Robert Trumbull Crowley was an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 since 1947, achieving the rank of assistant deputy director for operations, second in command of the CIA's Directorate of Operations

National Clandestine Service

The National Clandestine Service is one of the four main components of the Central Intelligence Agency...

, which was in charge of covert operations.

A native of Chicago, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 and graduate of the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 in West Point

West Point, New York

West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, he served in the US Army in the Pacific theater during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. After the war, he remained in the United States Army Reserve

United States Army Reserve

The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....

, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1986.

After retiring from the CIA, he cowrote The New KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

: Engine of Soviet Power (1985) with former CIA intelligence officer William R. Corson.

After Crowley's death in 2000, Gregory Douglas published a book called, Regicide: The Official Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Regicide: The Official Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Regicide: The Official Assassination of John F. Kennedy by Gregory Douglas, purports to be based on files from former CIA official Robert Crowley....

(Monte Sano Media, 2002, ISBN 1-59148-297-6). The book claims that there was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy, and uses material purportedly obtained from Crowley to claim that the CIA had a central role in the assassination under the code name Operation Zipper. In fact, according to his son, Crowley never actually met Douglas, and viewed him as a harmless eccentric.