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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Human Use Review Board.md

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+---
+created: 2025-07-23
+updated: 2025-07-23
+title: Human Use Review Board
+tags:
+  - concept
+  - ethics
+  - research
+description: A Human Use Review Board is a committee responsible for reviewing and approving research involving human subjects to ensure ethical standards and participant safety.
+category: "U.S. Government"
+summary: "A Human Use Review Board (also known as an Institutional Review Board or IRB) is a committee responsible for reviewing and approving research involving human subjects to ensure ethical standards and participant safety."
+---
+
+A [[Human Use Review Board]] (also known as an Institutional Review Board or IRB) is a committee responsible for reviewing and approving research involving human subjects to ensure ethical standards and participant safety. These boards are a direct consequence of past abuses in human experimentation, such as those seen in [[Project MKUltra]] and Nazi medical experiments.[^1]
+
+In the context of the [[STARGATE PROJECT|Stargate Project]], the remote viewing program was categorized as [[Human Use Experimentation]], requiring the establishment of a Human Use Review Board within the [[U.S. Army]] to oversee its activities. This ensured that participants provided informed consent and that the research adhered to ethical guidelines.[^1]
+
+---
+
+[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Systems Exploitation Detachment.md

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+---
+created: 2025-03-05
+updated: 2025-03-05
+title: Systems Exploitation Detachment
+tags:
+  - military intelligence
+  - remote viewing
+  - organizational structure
+description: The Systems Exploitation Detachment (SED), led by Colonel Robert Keenan, initiated the Army's remote viewing program in 1977. It operated under INSCOM and ACSI, with the Special Action Branch executing tasks for U.S. intelligence agencies under the code name GRILL FLAME.
+category: "Intelligence Operation"
+summary: "The Systems Exploitation Detachment (SED) was a unit within the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) and the office of the assistant chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI)."
+start: 1977
+location: "Fort Meade, Maryland"
+---
+The Systems Exploitation Detachment (SED) was a unit within the [[United States Army Intelligence and Security Command]] (INSCOM) and the office of the assistant chief of staff for intelligence ([[ACSI]]). It was headed by Colonel [[Robert Keenan]] when the remote viewing program was initiated in 1977. [[Ed Dames]] considered the SED to be an elite unit of creative thinkers.
+
+The SED played a crucial role in the establishment of the Army's remote viewing program. When [[Frederick Atwater]] proposed forming a remote viewing team, he presented the idea to Colonel Robert Keenan, who was in charge of the SED. Keenan approved Atwater's proposal, leading to the program's creation in 1977.
+### Organizational Structure and Control
+*   The SED was under the control of two entities [i]:
+    *   United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) [i]
+    *   The office of the assistant chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI) [i]
+*   The remote viewing unit itself, formally known as the "Special Action Branch," took its orders from the Pentagon office of the Army’s assistant chief of staff for intelligence.
+*   Tasking requests for the Special Action Branch came from various offices throughout the U.S. intelligence community, including the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]], and the [[President’s National Security Council]].
+*   Orders and information were marked with the standard Army intelligence **SECRET** and the Pentagon code word, [[STARGATE PROJECT|GRILL FLAME]].

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Tower Commission.md

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+---
+tags:
+  - Program
+  - Project
+  - USA
+  - IranContra
+category: "Intelligence Operation"
+summary: "The Tower Commission was a presidential commission of inquiry established to investigate the Iran-Contra Affair. It was headed by former Senator John Tower."
+start: 1986-12-01
+end: 1987-02-27
+location: "Washington, D.C."
+---
+The [[Tower Commission]] was a presidential commission of inquiry established to investigate the [[Iran-Contra Affair]]. It was headed by former Senator [[John Tower]].
+
+The commission's investigation focused on the years 1984 to 1986. Its conclusions were largely seen as a cover-up, as it declared that some individuals in the [[National Security Council]], interested in the release of hostages in [[Lebanon]], had tried to make a deal with the [[Iran|Iranians]], selling them 97 [[TOW missile]]s and some [[Hawk missile]]s. The commission made no mention of the ongoing original arms channel between [[Israel]] and [[Iran]], despite [[John Tower|Tower's]] inside knowledge of the weapons trade with [[Iran]].[^1]
+
+[[George H.W. Bush]] later nominated [[John Tower|Tower]] for defense secretary, but he was not confirmed by [[United States|Congress]] due to the controversy surrounding the commission's findings.[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/United States Army Special Forces.md

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+---
+category: "Paramilitary"
+summary: "The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, are a special operations force of the United States Army. They are mentioned in connection with several individuals involved in covert operations and intelligence activities.[^1]"
+start: 1952
+location: "Fort Bragg, North Carolina"
+---
+The [[United States Army Special Forces|U.S. Army Special Forces]], also known as the Green Berets, are a special operations force of the [[U.S. Army]]. They are mentioned in connection with several individuals involved in covert operations and intelligence activities.[^1]
+
+[[Michael Hand]], co-founder of [[Nugan Hand Bank]], was a highly decorated Special Forces Green Beret soldier in [[Vietnam]]. He later moved to the clandestine [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] war in [[Laos]].[^1]
+
+[[Bo Gritz]] was also a highly decorated Special Forces Green Beret in [[Vietnam]]. Both Gritz and Hand had special knowledge of intelligence operations in the [[Golden Triangle]].[^1]
+
+An American code-named "Charlie," who allegedly helped [[Michael Hand]] escape from [[Australia]] to [[Fiji]], was identified as a former member of the [[United States Army Special Forces|U.S. Special Forces]] and an ex-[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] operative.[^1]
+
+[[Allan Boyak]], an attorney who represented [[Michael Riconosciuto]], had a background in the [[United States Army Special Forces|U.S. Army Special Forces]] and reportedly did some contract work for the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] during the 1960s and early 1970s.[^1]
+
+---
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.