Air America was a covert airline secretly run by the CIA during the Cold War, most active from the 1950s through the end of the Vietnam War, and while it outwardly appeared to be a normal commercial carrier, it was actually used for highly sensitive missions across Southeast Asia. Originally created out of Civil Air Transport, the airline became a vital lifeline for covert operations in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, where it ferried weapons, food, and supplies into remote areas, inserted and extr