Colonel James H. Critchfield, USA (ret.) “served in the United States Army in World War II, first in North Africa and up through Europe, where he was one of the youngest colonels, leading the 2nd Battalion of 141st Infantry of the 36th Infantry Division. He won the Bronze Star twice, and the Silver Star for gallantry in resisting a German assault on December 12, 1944.”  The Arlington National Cemetery Website continued, he “was an officer of the US Central Intelligence Agency who rose to become the chief of its Near East and South Asia division. He also served as the CIA's national intelligence officer for energy in the 1970s and after he retired in 1974, he became an energy policy consultant in the Middle East, serving such clients as the Sultan of Oman. Critchfield served as the president of a Honeywell, Inc. subsidiary called Tetra Tech International.”  Colonel James H. Critchfield died in April 2003.  He is the author of Partners at the Creation: The Men Behind Postwar Germany’s Defense and Intelligence Establishments.

According to the book description of Partners at the Creation: The Men Behind Postwar Germany’s Defense and Intelligence Establishments, “World War II combat veteran and longtime CIA officer James Critchfield tells the incredible story of how a handful of former members of the German Army General Staff, under the watchful eye of American intelligence, planned a postwar national security system. At the heart of the activities he describes, Critchfield recounts details of the twin developments of a German intelligence service headed by Hitler's former chief of intelligence on the Eastern Front Reinhard Gehlen, and a German defense force headed by Hitler's former chief of operations Adolf Heusinger. These behind-the-scenes revelations will attract readers who enjoy good spy stories as well as historians of the period, for it has not been fully known until now the role played by the CIA or by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who secretly sponsored the men and their work. Known only as "Mr. Marshall," Critchfield was the CIA officer in charge of the secret compound in Bavaria where Gehlen and Heusinger worked with their staffs to put the new intelligence and defense systems in place. The stars and stripes flying from the flagpole at the center of the compound provided cover and implied American political support. The author gives full credit to the men's success, which he says helped Germany emerge in 1955 as a sovereign nation and a member of NATO. Critchfield's gripping eight-year chronicle of creating these organizations, as Germany moved from enemy to ally, exposes readers to a new perspective of postwar development.”