---
category: Intelligence & Government
summary: Deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence who assessed Soviet
  intentions during the 1973 Yom Kippur War nuclear alert.
tags:
- Person
- CIA
- Israel
- Soviet
---

Patrick J. Parker served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence. He recalled a consensus among senior intelligence officials in the [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/) that the Soviets were "understandably frightened of the situation and eager to contain it" during the 1973 [Yom Kippur War](/events/yom-kippur-war/), specifically regarding the alleged Soviet warhead shipment to [Egypt](/places/egypt/).[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.