Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

French Intelligence Under Fire Over al Qaeda Shooter. France's prime minister was forced to reject accusations on Friday that intelligence lapses allowed a young Muslim with a violent criminal record, spotted twice in Afghanistan, to become the first al Qaeda-inspired killer to strike on its soil.

Hardened by battling Islamic militants from its former North African colony of Algeria, France's security services have long been regarded as among the most effective in Europe, having prevented militant attacks on French soil for the last 15 years.

Opposition politicians, including far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, suggested that negligence or errors had permitted Mohamed Merah, 23, to carry out three deadly shootings within 10 days before he was identified, located and killed.

But Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the police and intelligence agencies had done an exemplary job.

"Resolving a criminal case of this importance in 10 days, I believe that's practically unprecedented in the history of our country," Fillon told RTL radio.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe had appeared to acknowledged on Thursday that there were grounds to question possible security flaws, saying: "We need to bring some clarity to this."

Merah shot dead three Jewish children and four adults in three separate attacks despite having been under surveillance by the DCRI domestic intelligence agency, which questioned him as recently as November. [Read more: Flynn/Reuters/23March2012]

U.S. Intelligence: Looming Water Woes Will Add to Global Instability. Floods and water shortages in the next 30 years will make it hard for many countries to keep up with growing demand for fresh water, particularly in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the U.S. intelligence community reported Thursday.

Water problems in the next decade will add to instability in countries that are important to U.S. national security, the report said. Floods and shortages also will make it hard for some countries to grow enough food or produce enough energy, creating risk for global food markets and slowing economic growth.

"I think it's fair to say the intelligence community's findings are sobering," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who requested the report last year. "These threats are real and they do raise serious security concerns."

Clinton, speaking at an event to mark World Water Day, announced a new U.S. Water Partnership, made up of private companies, philanthropy and advocacy groups, academics and government. The group will coordinate efforts to solve water problems and make U.S. expertise more accessible.

"We believe this will help map out our route to a more water-secure world," Clinton said.

The intelligence assessment, drafted by the Defense Intelligence Agency with contributions from the CIA and other agencies, was aimed at answering how water problems will affect U.S. national security interests. The classified version, finished in October, named specific countries expected to have water problems, but they weren't identified in the unclassified version. The public version said only that analysts focused on "strategically important countries" along major rivers in the Middle East, Central and South Asia and North Africa. [Read more: Schoof/McClatchy/22March2012]

New US Spy Satellite Poised for March 29 Launch. Within the enclosed confines of the massive Space Launch Complex 6 pad at the southern end of California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, a site once envisioned to fly the space shuttle, a Delta 4 rocket and its classified satellite cargo are undergoing final preps for blastoff next week.

Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday, March 29 on the NROL-25 mission to deploy a hush-hush payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive government agency that designs and operates the country's fleet of orbiting spy satellites.

Although the exact launch time hasn't been revealed, officials say the liftoff will happen sometime between 2 and 5:15 p.m. local time (5-8:15 p.m. EDT; 2100-0015 GMT).

The launch will be the first of four that the NRO has planned this year, a batch of missions that also includes an Atlas 5 on June 20 and a Delta 4-Heavy on June 28, both from Cape Canaveral, and another Atlas 5 from Vandenberg on Aug. 2. 

"Last year we executed the most aggressive launch campaign in over 25 years. We successfully launched six satellites in seven months and this year with the same determination we're scheduled to launch four more in five months," Betty Sapp, the NRO's principal deputy director, said in testimony before Congress on March 8. [Photos: Declassified U.S. Spy Satellites Revealed]

"These successful launches are a very important and visible reminder of the space reconnaissance mission the NRO started over 50 years ago, and continues with such great success today. We are committed to smart acquisition investments and practices to ensure the continued coverage and availability of our vital national security systems and we work tirelessly to deliver these systems on time and within budget." [Read more: Ray/Space/22March2012]

FOIA Data Suggests FCC More Secretive Than CIA. Recent data suggests that the FCC, not the nation's intelligence leading agency, has been in at least one particular case the most secretive agency of the Obama Administration.

During a House appropriations subcommittee hearing Monday, Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart noted that the FCC's denial rate of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests was significantly higher than the rest of the federal government.

Citing publicly available information from FOIA.gov, the congressman noted that the 48 percent of FOIA requests the FCC rejected in 2010 was far higher than the CIA's 0.7 percent rate. The National Security Agency denied 0.5 percent of requests. Homeland Security denied 0.2 percent. The rest of the government, the congressman noted, denied a collective 7.3 percent of FOIA requests during that same time.

"Why does the FCC all of a sudden have more secrets than the CIA when you're dealing with FOIA requests?" asked Diaz-Balart during the hearing.

"Well, I am not familiar with those numbers and I haven't heard them before, We'd be happy to look at them together with you, and try to understand the trends," Genachowski said to the congressman. "Certainly, we recognize our obligations under FOIA and we have a team of professionals who handle FOIA requests and understand their obligations to comply and meet their obligations under law."

Several of the requests, according to FOIA.gov's data cited by the congressman, were denied under the justification that requests were "not reasonably described."

"Under your watch, the FCC denied about 16.4 percent of FOIA requests based on records that were not, quote, 'reasonably described,'" said Diaz-Balart to Genachowski. [Read more: Peterson/DailyCaller/21March2012]

DoD: Cyber Weapons May Be Better Than Cyber Espionage Tools. The Pentagon is shifting gears on cyber strategy to research technologies capable of short-circuiting enemy systems and tailored to nation state adversaries, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and National Security Agency officials told lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon.

"The DoD is capability-limited in cyber, both defensively and offensively. We need to change that," said DARPA Acting Director Kaigham J. Gabriel, at a Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee hearing.

"A cyber exploit that always causes the target system to crash is not much of an intelligence exploit but it may be exactly the effect that a DoD mission calls for," he said. Gabriel added that the agency's expanded work on cyber weaponry - a gameplan detailed by the Washington Post yesterday - isn't new, but builds on an existing foundation. Gabriel took over DARPA operations when former director Regina Dugan departed for a position at Google earlier this month.

The Defense Department's $3.4 billion 2013 budget request for cybersecurity includes $486 million for science and technology activities at agencies like DARPA and NSA, according to the Pentagon. That research allocation would go toward long-term experimentation and immediate network deployments. [Read more: Sternstein/NextGov/20March2012]

U.S. Spy Agencies Can Keep Data on Americans Longer. The U.S. intelligence community will now be able to store information about Americans with no ties to terrorism for up to five years under new Obama administration guidelines.

Until now, the National Counterterrorism Center had to immediately destroy information about Americans that was already stored in other government databases when there were no clear ties to terrorism.

Giving the NCTC expanded record-retention authority had been called for by members of Congress who said the intelligence community did not connect strands of intelligence held by multiple agencies leading up to the failed bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas 2009.

"Following the failed terrorist attack in December 2009, representatives of the counterterrorism community concluded it is vital for NCTC to be provided with a variety of datasets from various agencies that contain terrorism information," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement late Thursday. "The ability to search against these datasets for up to five years on a continuing basis as these updated guidelines permit will enable NCTC to accomplish its mission more practically and effectively."

The new rules replace guidelines issued in 2008 and have privacy advocates concerned about the potential for data-mining information on innocent Americans.

"It is a vast expansion of the government's surveillance authority," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said of the five-year retention period. [Read more: Sullivan/AP/22March2012]

Spy Agency Cash Used for Saudi Arms Plant. The shell company set up to carry out Sweden's secret plans to build a weapons factory in Saudi Arabia was financed with cash borrowed from the country's military intelligence agency, according to a new report.

The company, Swedish Security Technology and Innovation (SSTI), was reportedly set up by the Swedish Defence Research Agency (Totalf�rsvarets forskningsinstitut - FOI) in order to oversee the construction of a factory for the maintenance and upgrade of anti-tank missile systems.

In order to keep the company secret, FOI needed cash in order to set it up, according to Svergies Radio (SR), which first reported on the secret plans for the Saudi weapons plant earlier this month.

However, FOI was unable to procure the necessary cash on its own, but instead had to rely on help from the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Milit�ra underr�ttelse- och s�kerhetstj�nsten - MUST).

MUST provided the cash to FOI in the form of a loan, according to SR.

Swedish Armed Forces (F�rsvarsmakten) spokesperson Erik Lagersten confirmed for the radio station that money was transferred to FOI, but claims that MUST didn't know that the funds were to be used to set up the shell company.

"That's something for the preliminary investigation to reveal," he told SR, referring to the preliminary criminal investigation launched by prosecutors last week in order to determine whether the secret Saudi weapons deal may have violated the law.

FOI's own investigation has revealed information leading the agency to believe "there are suspicions that a crime may have been committed", it said in a statement, prompting FOI head Jan-Olof Lind to report the incident to prosecutors.

As FOI is a state agency, it isn't allowed to start any companies without the approval of the government - something which, according to SR, did not occur in the case of SSTI, which was started in 2009.

The company was launched as part of what is referred to in confidential documents reviewed by SR as Project Simoom, a project started by FOI in 2007 with the aim of helping build an advanced weapons plant in Saudi Arabia. [Read more: TheLocal/27March2012]

Intel Civilians Transition From Pay Bands. More than 6,000 Air Force Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System employees transitioned March 25 from a pay-banded structure to a graded structure similar to the federal general schedule pay structure, Air Force Personnel Center officials said.

The secretary of defense decision to transition all defense intelligence employees currently in pay bands, except National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency employees, to grades will result in use of 15 grades and 10 tenure-based steps similar to the GS structure.

"The secretary's decision does not represent abandonment of DCIPS and its fundamental tenets of unifying the Defense Intelligence Enterprise within a performance-driven culture," said Jennifer Mendoza, the AFPC DCIPS program manager.

However, excluding the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, future base pay increases will not be directly linked to performance and employees will be aligned to the DCIPS graded structure, Mendoza explained.

"The core of the DCIPS program will stay intact, including the occupational structure, common performance management system, professional development programs and bonuses tied to performance," she said.

The transition has been in planning since early 2010, Mendoza said. Transition to the DCIPS graded structure will be position-based, and employees will be assigned to the grade of their permanent position based on their primary duties and responsibilities. [Read more: Gildea/AF.mil/26March2012]

Former Polish Intelligence Chief Charged in CIA 'Black Sites' Case. A former head of Poland's intelligence services (AW) has been charged with "depriving prisoners of their liberty" in connection with Poland's investigation into CIA 'black sites'.

Zbigniew Siemiatkowski, who was the chief of Poland's intelligence services from 2002-2004, confirmed the information in a joint interview with the Gazeta Wyborcza daily and the TVP public television station.

"While in the prosecutor's office I refused to answer questions and I shall continue to do so at every stage of the proceedings, including in court," he said.

According to Siemiatkowski, prosecutors acted on 10 January this year, but no information was released to the public.

Similar charges will be made against his deputy, Col. Andrzej Derlatka, who was directly responsible for dealing with the American intelligence service.

The charges relate to an investigation begun in 2008, regarding whether Poland hosted CIA detention centres for alleged terrorists during the early years of the so-called "War on Terrorism."

Siemiatkowski, as head of the AW, has been accused exceeding his powers and breaching international law, with "unlawful deprivation of liberty," and "corporal punishment" against prisoners-of-war. [Read more: PolskieRadio/27March2012]

Office of Naval Intelligence Turns 130! The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) marked its 130th anniversary through a ceremony held on March 23, at the ONI headquarters in Suitland, Maryland.

Capt. Robert Rupp, commander of the ONI gave the following statement: "Lt. Theodorus B.M. Mason planted the seed of this organization with three assisting officers in 1882... Lt. Mason's vision became America's premier naval and maritime intelligence agency, playing decisive roles in every major conflict our country has been involved in, and providing the knowledge that has secured our homeland, ensured victories overseas, saved countless lives, and enabled our Navy to maintain a technological and strategic advantage over our adversaries."

ONI was established on March 23, 1882, by Navy General Order Number 292.

Retired Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, former director of Naval Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency, shared: "ONI provided the foundation for the growth of the naval intelligence profession as we know it today... Our ability to adapt to rapidly changing geopolitical contexts has been a constant attribute over 130 years. Throughout that time, our basic mission hasn't changed but the way ONI is structured to meet those requirements has."

The ONI of today consists of professionals who work closely with Information Warfare, Oceanography/Meteorology, Information Professional and Space Cadre partners, in order to achieve battlespace awareness, as well as providing Navy commanders with decision superiority. [Read more: USNavySeals/26March2012]

Parlez-Vous CIA? Agency Website Speaks 5 Languages. The CIA's website has expanded its global reach with five new foreign-language versions that offer a truncated version of the information available on the agency's main Web portal.

CIA.gov is now available in the five languages used at the United Nations: Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese and Russian, according to the agency. The new foreign-language sites are abbreviated versions of the main CIA site but include a similar look and feel. 

People also can use a similar drop-down menu as the one on the left hand side of the main homepage to click to pages of information about the CIA, careers, location of the office and to contact the agency. However, the menus on the foreign-language sites also contain an additional tab about the CIA and its history of counterterrorism activities over the years.

The CIA developed the foreign-language sites to highlight the agency's global reach as well as emphasize the importance of other languages to the agency's work, according to the CIA. 

Indeed, in January 2010 then-CIA Director Leon Panetta raised the language requirement for promotion to the agency's top ranks, making proficiency in a foreign language necessary to a position in the CIA's Senior Intelligence Service. At the time Panetta said the change was made because language capability "is critical to every aspect of our mission." [Read more: Montalbano/InformationWeek/27March2012]

GAO: Supply Chain Poses Threat to Federal IT. Components manufactured overseas that go into IT products used by the United States government could be exploited by foreign intelligence agents or counterfeiters to degrade the security of critical and sensitive federal networks and data, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued March 23.

"These risks ... in turn can adversely affect an agency's ability to effectively carry out its mission," the 45-page report says. "Each of the key threats could create an unacceptable risk to federal agencies." 

The GAO report identifies four national security-related departments - Energy, Homeland Security, Justice and Defense - that have acknowledged these threats.

But the report from the Congressional investigators also points out that four intelligence agencies contend the costs to determine if such threats exist may outweigh the potential risks posed by the supply chain, a point made by Energy Chief Information Officer Michael Locatis III. [Read more: Chabrow/GovInfoSecurity/24March2012]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

At CIA, a Convert to Islam Leads the Terrorism Hunt. For every cloud of smoke that follows a CIA drone strike in Pakistan, dozens of smaller plumes can be traced to a gaunt figure standing in a courtyard near the center of the agency's Langley campus in Virginia.

The man with the nicotine habit is in his late 50s, with stubble on his face and the dark-suited wardrobe of an undertaker. As chief of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center for the past six years, he has functioned in a funereal capacity for al-Qaeda.

Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington - the principal architect of the CIA's drone campaign and the leader of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In many ways, he has also been the driving force of the Obama administration's embrace of targeted killing as a centerpiece of its counterterrorism efforts.

Colleagues describe Roger as a collection of contradictions. A chain-smoker who spends countless hours on a treadmill. Notoriously surly yet able to win over enough support from subordinates and bosses to hold on to his job. He presides over a campaign that has killed thousands of Islamist militants and angered millions of Muslims, but he is himself a convert to Islam.

His defenders don't even try to make him sound likable. Instead, they emphasize his operational talents, encyclopedic understanding of the enemy and tireless work ethic.

"Irascible is the nicest way I would describe him," said a former high-ranking CIA official who supervised the counterterrorism chief. "But his range of experience and relationships have made him about as close to indispensable as you could think."

Critics are less equivocal. "He's sandpaper" and "not at all a team player," said a former senior U.S. military official who worked closely with the CIA. Like others, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the director of CTC - as the center is known - remains undercover.

Regardless of Roger's management style, there is consensus on at least two adjectives that apply to his tenure: eventful and long.

Since becoming chief, Roger has worked for two presidents, four CIA directors and four directors of national intelligence. In the top echelons of national security, only Robert S. Mueller III, who became FBI director shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has been in place longer.

Roger's longevity is all the more remarkable, current and former CIA officials said, because the CTC job is one of the agency's most stressful and grueling. It involves managing thousands of employees, monitoring dozens of operations abroad and making decisions on who the agency should target in lethal strikes - all while knowing that the CTC director will be among the first to face blame if there is another attack on U.S. soil.

Most of Roger's predecessors, including Cofer Black and Robert Grenier, lasted less than three years. There have been rumors in recent weeks that Roger will soon depart as well, perhaps to retire, although similar speculation has surfaced nearly every year since he took the job. [Read more: Miller/WashingtonPost/24March2012]

Meet The Hackers Who Sell Spies The Tools To Crack Your PC (And Get Paid Six-Figure Fees). At a Google-run competition in �Vancouver last month, the search giant's famously secure Chrome Web browser fell to hackers twice. Both of the new methods used a rigged �website to bypass Chrome's security protections and completely hijack a target computer. But while those two hacks defeated the company's defenses, it was only a third one that actually managed to get under Google's skin.

A team of hackers from French security firm Vupen were playing by different rules. They declined to enter Google's contest and instead dismantled Chrome's security to win an HP-sponsored hackathon at the same conference. And while Google paid a $60,000 award to each of the two hackers who won its event on the condition that they tell Google every detail of their attacks and help the company fix the vulnerabilities they had used, Vupen's chief executive and lead hacker, Chaouki Bekrar, says his company never had any intention of telling Google its secret techniques - certainly not for $60,000 in chump change.

"We wouldn't share this with Google for even $1 million," says Bekrar. "We don't want to give them any knowledge that can help them in fixing this exploit or other similar exploits. We want to keep this for our customers."

Those customers, after all, don't aim to fix Google's security bugs or those of any other commercial software vendor. They're government agencies who �purchase such "zero-day" exploits, or hacking techniques that use undisclosed flaws in software, with the �explicit �intention of invading or disrupting the computers and phones of crime suspects and intelligence targets.

In that shady but legal market for security vulnerabilities, a zero-day exploit that might earn a hacker $2,000 or $3,000 from a software firm could earn 10 or even 100 times that sum from the spies and cops who aim to use it in secret. Bekrar won't detail Vupen's exact pricing, but analysts at Frost & Sullivan, which named Vupen the 2011 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year in vulnerability research, say that Vupen's clients pay around $100,000 annually for a subscription plan, which gives them the privilege of shopping for Vupen's techniques. Those intrusion methods include attacks on software such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader, Google's Android, Apple's iOS operating systems and many more - Vupen bragged at HP's hacking competition that it had exploits ready for every major browser. And sources familiar with the company's business say that a single technique from its catalog often costs far more than its six-figure subscription fee.

Even at those prices, Vupen doesn't sell its exploits exclusively. Instead, it hawks each trick to multiple government agencies, a business model that often plays its customers against one another as they try to keep up in an espionage arms race. [Read more: Greenberg/Forbes/21March2012]

Former CIA Officer Talks About Espionage in the Digital Age. America's favorite spy movies often employ futuristic gadgets and high-tech devices to wow viewers, but according to a former officer in the CIA, technology may have some burdening effects on espionage.

Robert Grenier served 27 years in the CIA, formerly working as a station chief in Islamabad, a CIA representative to the White House, and most recently the head of the Counterterrorism Center. He spoke Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall as part of the Global Agenda speaker series "Spies, Lies and Sneaky Guys: Espionage and Intelligence in the Digital Age." 

Video of the presentation is available at http://www.udel.edu/globalagenda/Global_Agenda_at_the_University_of_Delaware/Mar_21.html

Grenier said the title of the Global Agenda series struck him, having worked in the CIA Clandestine Service, donning numerous aliases to hide his true identity as he gathered intelligence from around the world.

He said the roles officers of the Clandestine Service have to undertake involve lying and cheating as well as misrepresenting oneself, essentially "everything your parents told you not to do."

While he acknowledged these qualities could place the officers in the role of "sneaky guys," he said most officers take morality very seriously and said the job requirements often help the officers be more moral since they are ultimately utilized to protect American citizens. 

Grenier said questions have arisen with the recent boom in technology about whether human espionage should still be employed for intelligence gathering. He said the human element could not be lost, even with advancing electronic intelligence. 

"At the end of the day, it is people who make decisions," Grenier said.

But there may be legitimate concerns about challenges technology poses for the practice of espionage. When he began his career in Clandestine Service, Grenier said an identity could be created with very little concern ones cover would be blown by a suspicious individual. Nowadays, Grenier said just about anyone can do a background check and possibly discover holes in one's alias. 

Grenier said he came to realize the practice of espionage would have to change when he received a standard form letter at a hotel overseas, while undercover, thanking him for visiting again. When he realized electronic records now tracked where he had been for certain date ranges, he said he knew the practice of espionage was going to have to change.

"It was like the future in a flash that opened up before my eyes," Grenier said. [Read more: Pitruzzello/NewarkPost/23March2012]

The Spanish Link in Cracking the Enigma Code. A pair of rare Enigma machines used in the Spanish Civil War have been given to the head of GCHQ, Britain's communications intelligence agency. The machines - only recently discovered in Spain - fill in a missing chapter in the history of British code-breaking, paving the way for crucial successes in World War II.

A row of senior Spanish military and intelligence officers stand upright in a line in front of a long elegant table in the country's Army Museum in Toledo. In front of them are two modest, slightly battered wooden boxes that are the subject of the day's unusual and high-powered gathering.

Inside they contain a key part of Britain's code-breaking history.

With their lids open, the distinctive black and white keypad and rotors of an Enigma machine used to encrypt communications can be seen.

Enigma machines, developed originally in Germany in the 1920s, were the first electromechanical encryption devices and would eventually carry the country's military communications during World War II. The cracking of that code at Bletchley Park would play a key role in shortening the war and saving countless lives.

The story of how these machines on the table in Spain helped pave the way for Britain's historic wartime achievement is largely unknown.

A non-commissioned officer found the machines almost by chance, only a few years ago, in a secret room at the Spanish Ministry of Defence in Madrid.

"Nobody entered there because it was very secret," says Felix Sanz, the director of Spain's intelligence service.

"And one day somebody said 'Well if it is so secret, perhaps there is something secret inside.' They entered and saw a small office where all the encryption was produced during not only the civil war but in the years right afterwards."

Inside were around two dozen historic Enigma machines. [Read more: Corera/BBC/23March2012]

Was Amelia Earhart a US Spy? Was Amelia Earhart a US spy? That's one of the persistent rumors about the famous aviatrix, who disappeared in the Pacific 75 years ago on a dangerous leg of her planned around-the-world flight.

There are many versions of this story, but most share a basic outline: Earhart allegedly was keeping an eye on Japanese activities for her good friend, President Franklin Roosevelt. Her famous Lockheed Electra 10E might even have been equipped with secret cameras. Captured by Japanese forces following a crash, she was spirited to the island of Saipan, where she may or may not have survived World War II. Some even claim she was one of the women who provided the voice of Japanese propaganda broadcaster Tokyo Rose.

The mystery of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan is getting renewed attention this week due to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's backing of a new search for their downed aircraft. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) this July will mount an expedition to a South Pacific coral speck now known as Nikumaroro, in the Republic of Kiribati. A modern examination of an old photo taken of the site shows what might be aircraft landing gear protruding from water offshore, according to TIGHAR.

As to the spy/Saipan/Tokyo Rose theories, TIGHAR labels them all fables that have flourished in the absence of proof about what really happened.

"Not since George Washington chopped down the cherry tree has a historical figure been the subject of more myth and legend than has Amelia Earhart," concludes TIGHAR in a section of its website devoted to debunking such confabulations.

As TIGHAR points out, no US government documents supporting the Earhart-spy story have ever been found. The FDR presidential library is silent on the subject, as are Army and Navy Intelligence files from World War II. That hasn't stopped the spy theorists, though: They see absence of such files as proof that a government conspiracy is covering up the truth. [Read more: Grier/ChristianScienceMonitor/21March2012]

Pulling Back the Curtain of Secrets: The 'Case File' on NSA's Fran Fleisch. She is the highest-ranking woman entrusted with the National Security Agency's most-guarded secrets. Inside Fran Fleisch's mind are the details of the country's most delicate and sophisticated intelligence-gathering operations, intertwined with the knowledge and experience needed to run the world's most secretive spy agency.

As executive director of the NSA, Fleisch is No. 3 in the management chain, reporting to Deputy Director John "Chris" Inglis. He recently assumed more responsibilities when Director Keith Alexander took on the extra job of heading U.S. Cyber Command, which is dedicated to the growing national security threat posed by those using keyboards and servers as their weapons of choice.

The NSA's intelligence prowess on matters of signals intelligence and information assurance is widely considered to be unrivaled. If there is a cell phone conversation originating from some faraway part of the world where terrorist operations are being planned, chances are good that the NSA is listening in. It has earned a reputation as perhaps the most feared intelligence agency in the U.S., probably because it has also tended to be the most secretive.

Fleisch is on a mission to change that. It's important to her to show the world that the NSA is actually transparent on issues where it doesn't compromise the valued sources or methods that the intelligence community holds close.

"We conduct our mission in silence, you know. We really grew up that way. There wasn't necessarily an expectation that we would or should or that it would be appropriate for us to be out in the public. That has changed a lot in recent years, and of course, one of our main tenets is transparency," Fleisch said.

With 32 years under her belt, she now presides over an agency divided by design. Part of the NSA's mission known as the Information Assurance section focuses on keeping the enemy from gaining access to sensitive information, and the Signals Intelligence division looks to collect and use intelligence to support military and counterterrorism operations.

Although the NSA's warriors wear a uniform that is more likely to include a pocket protector, the mathematicians, engineers and scientists who fill its ranks are scoping out the battlefield for both real-world and cyberwar operations carried out against those seeking to do harm to American. [Read more: Kelly/CNN/25March2012]

Section III - COMMENTARY

The Legacy of the CIA's Secret LSD Experiments on America. Before LSD escaped the lab and was evangelized by hippies, the U.S. government was secretly testing the effects of the drug on hundreds of unsuspecting American civilians and military personnel. In a must-read feature on newly unclassified material on the Central Intelligence Agency's covert operation, the MK-ULTRA program, which ran from 1953 to 1964, SF Weekly fully exposes the bizarre world of the CIA's unethical drug tests. The utterly-unbelievable-but-true story involved using hookers to lure in unwitting johns for undisclosed testing, narcotics agents who slipped drugs into drinks, and a U.S. marshal who held up a San Francisco bar not knowing he was high on acid.

It sounds like something out of a paranoid dream. And indeed, before the documentation and other facts of the program were made public, those who talked of it were frequently dismissed as being psychotic. But the U.S. government's history of secret human experimentation ought to be kept in mind, particularly when we consider the power we grant to it and the way we regulate drugs.

The LSD experiments were purportedly carried out because the U.S. believed that communist Russia, North Korea and China were using the drug to brainwash captured Americans. Consequently, the CIA didn't want to fall behind in developing and responding to this potentially useful technology.

So, incredibly, it decided to slip acid secretly to Americans - at the beach, in city bars, at restaurants. For a decade, the CIA conducted completely uncontrolled tests in which they drugged people unknowingly, then followed and watched them without intervening. In some cases, the agency used the drug to perform interrogations, but these procedures were conducted so inconsistently that they proved equally useless in providing useful data. [Read more: Szalavitz/Time/23March2012]

Blurred Lines. When he was at the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency, Michael Hayden was fond of comparing the laws that limit agency operations to the white sidelines of a football field. CIA agents should operate so close to legal boundaries, he remarked, that they get "chalk on their cleats."

Unfortunately, those chalk lines today are too faint for either intelligence officers or the public to see. Although Congress instituted intelligence reform in 2004, and a hallmark of President Barack Obama's first term has been his aggressive approach to fighting terrorism, there has never been a real debate in Congress or in the public square about the intersection of our values and our requirements for gathering intelligence.

The result is a hodgepodge of internally inconsistent policies, an outsized role for the courts in interpreting and, in some cases, striking down those policies, and huge gaps in what the public knows and has been told. Recent questions raised about the nature of the New York Police Department's surveillance of mosques are but one example.

In the absence of clear legal policies, those expected to implement them either become risk averse or feel enabled to commit abuses. Abu Ghraib and the more recent Quran burnings in Kabul are unfortunate cases in point. (While the awful Quran episode may have had more to do with cultural insensitivity than intelligence gathering, have we really learned nothing in ten years in Afghanistan?)

One of the biggest reasons for this lack of progress is Congress's ongoing and exquisite dysfunction. The toxic paradigm of finger-pointing instead of bipartisan problem-solving has created almost total legislative gridlock. What passes for serious debate occurs within a tiny bandwidth, leaving scant chance to raise the tough issues - let alone resolve them during this heated election year.

Discussion of these issues must be high on the agenda for the next president, no matter who he (gender seems the only given at this point) may be. America's leaders have an obligation - indeed, a very heavy burden - to tackle them.

Here are four that should get top priority: [Read more: Harman/ForeignPolicy/26March2012]

Expectations for the New ISI Chief. No matter how attractive or sought after a job can be, it is never easy taking on a role that immediately requires damage control on multiple fronts. By becoming the new Director General of Pakistan's notorious intelligence agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), Zaheerul Islam takes control of the military outfit that has become much maligned in not just the international community, but widely across Pakistan as well. Even for a man who has steadily progressed through the military ranks, most recently serving as the military's top official in the troubled and violent city of Karachi, Islam will have a significant workload to look forward to, with a substantial effort devoted to restoring any trust that the agency ever occupied from its citizens and global allies.

For the past year, the ISI has been embroiled in a Supreme Court investigation into missing individuals in Pakistan, who have allegedly been detained by the ISI without due process of law. Compounding matters both domestically and internationally, the intelligence agency has also been linked with the abduction and murder of prominent journalists such as Saleem Shahzad, who was found dead after his investigative work into the ISI's workings. The ISI, not surprisingly, denies any involvement with Shahzad's murder. Furthermore, recent investigation by the Supreme Court into the ISI's involvement in influencing the 1990 national elections have also drawn increased negative scrutiny to the organization - all of this after the agency was widely condemned at home for not being able to stop the US raid into Pakistan to capture Bin Laden.

Things are not much rosier on the international front either. Having amassed a reputation for being disingenuous and untrustworthy, with the most notable accusations coming from Admiral Mike Mullen, who accused the agency of knowing of Bin Laden's whereabouts in the Abbottabad, Pakistan, the ISI is seen as an unreliable partner in the war in Afghanistan. More so, it is widely believed that the ISI has been working with the Haqqani network - an anti-American insurgent group in Afghanistan.

Considerable damage has been done to the reputation of the ISI under outgoing chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and Pakistan's civilian leadership will be hopeful that Islam can rectify at least some of the agency's tarnished reputation, changing the reputation of Pakistani institutions with it.

But perhaps the most significant change that can be brought about with a change in leadership is a change in culture. The ISI and the military have always operated under the auspices of being guardians of the country, under the mantra of doing whatever it takes to protect the country from its enemies. The intelligence agency takes the liberty of defining whom exactly that enemy is, allowing for a wide scope of action. [Read more: Nayani/HuffingtonPost/21March2012]

Section IV - Books, Obituaries, Requests and Coming Events

Books

Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, by Kenneth Michael Absher, Michael C. Desch, and Roman Popadiuk. Above the politics and ideological battles of Washington, D.C., is a committee that meets behind locked doors and leaves its paper trail in classified files. The President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is one of the most secretive and potentially influential segments of the U.S. intelligence community. Established in 1956, the PIAB advises the president about intelligence collection, analysis, and estimates, and about the legality of foreign intelligence activities.

Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board is the first and only study of the PIAB. Foreign policy veterans Kenneth Michael Absher, Michael C. Desch, and Roman Popadiuk trace the board's history from Eisenhower through Obama and evaluate its effectiveness under each president. Created to be an independent panel of nonpartisan experts, the PIAB has become increasingly susceptible to politics in recent years and has lost some of its influence. Absher, Desch, and Popadiuk, however, clearly demonstrate the board's potential to offer a unique and valuable perspective on intelligence issues. Privileged and Confidential not only illuminates a little-known element of U.S. intelligence operations but also offers suggestions for enhancing a critical executive function. [Read more: KentuckyPress/March2012]

Obituaries

Brent L. Chambers. Brent L. Chambers, 74, a retired senior officer of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, died March 8 at Mount Vernon Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Alexandria. He had cancer.

The death was confirmed by his wife, Lynn Chambers.

Mr. Chambers joined the CIA in 1962 and retired in 1993 as a senior inspector on the inspector general's staff. During his career, he led the CIA's multidisciplinary Cuba analysis center. His honors included the Career Intelligence Medal.

Brent Leon Chambers was a native of Fort Scott, Kan., and a 1960 graduate of the University of Nebraska, where he also received a master's degree in international studies and political science in 1962. The CIA sponsored him for year-long sabbaticals at Stanford University and then at the Royal College of Defense Studies in London.

In retirement, he was a volunteer and docent at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and a Democratic Party volunteer. His avocations included long-distance walking on many trips to Scotland, England and France, including the 190-mile trek across northern England. He was an Alexandria resident.

His first marriage, to Mary Elizabeth Randles, ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Lynn Scapes Chambers of Alexandria; three children from his first marriage, Diane Yates of Waterford, Va., Douglas Chambers of Hattiesburg, Miss., and Kevin Chambers of Delray Beach, Fla.; and two grandchildren. [Read more: Bernstein/WashingtonPost/20March2012]

Edward L 'Ned' Davis. Edward L. "Ned" Davis, 91, who retired in the early 1980s from the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research as an intelligence analyst, died Feb. 27 at Manor Care nursing home in Potomac.

He died of complications from a fall and hip surgery in August, said his daughter Diana Ferris.

Mr. Davis worked for the Army Security Agency and the Air Force Security Service before joining the new National Security Agency in 1952. He left in 1961 to join the State Department, where he became a liaison to the CIA.

Edward Lawrence Davis Jr. was born in Philadelphia and graduated in 1939 from the private Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He left Yale University to serve in the Army Air Forces during World War II; he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949.

During the war, he served as a bombardier-navigator in Europe and flew 35 combat missions, including a 1944 raid on the heavily defended oil refinery at Merseburg, Germany. His decorations included 10 awards of the Air Medal, his family said.

Mr. Davis, a Washington resident, did volunteer work at the Riverbend Nature Center in Great Falls and edited the newsletter for what is now the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia. He also maintained the nature trails at the private Potomac School in McLean.

He enjoyed sailing, fox hunting and duck shooting.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Juliet Gill Davis of Washington; four children, Edward L. Davis III of Leesburg, Nina Davis of Washington, Diana Ferris of Burlingame, Calif., and Jennifer Davis of Charlottesville; and six grandchildren. [Read more: Bernstein/WashingtonPost/15March2012]

Harvey Barsky. Harvey Barsky, 77, a retired computer specialist with the National Security Agency, died Feb. 19 at his home in the Loudoun County community of Lansdowne. He had lymphoma, said his wife, Marsha Barsky.

Mr. Barsky worked 32 years for the NSA, including two tours of duty in England and one in Japan. He also had traveled extensively in Europe and Asia for the agency. He retired in 1993.

Harvey Barsky was born in Washington and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1953. He received an associate's degree at the University of Maryland in 1974.

He served in the D.C. and Maryland National Guard and was a volunteer Boy Scout leader. While posted to England, he led U.S. scouts on a hike around Loch Ness in Scotland and said he filmed a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Marsha Gitlin Barsky of Lansdowne; three children, Natalie Miller of Tucson, Wendy Lawson and Michael Barsky, both of Oak Hill, Va.; a sister, Diana Friedman of Silver Spring and Boynton Beach, Fla.; and five grandchildren. [Barnes/WashingtonPost/15March2012]

Requests
 [IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse these research inquiries or job offers. Reasonable-sounding inquiries and career offerings are published as a service to our members, and for researchers, educators, and subscribers. You are urged to exercise your usual caution and good judgment when responding or supplying any information.]

Request for Intelligence Humor Contributions. Thank you to everyone who provided material for The Secret Book of CIA Humor. I’m putting together a second volume, which will include more material from the rest of the Intelligence Community (although CIA items are still welcome). If you have great humorous stories of pranks, practical jokes, urban legends, photocopy humor, or just straightforward jokes about intelligence, please send them to me at edmickolus@hotmail.com or mail be remarkable visual items or memories here: 2305 Sandburg Street, Dunn Loring, VA 22027. Please indicate whether I can cite your entire name and institutional affiliation in the Acknowledgements section. Thanks in advance,  Ed Mickolus.

Coming Educational Events

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

MANY Spy Museum Events in March, April, and beyond, with full details are listed on the AFIO Website at www.afio.com. The titles for some of these are in detail below and online.

Wednesday, 21 March 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm - Washington, DC - "Weapons of Mass Disruption" at the International Spy Museum

Was your computer one of the machines that attacked Estonia?
Go behind-the-scenes on some of the most aggressive cyber attacks of our time. Join Dave Marcus, Director of Security Research for McAfee Labs, for a special screening of Weapons of Mass Disruption. The film, inspired by the Spy Museum's exhibit of the same name, focuses on key events in the evolution of cyber warfare, from the CIA's successful cyber-sabotage of the Soviet Union's trans-Siberia pipeline in the 1980s, to Stuxnet, a calculated cyber attack on Iran in 2009-10. On-screen experts, including Marcus, discuss cyber attacks you may know: the two week attack on Estonia in 2007 in which the country was essentially shut down; and those you may not: the theft of F35 fighter related information in 2009. They also cover the cyber security issues financial institutions face and the vulnerabilities of critical U.S. water and electricity infrastructure systems. The fascinating interviews with cyber experts include insights such as which popular movie of 2007 made Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of the Kaspersky Labs, break out in a cold sweat. Marcus, who specializes in advance intelligence gathering, digital forensic analysis, as well as intrusion detection and prevention, will lead a post-screening discussion of the film's major points and the latest on information security, malware, and vulnerability assessment. Tickets: $15 To register or for more information visit www.spymuseum.org

21 - 22 March 2012 - Fairfax, VA - NMIA hosts NIS 2012 - a classified intelligence symposium

This sweeping overview symposium will be conducted at the SECRET level and is only open to U.S. citizens who currently hold the appropriate security clearances.
There will be discussions on initiatives such as the "Quint" (DIA, NSA, NGA, NRO, CIA); which is a manifestation of the reality of IC cooperation by taking advantage of the huge potential for savings in Information Technology integration; specifically in Cloud Computing. At NIS 2012 the speakers from the national intelligence agencies and the military intelligence services will provide an update on the current state of the intelligence community and an outlook on what to expect for the future.
Invited speakers include seniors from the national IC organizations: CIA, USD(I), NSA, DIA, NGA, NRO, DHS, and the Intelligence Chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
For more information or to register: http://www.nmia.org/events/event_details.asp?id=208080

22-24 March 2012 - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte International Cryptologic Symposium

The line up of speakers includes: Ron Lawrence who will open the Crypto Symposium with a short talk about all the events going on in the hotel and about radio collecting and how this came about.
Debbie Anderson, daughter of Joe Desch the man who designed the Navy Cryptanalytic Bombe, is speaking and showing the documentary "The Dayton Codebreakers." Jim Oram of enigma-replica.com will be speaking on: " Restoration techniques of the Enigma" includes the showing of a video on the restorations he has completed. Free tours of Jim's Enigma Shop where Enigmas are restored.
John Alexander, a private collector from UK, will be speaking and offering some views of his Crypto equipment.
Richard Brisson, a collector from Ottawa Canada with website www.campx.ca, recently retired from the Communications Security Establishment Canada, will be speaking on the history and artifacts related to cryptology and espionage.
Dr. David Hatch, of NSA and CCH, will provide a display of a SIGABA Machine. Dr. Nicholas Gessler, Research Associate Information Science & Information Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC.
Gessler will be bringing a wide variety of Historical Cryptologic equipment for display.
LOCATION: Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel, 3315 Scott Futrell Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208.
Register at http://www.cc-awa.org/Registration-2012.html
Registration covers both the Cryptologic Symposium and the Antique Radio Charlotte event.

Saturday, 24 March 2012, 1000 - 1430 - Milford, MA - AFIO New England hears Deputy Exec Director CTC Executive Directorate on Counter-Terrorism

Our afternoon speaker will be Howard Stoffer. Howard is currently the Deputy Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, a post he has held since November 2009. From July 2005 to November 2009 he served as Director for Administration and Information of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate. He worked at U.S. Mission to the United Nations as Minister-Counselor in the Management and Reform Section from 2001-2005 and as Counselor for Political Affairs from 1997-2001. Other assignments include Tel Aviv (1994-1997), Moscow (1991-1993), the Soviet and China desks in the State Department (late 1980's), and one year with the Sinai peacekeeping mission – the Multinational Force and Observers. In the early 1980's, he was an advisor to the U.S. Delegations to the Strategic Arms and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Negotiations.
He earned a B.A. from Columbia College in 1971 and a PhD from Columbia University's Graduate Faculties in Political Science in 1980.
Note, as this meeting is a one day event we have not made any hotel arrangements.
Where: Courtyard by Marriott in Milford, Mass. The hotel web site is here http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bosml-courtyard-boston-milford
Schedule: Registration & gathering, 1000 - 1130, membership meeting 1130 – 1200. Luncheon at 1200 followed by our speaker, with adjournment at 2:30PM.
For additional information contact us at afionechapter@gmail.com
Advance reservations are $25.00, $30.00 at the door - per person.
Luncheon reservations must be made by 10 March 2012.
Mail your check and the reservation form to: Mr. Arthur Hulnick, 216 Summit Avenue # E102, Brookline, MA 02446; 617-739-7074 or hlnk@aol.com

Thursday, 29 March 2012, 9am-5:30pm - Washington, DC - Wilson Center & Georgetown University hosts conference "Moles, Defectors, and Deceptions: James Angleton and His Influence on US Counterintelligence."

The goal of the conference is to foster informed, scholarly discussion of James Angleton and his time at the CIA, as well as his continuing influence on American counterintelligence. The conference will bring together a wide variety of experts on intelligence history with a view towards examining Angleton's career and legacy from all sides. A draft program is attached for your reference. We appreciate your consideration of this letter and look forward to hearing from
you. Please RSVP (acceptances only) to ColdWar@wilsoncenter.org. Should you have questions about the event, contact Bruce Hoffman at (202) 687-7847, or Christian Ostermann at (202) 691-4176. Alternatively contact Tim McDonnell at (202) 691 4308 or at Timothy.McDonnell@wilsoncenter.org.
Event location: Woodrow Wilson Center.

29 March 2012 - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO Jim Quesada Chapter hosts Ron Brooks, Director of the NCRIC and the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

Ron Brooks, who is the Director of the NCRIC and the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area will be speaking about the National Fusion Center Networks' role in the information sharing environment. The meeting will be held at UICC, 2700 45th Avenue, San Francisco (between Sloat/Wawona): 11:30AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation and payment; $35 non-member/no reservation. E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate meat or fish) at afiosf@aol.com and mail a check made out to "AFIO" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578, Burlingame, CA 94011.

Thursday, 29 March 2012, 3 - 5pm, 5-7pm - Arlington, VA - ATIA hosts "Intelligence Integration Strategy - The Report"

The briefing and panel discussion will focus on the "Intelligence Integration Strategy - The Report", a report prepared for the Office of the DNI, will be featured by the Advanced Technical Intelligence Association. The briefing and panel will feature three prominent figures in the U.S. intelligence community, including the principal author of the study, Kevin O'Connell of Innovative Analytics, who will brief the study. Kevin will be followed by questions and discussion with Dr. Jennifer Sims, a Visiting Professor and Director of Intelligence Studies at Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and former DIA Director, Lt. Gen. Pat Hughes, USA (ret.), now a consultant focusing on the areas of intelligence, national security, and international relations.
Location: Virginia Tech Research Center's, Applied Research Corp, 900 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22203. Event in unclassified.
RSVP to ATIA at JBLongley@aol.com

Monday, 2 April 2012, 6:30pm - Washington, DC - "9/11, False Flags, and Black Ops" at International Spy Museum

9/11, False Flags, and Black Ops: An Evening of Debate with David Frum, Jonathan Kay, and Webster Tarpley
Don't be an April Fool. The truth may be out there, but when does the search for it turn into a wild goose chase? Canadian journalist, Jonathan Kay, set out to answer that question with his profile of the 9/11 Trust Movement in his acclaimed book, Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground. One of the most fascinating people that Kay interviewed is Webster Tarpley. Dr. Tarpley, who has addressed ideas and issues from Venetian history to economic recovery from the current world depression, is the author of 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in the USA. He has developed his theories about international governmental involvement in assassinations and the engineering of the 9/11 attacks by rogue actors from the military and intelligence community over many years, beginning with his investigation of the Aldo Moro murder in Italy in the 1980s. Columnist and commentator, David Frum, founder of the FrumForum.com, will moderate this lively Kay-Tarpley discussion about 9/11, nefarious plots, and other conspiracy theories.
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
TICKETS: Tickets: $15. Visit www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 1000-1130 [lunch to 1300]- Annapolis Junction, MD - National Cryptologic Museum Foundation Spring Program features Douglas Waller on Wild Bill Donovan

The NCMF welcome Douglas Waller as their guest speaker for the spring program. The presentation is at the L-3 Stratis Conference Center in the National Business Park (NBP). Directions are below. After the program, lunch will be served until 1300.

Douglas Waller is a veteran correspondent, author and lecturer. He served in TIME Magazine's Washington Bureau from 1994 to 2007 where he covered foreign affairs extensively as a diplomatic correspondent. Before joining TIME, Waller served as a reporter on Newsweek magazine. He has written a total of eight books of which Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster who created the OSS and Modern American Espionage is his latest.

Donovan was the man President Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. One of America's most exciting and secretive generals, Donovan is a mythic figure whose legacy is still intensely debated. "Wild Bill" Donovan was Director of the OSS, the country's first intelligence agency, the forerunner of today's CIA.

We hope you can join us on 4 April. The Program fee is $40. Make your check out to NCMF, and return by 28 March. Replies/RSVPs to cryptmf@aol.com

Directions from Baltimore: Take MD-295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway) south towards Washington; Take the MD-32 West exit towards Columbia; Keep right at the fork toward NBP; Turn right onto NBP; Take 2nd right to 2720 Technology Drive (L3 is on the left)
Directions from Washington: Take MD-295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway) north towards Baltimore; Take the MD-32 West exit towards Columbia: Keep right at the fork toward NBP; Turn right onto NBP; Take 2nd right to 2720 Technology Drive (L3 is on the left)

Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 6pm – 9pm - New York, NY - NYU Brennan Center hosts showing of film: "The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby" and a second film advocating more Oversight of US Spy Agencies

William Colby began his intelligence career during WWII as an OSS officer who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe. After the war, he rose through the CIA ranks, oversaw the coup against President Diem in Saigon, and ran the Phoenix Program. But after decades of obediently taking on the White House's toughest and dirtiest assignments and rising to become Director of the CIA, Colby landed in hot water for breaking with the Agency's history of limited disclosure. He revealed to the Church Committee some of the Agency's darkest, most tightly held secrets and extra-legal operations, every one of which was suggested, authorized, or directed by specific verbal or written orders from the White House...often from the President or those surrounding him.
America has a special fascination with CIA, an organization it asks to do many dangerous, risky assignments, which it later uses as a scapegoat when the mood of the country rapidly oscillates. Perhaps because Colby seemed troubled by some of the CIA assignments, his decision to cooperate with the Church Committee's investigation cost Colby his job but might have saved the Agency.
After the screening, Colby's son Carl, the movie's Director and Producer, and the Brennan Center's Chief Counsel, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., who was Chief Counsel to the Church Committee, will discuss the unique challenges inherent to intelligence oversight, from the point of view of a total outsider, and another who prosecuted the Agency for doing the dirty work of the White House.
Location: Lipton Hall at New York University School of Law, 108 West Third St, New York, NY
Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to Kimberly.Lubrano@nyu.edu or (646) 292-8342

5 April 2012 - Stony Brook, LI, NY - The new Long Island Spy Museum [LISM] hosts their first annual spy symposium

Draft schedule as follows: 9-9:30 Coffee/Light Refreshments; 9:30-9:45 Introduction: Master of Ceremonies - Actor Peter Firth from the critically acclaimed television series MI-5; 9:45-10:45 Speaker #1: Michael Sulick- Former Director of National Clandestine Service, CIA, and 28 year CIA veteran: "Revolutionary War (Revolutionary War Espionage & George Washington's Spies"; 10:45-11:45 Speaker # 2: Bill Birnes- A New York Times best selling author, TV personality, Espionage historian, and holds a law degree from New York University: "WWII-Office of Strategic Services (OSS): The Birth of an Intelligence Agency; Patriots, Buccaneers & Movie Stars"; 11:45-12:45 LUNCH BREAK; 12:45-1:45 Speaker #3: Michael Hayden - Former Director of CIA & NSA: "CIA, the War on Terror, and the Killing of Bin Laden"; 1:45- 2 Coffee Break; 2:00 -3:00 Speaker #4: Cindy Webb - Former Chief Of Counterintelligence, CIA "Counter-Intelligence in the Cold War and Beyond"; 3:00-4:00 Speaker#5: Tom Betro - Former Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, (NCIS): "Counterintelligence 2.0; CI Challenges and Opportunities in the Internet Era"; 4:00-4:30 Q&A for entire panel with the audience; 4.30-4:40 Closing Remarks.
Where: Stony Brook University Long Island Spy Museum, 275 Christian Ave, Stony Brook, NY 11790
Visit: http://longislandspymuseum.org/ for updated schedule or call 631-371-1473 for additional information.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012, 11:30 am - 2 pm - MacDill AFB - AFIO Florida Suncoast Chapter hosts Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis at this luncheon.

Gus M. Bilirakis, Republican from Palm Harbor serving on the Committees on Homeland Security, Veterans' Affairs and Foreign Affairs. Gus has been appointed Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communication, a vital post for the state of Florida. He will be touching a number of topics of vital interest to our nation.
Event location: MacDill AFB Surf's Edge Club, 7315 Bayshore Boulevard, MacDill AFB, FL 33621. RSVP no later than Wednesday, April 4, for yourself and include the names of any guests. Email
or call the Chapter Secretary at mfshapiro@att.net.
Cost is $20. If you make a reservation, don't cancel and get a cancellation confirmation by the response deadline and then don't show up, you will be responsible for the cost of the luncheon.
Note that the base is now enforcing a handscan registration for those with ID cards so, if you haven't been on-base recently, you should look into this or allow some extra time when you arrive for the meeting. Should you not have a 'bumper sticker' or ID card for access to MacDill AFB, please so state in your RSVP. If you have not already submitted information required for the Gate Access List, be sure to include your license number, name on drivers license and state of issue for yourself and for any guests you are bringing on base.
Anyone with special AFIO Gate Access should proceed to the Bayshore Gate. If you need directions, please let us know.

Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 11:30am - Scottsdale, AZ - AFIO AZ Chapter hosts Thomas Davidson, CWO4 on "Mexican Drug Cartels - Their Areas of Operation along US Border."

CWO4 Thomas S. Davidson II is Military Intelligence, USArmy (Ret). Tom served a total of 36 years in the U.S. Army. His last assignment was with the Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO), U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He started the FMSO Mexico and Southwest Border Security Team in January 2002 when he was recalled to active duty.

Location: McCormick Ranch Golf Course, 7505 McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale AZ 85258 ~ Phone 480.948.0260.
WE WILL NEED FOR EVERY MEETING an RSVP no later than 72 hours ahead of time; in the past, not reserving or cancelling without prior notice (72 hours prior to the meeting) created much grief for those of us organizing the meeting and dealing with the personnel!
WE ARE charged for the no-shows and please remember, we are a small organization with a humble coffer! We would therefore APPRECIATE that you all respond to this email to confirm your presence (or not).
Our meeting fees will be as follows: $20.00 for AFIO members; $22.00 for guests and other nonmembers.
For reservations or questions, please email Simone simone@4smartphone.net or simone@afioaz.org or call and leave a message on 602.570.6016

Saturday, 14 April 2012, 1-6pm - Washington, DC - "Solidarity and the CIA" with Ted Kontek, and two other topics/speakers at IWP event.

The Institute of World Politics hosts The Kosciuszko Chair's Second Annual Kosciuszko Chair Spring Symposium. The three topics are:
The Euro and Poland's Economy by Prof. Andrzej Kazmierczak, Solidarity and the CIA with Ted Kontek, and The New York Times and Poland by Pawel Styrna.
1:00 PM: Registration and Light Refreshments; 2:00 PM: Sessions 1 & 2; 4:00 PM: Break; 4:30 PM: Session 3; 5:30 PM: Wine & Cheese Reception
Location: 1521 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
RSVP Required: email Katie Lenczowski Bridges at kbridges@iwp.edu

Friday 13 April 2012, noon - 3pm - Ashburn, VA - The Loudoun Crime Commission hosts FBI ADIC/WFO James McJUNKIN, former ADIC/CT Division on "Washington Field Office Responsibilities: CT, CI, Crime, Intel and Community Outreach."
Luncheon Speaker is: FBI ADIC James McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge, Washington Field Office, the FBI's second largest field office, most recently served as the Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division.
Location: Belmont Country Club, off Rte 7 in Ashburn at 19661 Belmont Manor Lane, Ashburn, VA, 20147. Directions can be found at http://www.belmontcountryclub.com/location-direction.shtml.
Cost: $20.00 cash or check at the door. Doors open at noon for registering and networking, lunch at 1230, and speaker at 1pm. RSVP is strongly suggested but we always try to have a few extra seats for stragglers.
RSVP by 9 April to: collins@loudouncrimecommission.org

Wednesday, 18 April 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Graphic Intelligence: Comics, the KKK, and Covert Ops" at the International Spy Museum

Comic books often reflect the time in which they are created. Since the Cold War, spies have been hot, and the world of comics has had a great assortment of espionage volumes. National security lawyer and comic collector/dealer Mark S. Zaid has assembled a rich array of comics that address spies and espionage. He'll showcase some of the coolest and rarest volumes in his collection while he describes how spy comics mirrored the intelligence issues of the time period in which they were published—some purporting to reveal true spy cases. He'll also share tales of how comics may have been used as intelligence tools and to push social agendas involving war, race, and sex. Then there is the story of the famous superhero who teamed up with actual spies to strike a blow for justice and equality in the United States. Award-winning author Rick Bowers shares the story behind his new book Superman vs. the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate. Bowers reveals how the producers of The Adventures of Superman radio show took on the resurgent Ku Klux Klan in 1946, teaming up with infiltrators within the secret society to produce a ground-breaking, 16-part radio drama in which the Man of Steel conquered the hooded hate mongers.
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station.
Tickets: $15.00 Register at www.spymuseum.org

19 April 2012, 8 AM - 7 PM - Fort Lauderdale, FL - South Florida InfraGard Branch Regional Conference on "Current and Future Security threats: How are the private and public sectors working to meet these challenges."

The South Florida InfraGard Branch of the InfraGard Membership Alliance invites AFIO members to participate in their first Regional Conference: Current and Future Security threats: How are the private and public sectors
working to meet these challenges.
As security threats continue to develop and new plans and intentions are exposed which target our private and public sector entities, it is imperative to stay aware and current on technology/physical security best practices, to prevent, mitigate and react to potential disruption and loss of services, life and property. Conference speakers will represent all sectors and functions facing the challenges threatening our Cyber and Critical Infrastructure, and
will address methods to protect it, as well as Technology and Risk Management trends and advances towards the safeguarding of our National Security.
FOOD: Breakfast, full gourmet lunch, snacks and an evening cocktail event are included. LOCATION: Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel.
REGISTER AT: http://www.s-fla.eventbrite.com
For list of speakers, their topics, their bios, and additional information visit http://www.infragardmiami.com/
Questions to Nancy Bianco, South Florida InfraGard, 650 533-5360 or nrbianco@mindspring.com

Thursday, 19 April 2012, 3:30pm - Washington, DC - JNSL Symposium to discuss "Shadow Wars" featuring William C. Banks, Syracuse U Col of Law

The Journal of National Security Law & Policy and The Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law will be hosting a symposium to discuss JNSLP's latest issue:
"Shadow Wars."
Opening Remarks by William C. Banks, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of National Security Law & Policy. Banks is on the Board of Advisors Distinguished Professor, Syracuse University College of Law, Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Syracuse University; Author of the JNSLP article "Shadow Wars."
Featured Authors and Panelists: Laura Dickinson, Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School; Author of the JNSLP article Outsourcing Covert Activities.
Louis Fisher, Scholar in Residence, The Constitution Project; Former Specialist in Constitutional Law, Library of Congress; Author of the JNSLP article Basic Principals of the War Power.
John Prados, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Iraq Documentation Project; Director of the Vietnam Project at the National Security Archive at The George Washington University; Author of the JNSLP article The Continuing Quandary of Covert Operations.
Scott Shane, National Security Reporter, Washington Bureau, The New York Times.
WHERE: Hart Auditorium, Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, DC.
Reception to Follow
RSVP to rsvp2@law.georgetown.edu or contact nationalsecurity@law.georgetown.edu with questions.

5 May 2012, 11:30am - 2pm - Melbourne, FL - AFIO Florida Satellite Chapter meets to hear Col. Jespersen on T.E. Lawrence

11:30 social hour with cash bar. Lunch 12:30.
Speaker will be Col. Robert Randolph Jespersen who will discuss T.E. Lawrence: soldier-scholar and his impact on guerilla warfare doctrine.
Location: Eau Gallie Yacht Club.
RSVP to POC Donna Czarnecki, donnacz12@aol.com

Wednesday, 9 May 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m – Washington, DC - "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - From 9/11 to Abbottabad" at the International Spy Museum

"Tonight, I can report…that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden."—US President Barack Obama, May 1, 2011

When Osama bin Laden declared war against the United States for the first time to a Western audience, Peter Bergen was there. He produced Osama bin Laden's first television interview. His book, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader, was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2006. Bergen has continued to write and report extensively on bin Laden and the conflict between the US and al Qaeda for publications ranging from The New York Times to Rolling Stone. He's produced award-winning documentaries on the subject matter, and in his latest book he has turned his attention to the hunt and termination of the notorious terrorist. Join us for an inside account of Bergen's professional connection to bin Laden, his perspective on the decade-long hunt to capture or kill him, and his thoughts on the results of Operation Neptune Spear.
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
Tickets: $15.00 Register at www.spymuseum.org

11-13 May 2012 - North Conway, NH - The New England Chapter of the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association (NCVA-NE) holds Spring Mini-Reunion

Location: North Conway Grand Hotel, North Conway, New Hampshire. The registration cut-off date for the event is 27 April 2012. For additional information, local members and prospective members may call (518) 664-8032 or visit http://ncva-ne.org

Friday, 18 May 2012, 6:30 – 9:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Surveillance 101 with Eric O'Neill" at the International Spy Museum

Test your surveillance skills on the mean streets of DC!

What if you were assigned to watch the most damaging spy in US history? As a young operative in the FBI, Eric O'Neill was put into position as Robert Hanssen's assistant with the secret task of spying on his boss, who was under suspicion of working for Russia.$7 O'Neill's background with the FBI was in surveillance, so he was up to the challenge. But how would you measure up? It's your chance to find out. O'Neill is prepared to share his hard-earned expertise with you. This intense small group introduction to surveillance will include learning the basics and conducting surveillance in the streets of DC. Will you be able to track the "Rabbit" without being "made?" You'll learn how to snap clandestine shots and keep your target in view so you won't miss operational acts or secret meetings. O'Neill will lead the exercise and help you learn how to blend into the shadows for the best spy results!
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
Tickets $94.00. Space is limited to only 10 participants – advance registration required. Call 202 654-0932 to register.

Thursday, 24 May 2012, 6 pm - New York, NY - AFIO NY Metro meets to hear Dr. Vadim Birstein on Stalin's SMERSH

Dr. Vadim Birstein - Russian American who arrived in the US in 1991, is a historian, a molecular geneticist and author of over 150 scientific papers, three
scientific books and one history book. www.vadimbirstein.com/bio.htm
Dr. Birstein's new book "SMERSH" an acronym of the Russian phrase "Death to Spies." "SMERSH" was Stalin's secret weapon, Soviet Military Counterintelligence during WWll. Dr. Birstein
reveals for the first time the structure of this super secret organization, its torture and execution of countless Soviet officers and servicemen and its brazen arrest of foreign civilians, the recovery of Hitler's body and its completely unknown involvement in the Nuremberg trials and much, much more.
RSVP: Strongly suggested, not required. Email afiometro@yahoo.com
Location: 3 West Club, 3 West 51st St, NYC
Cost: $45/person including buffet dinner & cash bar.

For Additional Events two+ months or greater....view our online Calendar of Events

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