlockers that contain thousands of notes about various people and places in Vietnam. Skip Sands is tasked with making copies and cross-referencing all the notes and that keeps him away from real work on the war for several years.

The Colonel's Article

Rick Voss is the first to mention this article to Skip. The article was presented to the CIA for publication in that agency's in-house...