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According to Elizondo, Garry Reid was part of a hostile leadership environment within the OUSD(I) that was determined to undermine and dismantle AATIP. |
Garry Reid is a former Department of Defense (DoD) official who served as the Director of Operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and later as a senior leader in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD(I)). He is described by Luis Elizondo as a significant antagonist who actively worked to obstruct the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and later launched a campaign of reprisal against Elizondo after his resignation.1
Opposition to AATIP and Luis Elizondo
According to Elizondo, Garry Reid was part of a hostile leadership environment within the OUSD(I) that was determined to undermine and dismantle AATIP. After Elizondo resigned from the Pentagon in October 2017 and addressed his resignation letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Reid allegedly intercepted the letter and confronted Elizondo, threatening to damage his career and security clearance.1
Following Elizondo's public disclosure of AATIP, Elizondo wrote that Reid launched a "scorched-earth" campaign against him. This included seizing his computers and files, questioning his former employees, and launching a criminal inquiry with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) into the release of the three UAP videos. This investigation ultimately found no wrongdoing on Elizondo's part. Reid was also allegedly responsible for the Pentagon's public statements that falsely denied Elizondo's involvement with AATIP.1
Information memoranda on Elizondo and AATIP
An information memorandum headed "FROM: Garry Reid, Director for Defense Intelligence, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence" answers six questions from the Secretary of Defense about Luis Elizondo and the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). It states that Elizondo "has provided three different explanations for his sudden resignation," and: "To the best of my knowledge, he had no job responsibilities related to the AATIP. The AATIP was terminated in 2012."2
The memorandum gives Elizondo's assignment to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence as September 28, 2008 to October 4, 2017, and records that he submitted a resignation letter on October 3, 2017 requesting immediate termination of his employment. It states that the Office of Special Investigations was conducting an inquiry to determine whether Elizondo mishandled classified information, and that its informal assessment "did not find any wrongdoing by Mr. Elizondo."2 A second memorandum, "Update on Media Reporting Related to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program," refers to events of December 2017 and states that Elizondo "affirms his alleged role in leading the AATIP program" in a television interview.2
Inspector General Investigation
Garry Reid was the subject of a Department of Defense Inspector General (IG) investigation into numerous allegations, including maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, sexual harassment, and fostering a hostile work environment. The IG eventually concluded that Reid had violated Joint Ethics Regulations. He was later reassigned from the OUSD(I) to the DIA as a "special advisor."1
Footnotes
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Elizondo, Luis. Imminent. William Morrow, 2024. ↩︎
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Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, information memoranda, "Response to Your Questions on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and Actions of Former DoD Employee Luis Elizondo," from Garry Reid, Director for Defense Intelligence, and "Update on Media Reporting Related to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program," both undated, with Elizondo's resignation letter of October 3, 2017 at Tab B. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/UFOsandUAPs/18-F-0324_Docs.pdf ↩︎