Charlotte Holder Clinger Collection
Content Description
The collection includes a 8 August 2006 oral history transcript; an original and copy of invitation to the "CIA Salutes Its Military Women and WIMSA," 16 October 1997; a newspaper clipping copy with Clinger featured in picture leaving Reynolds Hall, circa 1963-1964; a copy of Special Orders at Lackland Air Force Base, TX, 27 October 1967; a personnel action request, 13 July 1968; 2 copies of Permanent Change of Station Request, 23 July 1968; a certificate copy of Air Intelligence Officer Training Course Completion, 6 August 1968; a copy of Appointment of Sponsor paper, 18 July 1968; a copy of Special Orders paper, 21 January 1969; a copy of DCOI Division Security Officer Appointment, 16 April 1969; 2 copies of Letter of Appreciation, 6 June 1969; a copy of Special Order, 5 September 1969; a copy of Application for Shipment of Household Goods, 8 September 1969; a copy of "To All Members of the Armed Forces" list, 1968-1969; a sheet of recognition for "The first female member of the 553 Reconnaissance Wing," undated; a typed letter describing Clinger's facts and specific achievements, 18 July 1973; a Temporary Duty Brief, 15 January 1973; a Personal History paper, 1 August 1975; a photograph with husband, Noel, at presentation for "CIA military pioneer woman," 16 October 1997; a photograph of cutting cake at presentation, October 1997; a photograph of her at DCOI Intelligence office at Korat Air Force, Thailand, December 1968; a photograph of her while on a Junior Officers Council trip to Bergstrom Air Force Base, circa 1970-1971; a photograph with Colonel Lacy and Air Force personnel, 1973; a photograph with her behind desk at Talchili Air Force Base, Thailand, undated; a photograph of Clinger speaking to Colonel Lacy at his desk, 1973; a photograph of her in uniform at Officer Training School, August-September 1967; a photograph while in Korat, Thailand, 1969; a photograph of Clinger seated at desk while working in Korat, Thailand, 1969; a photograph of C-121 "Connie" plane, 1969; a photograph of briefing aircrews before mission, circa 1969; a photograph of her returning stateside, 1968-1969; a photograph of Air Force party in Korat, 1969; a photograph of Clinger with friend Linda Jones, Bangkok, 1969; a photograph of her while in her sleeping quarters, 1968-1969; photograph of Clinger partially out of picture, November 1969; a photograph of her visiting family before starting Tech School, 1968; a photograph of her receiving award, 1994; 2 photographs of Clinger and another unidentified female holding orphans during marathon in Nakhon Ratchisima city, 1969; 3 copies of Fighter Tactics Conference, Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, 1969; a paper written by Clinger titled "DCOI (Wing Intelligence)," undated; Pilot Log 1940-43; WASP patches; WASP logo; Civil Air Patrol bracelet and pilot wings pin; WASP newsletter 1943-1976; Artifact Box 1 contains a small frame with WWII military service medals and ribbons with name tag and pilot pins.
Dates
- circa 1968-1997
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.
Biographical / Historical
Charlotte Holder Clinger (b. 1943) of Asheboro, North Carolina, worked in intelligence in the United States Air Force and the reserves from 1967 to 1994, including two tours in Southeast Asia. She also worked for the Central Intelligence Agency from the late 1970s to the 2001.
Charlotte Holder Clinger was born on 8 November 1943 in Asheboro, North Carolina. The family moved throughout the Carolinas while Clinger was growing up, and moved to Queretaro City, Mexico, for one year when she was a senior in high school. Clinger attended Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina, for one year, the University of the Americas in Mexico City for one year, and then transferred to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). She graduated from UNCG in 1965 with a degree in history.
Clinger joined the air force in August 1967. She attended Officer Training School for three months at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and was then sent to Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, for intelligence training in November. While at Lowry, Clinger met her future husband, Noel Clinger.
In fall 1968, Clinger received orders to the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Korat, Thailand, where she was the first woman ever stationed with the 553rd Reconnaissance Wing. She did intelligence briefings and debriefings during that one-year tour, which also included temporary duty at U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Air Field. Clinger returned to the United States in September 1969 with orders to Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas, where she worked in intelligence at the 12th Air Force Headquarters with the Tactical Air Command.
In January 1973, Clinger returned to Southeast Asia, this time assigned to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. She initially did intelligence work for F-111 fighter bombers, then worked as wing executive officer under Colonel Thomas Lacy. She returned to Austin in July 1973. In December 1973 Charlotte Clinger married Noel Clinger and transferred back to Lowry AFB, where they both taught in the intelligence school.
In 1975, Charlotte Clinger resigned active duty and joined a reserve unit of the Air Force Intelligence Service based at Lowry, while working on a master's degree at the University of Northern Colorado. In the late 1970s, the Clingers joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and moved to Fairfax, Virginia. During that time Clinger also became the first woman to command a Joint Military Reserve Training Command unit, which she did from 1991 to 1994. Clinger retired from the reserve as a full colonel in 1994. She retired from the CIA in 2001.
Extent
0.21 Linear Feet (4 folders, Textile Box 1, Artifact Box 1)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Condition Description
The condition is good.
Offensive Language Statement
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Processing Information
Processed by Matthew McCarthy.
- Title
- Charlotte Holder Clinger Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Matthew McCarthy
- Date
- 2022 August
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives Repository