Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Another Cuban 5 Spy Released From US Prison. A second member of the "Cuban Five" - the spy ring whose arrests and convictions have caused repeated tensions between Washington and Havana - was released Thursday from a U.S. prison after spending more than 15 years behind bars.

Fifty-year-old Fernando Gonzalez, known to U.S. authorities by the alias Ruben Campa, completed his sentence at 4 a.m. local time a prison in Arizona, Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said.

Now the Five, as they are sometimes called, are down to three.

Gonzalez was turned over immediately to the custody of immigration officials, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez. For security reasons, she said she could not disclose exactly where he was being held or when he would be returned to Cuba, but a deportation order has already been issued. [Read more: Anderson/AP/27February2014]

Mole Who Met Bin Laden Killed by al Qaeda in Bosnia. An FBI mole who provided valuable intelligence on al Qaeda and met with Osama bin Laden was lured away from the FBI to work for the CIA, but was killed by al Qaeda operatives in Bosnia who suspected he was an informant, NBC News has learned exclusively.

The informant, a Sudan-born driver and confidante to "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel-Rahman, the radical Muslim cleric who allegedly masterminded the first attempt to take down the World Trade Center, had been the sole human asset providing first-person information about al Qaeda in the mid-1990s as the terror group gained strength around the globe.

According to sources familiar with the management of the mole, the FBI recruited him in 1993 because he was a known associate of the Blind Sheikh.

The Egyptian-born Sheikh had been an FBI target since at least Nov. 5, 1990, when one of his followers, El Sayyid Nosair, shot and killed radical Rabbi Meir Kahane in a Manhattan hotel. After the shooting, boxes of information were found in Nosair's apartment that hinted at a larger conspiracy.

Under pressure, the Sheikh moved some of his operations from the New York area to Los Angeles, where the future mole was living. The mole became the Sheikh's driver. That's when the FBI first noticed him, and started the process that would turn him into an informant. [Read more: Esposito/NBCNews/27February2014]

Russian Spy Ship Docked in Havana. A Russian warship was docked in Havana Wednesday, without explanation from Communist Cuba or its state media.

The Viktor Leonov CCB-175 boat, measuring 91.5 meters (300 feet) long and 14.5 meters wide, was docked at the port of Havana's cruise ship area, near the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

The Vishnya, or Meridian-class intelligence ship, which has a crew of around 200, went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was transferred seven years later to the northern fleet, Russian media sources said.

Neither Cuban authorities nor state media have mentioned the ship's visit, unlike on previous tours by Russian warships. [Read more: AFP/26February2014]

Venezuela Accuses Intelligence Officers of Murdering 2. Seven members of the intelligence service have been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of a demonstrator and a government supporter after a major protest march here, the authorities said on Wednesday.

The announcement of the charges appeared to contrast with repeated claims by top government officials that the political opposition was responsible for violence accompanying a wave of protests that has swept the country.

Yet the charges also appeared to be part of growing intrigue swirling around the intelligence service and possible maneuvers within the government of President Nicol�s Maduro.

The national prosecutor's office said in a statement that the seven members of the intelligence force, known as the National Bolivarian Intelligence Service, or Sebin, had been charged in the deaths on Feb. 12 of Bassil Da Costa, the protester, and Juan Montoya, the government supporter. [Read more: Neuman/NYTimes/26February2014]

Australian Secret Intelligence Service is Looking Online for Prospective James Bonds. Australia's secret service is advertising online for curious workers who can keep their mouth shut.

The top secret role pays up to $96,389 and job hunters can expect the grueling recruitment process to take up to a year, according to our sources.

Potential intelligence officers will compete against thousands of wannabe spy applicants.

But before spy school begins, they'll have to pass intensive psychological tests and be sworn to secrecy.

If successful, life is unlikely to be like a James Bond film with fast cars, fast women and shaken martinis - but you may still need a tuxedo. New recruits should also have their passports in order because they could find themselves mingling with foreign powerbrokers or in Afghanistan. [Read more: White/HeraldSun/3March2014]

Turkey's Government Tries to Expand Intelligence Agency Powers. The Turkish government is pushing through legislation extending the powers of the country's National Intelligence Agency, or MIT, and increasing the agency's protection from prosecution. The move has drawn widespread condemnation and concern following controversial laws extending government control over the judiciary and the Internet. 

The Turkish parliament is considering new legislation that will dramatically extend the powers of the MIT. The proposed legislation empowers the MIT to access data, including the bank records of any company or individual. The MIT would also be able to conduct operations against anyone deemed to be a "national security threat."

The proposed law has drawn strong criticism from human rights groups and legal advocates. Istar Gozaydin, a law professor at Istanbul's Dogus University, says the legislation would effectively put the agency above the law.

"Non-accountability is one the huge problems in this legislation: the MIT becomes somehow omnipotent. Under this legislation, in order to start an investigation against any personnel that claims to be in the context of the intelligence service, the prime minister has to authorize," said Gozaydin. [Read more: Jones/VoiceofAmerica/27March2014]

Officials: Al-Qaida Plots Comeback in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida's Afghanistan leader is laying the groundwork to relaunch his war-shattered organization once the United States and international forces withdraw from the country, as they have warned they will do without a security agreement from the Afghan government, U.S. officials say.

Farouq al-Qahtani al-Qatari has been cementing local ties and bringing in small numbers of experienced militants to train a new generation of fighters, and U.S. military and intelligence officials say they have stepped up drone and jet missile strikes against him and his followers in the mountainous eastern provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. The objective is to keep him from restarting the large training camps that once drew hundreds of followers before the U.S.-led war began.

The officials say the counterterrorism campaign - a key reason the Obama administration agreed to keep any troops in Afghanistan after 2014 - could be jeopardized by the possibility of a total pullout.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said the number of al-Qaida members in Afghanistan has risen but not much higher than as many as the several hundred or so the U.S. has identified in the past. [Read more: Dozier/AP/28February2014]

Bulgarian President Meets Foreign Minister, Intelligence Chiefs on Ukraine. Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev met foreign minister Kristian Vigenin and the heads of military intelligence and the National Intelligence Service on March 2 to discuss the situation in Ukraine, the President's press service said.

Plevneliev was briefed on the assessments of the foreign ministry and the intelligence chiefs on threats to national security related to developments in Ukraine, the statement said.

The meeting discussed preparations for the March 3 special meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss the Crimea crisis in Ukraine, and Bulgaria's stance in the March 2 meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council.

Bulgaria's position is that the EU declares itself in favour of the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. [Read more: SofiaGlobe/2March2014]

Somalia: 12 Killed in Car Bomb Blast Near Mogadishu Intelligence Base. At least 12 persons including intelligence officers have been reported dead after an explosive-laden car exploded near an intelligence base in Mogadishu on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.

According to witnesses, a speeding car hit a busy restaurant near a security checkpoint at the entrance to Habar-khadijo intelligence base in Mogadishu's Shibis district.

"I saw 12 bodies lying motionless on the ground and other 8 people were wounded in the thunderous explosion. The security forces immediately cordoned off the roads leading to the scene of the attack," an eyewitness told GO.

Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, saying further attacks will be organized very soon. [Read more: AllAfrica/27February2014]

German Intelligence Monitoring a Dozen Battle-Hardened Jihadis Back From Syria. German security services are monitoring about a dozen Islamic extremists who have returned from fighting in Syria and are considered potential terror threats.

Germany's domestic intelligence service said Wednesday that about 300 people - 280 men and 20 women - have left Germany for Syria since the start of unrest there more than two years ago.

"There's a growing problem from radicalized and battle-hardened returnees from Syria," Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of the intelligence service, said in a statement. "We have information on about a dozen people who have actively engaged in fighting in Syria. This has increased the risk of terrorist acts in Germany."

Intelligence officials have noted that German law makes it difficult to arrest jihadis returning from Syria unless there is concrete proof that they have committed a crime. But security agencies, wary of letting extremists just slip back into the country, have stepped up their observation of those people considered to be the greatest potential threats. [Read more: Jordans/AP/26February2014]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Here's What a Job Ad to Help Run America's Spy Agencies Looks Like. Are you "results driven" with "business acumen?" Do you have "excellent communication skills, both written and personal"?

Then you might want to consider applying to serve as the chair of the National Intelligence Council, a high-level job posted on the federal government's job listing website this week.

As chair, you'd lead a group of academics, policy makers and intelligence officials in advising the boss of our nation's intelligence communities, James Clapper, who is the director of national intelligence.

You'd help the director coordinate intelligence gathering among all of America's 17 spy agencies and issue reports like this one studying if freed detainees at Guantanamo Bay will engage in terrorism again.

Like we said, it's a pretty high-profile post that deals with lots of classified information. From the job listing: [Read more: Phillips/DigitalFirstMedia/27February2014]

Did John Steinbeck Spy for the CIA? Google handed over its homepage Thursday to a short, interactive e-book honoring John Steinbeck. The author wrote several American classics, including The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, and Travels With Charley. 

Mr. Steinbeck achieved great fame within his lifetime, winning the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature. But one of his most interesting actions only became public after his death.

In 2012, the Central Intelligence Agency released documents indicating that Steinbeck had offered to spy for his country. The author planned a tour of Europe in 1952 and asked the agency if it needed anyone on the ground.

At the time, America and the Soviet Union had locked horns in a global cold war. The US needed smart men and women to gain the upper hand, and Gen. Walter Smith, director of the CIA, apparently was eager to recruit the author. [Read more: Gaylord/ChristianScienceMonitor/27February2014]

Hotel Watch: In the Thick of It. St. Ermin's Hotel in the heart of central London has a colorful history of espionage tales and much more. 

After a recent $50 million renovation, this gracious four-star retreat beckons guests with a charming mixture of Victorian grandeur, eclectic design and up-to-date furnishings and amenities.

In the heart of St. James's directly across from New Scotland Yard and within walking distance of Parliament Square, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Whitehall, the Royal Parks, shopping and theaters, the hotel is only a few minutes' walk from the St. James's Park underground and Victoria mainline stations.

The only London hotel closely associated with the history of espionage, St. Ermin's intriguing past sets it apart from any other. In 1940, Sir Winston Churchill invited an elite group there to establish the SOE (Special Operations Executive) which formulated intelligence operations that helped win World War II (they initially occupied an entire floor). The Caxton Bar was used regularly by SIS, MI5, MI6 and Naval Intelligence Division case officers to meet their agents. The notorious double agent Guy Burgess frequently met his Russian counterpart there to hand over top secret files.

Parents travelling with children will appreciate the "Double, Double Rooms" that include two queen-sized beds, an additional sofa bed and two separate bathrooms. Young "007" fans will enjoy the hotel's "Top Secret Briefing Pack" containing codes and tips to help "Budding Bonds" develop their observational and investigative skills. The kit takes them on a London Spy Walk Challenge that ends with their very own shaken-not-stirred non-alcoholic cocktail. [Read more: Chaffee/WashingtonLife/26February2014]

How Was 'El Chapo' Guzm�n Captured? Satellite Phone Was Key. Joaqu�n "El Chapo" Guzm�n was captured thanks to a satellite phone that he used last Monday to call one of his subordinates and ask him for help to escape Culiacan where he was hiding in a tunnel. El Chapo's capture represents the biggest police successes in the last decade, and it had its beginnings in the capture of Daniel Fern�ndez Dom�nguez "El Pelacas", arrested on the 12th of February in Puebla in a joint effort between the CIA and the Mexican Attorney General's office. 

Dominguez, originally from Monterrey, had spoken with Guzm�n and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada not long before his arrest. He had 20 different cell phones at the time of his capture: several of them had calls to numbers with a Sinaloa area code. Following some rapid investigation, the CIA determined that among the many numbers in the phone, were the phone numbers for Joel Enrique Sandoval Romero, "El 19", his brothers Apolonio "El 30" and Cristo Omar "El Cristo", Jes�s Andr�s Corrales Aztorga "El Bimbo" and Mario Miguel P�rez Urrea "El Pitaya".

With this information, the next day the CIA and Marines entered the municipality of Reforma in Sinaloa, where Joel Sandoval was captured along with his accomplices. The operatives had formed a map of links created with phone data, license plates, restaurants and photographs that the sons of the drug dealers had uploaded to social media. The capture of Sandoval was key as one of the numbers registered in his phone, he assured the operatives, belonged to Chapo himself.

The other key piece of information obtained by the DEA this last weekend was that "El Chapo" and his colleague, "El Mayo" Zambada were planning a meeting in Culiacan, although the exact place had not been determined. A number of radio conversations in Culiacan made reference to this meeting, without specifically naming the time and place. [Read more: Lopez/LatinTimes/23February2014]

Inside the Army's Spectacular Hidden Treasure Room. Remember that ending scene out of Indiana Jones where the Ark of the Covenant is boxed up and wheeled through an endless government warehouse?

Did you know that that place actually exists?

It is located 30 minutes outside Washington, D.C., at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The building itself is very nondescript...but behind a series of highly alarmed doors...and long, cement, camera-laden hallways...is the highly sophisticated, climate-controlled treasure room where the Army keeps its most precious artifacts. [Read more: Johnson/BuzzFeed/20February2014]

Meet Mark Mueller, Chief Engineer at Defense Intelligence Agency. The Defense Intelligence Agency may not call to mind images of engineers, but they are an integral part of the agency's innovative culture. Mark Mueller, the chief engineer for the Directorate for Science and Technology's Office of Development and Engineering, talks about his involvement with the Experimental Aircraft Association as a source of personal and professional inspiration.

He can remember being passionate about aviation since watching the lunar landings as a child, but followed a behind the scenes path to aviation when less than 20/20 vision kept him from a military cockpit. Mueller views AirVenture, the EAA's annual convention, as an example of impassioned creativity and a source of inspiration for DIA's objective to adopt a more innovative culture.

"When we talk about changing our organizational culture to focus more on innovation, there isn't anything more inspiring than going to an event like this where the drive is purely passion," Mueller said.

But Mueller doesn't advocate keeping what a person is passionate about separate from their job. Practicing what he preaches, his day job as an engineer and personal passion for aeronautics inform and cultivate each other and the same principle applies whether you're coding software, building airplanes or writing articles. [Read more: DIAPublicAffairs/21February2014]

British Spy Who Duped Nazi Sympathisers into Revealing Their Secrets During WWII and Inspired John le Carr�'s Character George Smiley 'Despised Author's Portrayal of Spies'. A Second World War intelligence agent who inspired fictional spy George Smiley 'hated everything' about how author John le Carr� portrayed the secret services, it has been claimed.

John Bingham, an MI5 agent, exposed Nazi sympathisers in Britain by convincing them he was a German double agent. After gaining the trust of undercover fascists, he convinced them to reveal secrets which were fed back to the intelligence services.

Mr. le Carr�, whose works include The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, revealed in 1999 that Smiley was inspired by Bingham, who had been his boss at MI5.

George Smiley features in eight of le Carr�'s novels and was played by Gary Oldman in the 2011 film adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The true extent of Mr. Bingham's espionage was revealed just days ago when the National Archives declassified a cache of documents 25 years after his death. [Read more: Corcoran/DailyMail/4March2014]

Military Once Sought to Build a Psychic Spy Team. Government spying by any means possible is nothing new. Here's an example:

Back in the 1970s through 1990s, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the military conducted activities that covertly challenged conventional thinking on the subject. Some of the experiments took place within a two-hour drive from Lodi.

This research came to be known as "remote viewing." It was an attempt to look behind the closed borders of American adversaries via extra-sensory perception or ESP. There were several projects taking place - with the majority under the secret code name of project "GRILL FLAME."

Headquarters for this venture were located in old, wood-framed military buildings 2560 and 2561 at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. But some of the activities were performed in the Bay Area at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park. [Read more: Hansen/LodiNews/4March2014]

World War One: Carl Lody - Edinburgh's WW1 Spy. Soon after the outbreak of World War One, the Germans sent a spy to Edinburgh to gather intelligence. The untrained spook's "amateurish" methods soon led to him being caught and executed by firing squad at Tower of London.

Towards the end of August 1914 a man checked into what is now the Balmoral Hotel in the centre of Edinburgh claiming to be an American tourist.

In reality he was a German spy who had been sent to gather intelligence from the British.

Carl Lody, by now 37 years old, was a junior naval officer who had been forced to retire for health reasons but was looking for other ways to serve the fatherland.

"He was especially attractive to German naval intelligence because he had lived for years in the United States and spoke English fluently, although with an American accent," according to Peter Jackson, professor of history at the University of Glasgow. [Read more: BBC/26February2014]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Russia's New Cold War. It is pleasant to be proved right - up to a point. With the body count rising and Kiev's Independence Square in flames, illusions about Vladimir Putin's Russia are smoldering too. I have been decrying the Putin regime since its inception. As Moscow bureau chief for the Economist until 2002, I was one of a handful of foreign journalists who did not welcome the new era of stability and decisiveness at the top. I feared where it might lead. The current fanfare over the Sochi Olympics masks the fact that fears about the rise of Vladimir Putin were entirely justified.

Where President George W. Bush looked into Mr. Putin's eyes and got a "sense of his soul," others could look into his background and see a man steeped in the values of the KGB, who had held high office in St. Petersburg, the most gangster-ridden city in Russia. The chances of his making Russia democratic, law-governed or friendly were next to nil. But such views were unfashionable in the days when Mr. Putin was feted in every Western capital. 

In 2007, people began to wake up. Anna Politkovskaya, the dissident journalist, was murdered on Mr. Putin's birthday. The London-based �migr� Aleksander Litvinenko was poisoned with a sophisticated radioactive weapon; British authorities suspected the Kremlin's hand but drew back when Russia refused to cooperate in the investigation. Estonia came under cyberattack. Russia cut natural gas to Ukraine. Mr. Putin gave a venomous anti-Western speech at the Munich Security conference. I started writing a book.

When The New Cold War was published in 2008, I argued that Russia under Vladimir Putin was a danger to itself and others. Inside Russia, there was the erosion of media freedom, the hollowing out of institutions, the neo-Soviet approach to history, the economy's over-dependence on natural resources. The book also outlined the deep anti-Westernism of the Kremlin's thinking, its use of bluff, subterfuge, energy blackmail and divide-and-rule tactics against an inattentive West. It pointed out that Russia is adept at using the West's biggest weakness: money. Russia's biggest export is corruption; its biggest effects are in our financial and political systems.

Reaction was mixed. Many people wanted to believe that the arrival in the Kremlin in 2008 of Dmitry Medvedev, nominally as president but in fact as Mr. Putin's sidekick, marked a new era of liberalization. Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 rattled the West, but many people blamed both sides. The Obama administration tried to "reset" relations - a much-hyped gambit that brought negligible results.

Six years later, the Medvedev era is forgotten. Russia has showed a formidable knack for diplomatic stunts, such as midwifing the deal on Syria in which the Obama administration and others agreed not to try to stop Bashar Assad's war on the Syrian people in return for his promise (unfulfilled) to get rid of chemical weapons. Then there is Russia's new alliance with the authoritarian regime in Egypt that replaced the elected government. But nobody mistakes deal-making for friendship. [Read more: Lucas/WallStreetJournal/19February2014]

James Jesus Angleton, Was He Right? James Jesus Angleton was not only a master spy in the CIA, he was the most remarkable intellectual I ever knew in the U.S. government. His subject was deception. He founded the counterintelligence staff in the CIA in 1955, which raised a question: Is the U.S. government vulnerable to deception by a foreign adversary?

It is a question that is just as relevant today. It was also a question that many of his peers in the CIA did not want to hear, much less answer, as it undermined much of the intelligence they were eliciting from sources in Russia. So Angleton was fired in 1975, and, through well-placed "leaks" to the press, discredited as a paranoid man pursuing nonexistent KGB moles in the CIA and FBI, and ridiculed as a modern Captain Ahab willing to wreck his ship to hunt a figment of his imagination.

This legend soon became the stuff of fiction, and provided the basis for the obsessed spy hunter in movies such as The Good Shepherd (in which Angleton is played by Matt Damon), TV mini-series such as The Company (in which Angleton is played by Michael Keaton), and novels such as Norman Mailer's Harlot's Ghost.

All these depictions in both fact and fiction evade the central fact that, as it turns out, Angleton was right. [Read more: Epstein/HuffingtonPost/27February2014]

Drones Are Finally Driving the U-2 Spy Plane Out of Business. When US president Obama unveils his 2015 spending proposal in March, it is expected to be the first in more than a decade to shift defense spending off its post-9/11 war footing.

That means cutting the number of active-duty soldiers to 440,000, slightly fewer than in the late nineties, limiting new naval vessels and freezing pay for top officers. The move has defense officials fearful of creating "a military capable of defeating any adversary, but too small for protracted foreign occupations," but Americans might actually prefer such an armed force.

The best metaphor for the whole plan is a proposal to end the use of the U-2 spy plane, in service since 1955...and replace it with a flying robot called the Global Hawk.

Lockheed Martin's U-2 spy plane was originally designed to fly at the edge of space, above Soviet radar and fighter jets, to surveil Russia during the Cold War. One was famously shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, captured, leading to an early diplomatic contretemps in the proxy conflict. The plane would prove its usefulness in virtually every American conflict since that time, despite improvements in satellite reconnaissance and attempts to replace it with newer technology - at least, reportedly, until now. [Read more: Fernholz/Quartz/24February2014]

Why We Need a Defense Clandestine Service. I was a CIA spy from 1979 to 1988, leaving when invited to be a co-creator of the Marine Corps Intelligence Center from 1988 to 1993. Since 1993, I have been one of the more persistent published proponents of intelligence reform around the world.

In 2010, I was among those interviewed for the position of defense intelli�gence senior leader for human intelligence (HUMINT). I made two points during that interview: First, in a declining fiscal environment, the best way to pay for a defense spy program would be by cutting in half the Measurements and Signatures Analysis Intelligence program, which is under the oversight of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) director. It is the most over-hyped and underperforming national collection program.

Second, micro-pockets of excellence notwithstanding, no one serving in the Pentagon (or CIA) was qualified by mindset or experience to create the Defense Clandestine Service (DCS). I was particularly pointed about the complacency and ineptitude of the entrenched civilian cadre, and the inexperience and uncertainty of their constantly changing uniformed counterparts.

Here are my observations on whether there should be a DCS, and if so, how it should be trained, equipped and organized. [Read more: Steele/DefenseNews/3March2014]

How to Protect Our Electric Grid. Revelations about the cyber theft of customer data at Target and Neiman Marcus are just the most recent reminders about the threat to the United States of cyber attacks. But invasive and costly attacks on businesses and all of us as customers may not even be the most worrisome threats.

Rather, cyber threats to critical infrastructure - for example, water, energy and telecommunications - are important to our national security. There is evidence that energy systems, in particular, are becoming a popular target. The Department of Homeland Security recently reported responding to 198 cyber-incidents in 2012 across all critical sectors. Forty-one percent of these incidents involved the energy sector, particularly electricity.

Although to date there are no reports of a successful cyber attack on the electric grid, we believe it is more a question of "when" than "if." A targeted cyber attack - either alone or combined with a physical attack - on the power system could lead to huge costs, with sustained outages over large portions of the electric grid and prolonged disruptions in communications, health care delivery and food and water supplies.

Unlike traditional threats to electric grid reliability, such as extreme weather events, a cyber attack is less predictable in its timing and potentially more difficult to diagnose and address. Such an attack could come from various sources and target many potential vulnerabilities. The North American electricity grid is sprawling, with approximately 5,800 major power plants and more than 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. And our economy is pervasively dependent upon its functioning. [Read more: Hayden,H�bert&Tierney/USAToday/4March2014]

Section IV - Coming Events

Coming Educational Events

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

MANY more International Spy Museum Events in 2014 with full details are listed on the AFIO Website at www.afio.com.

6 March 2014, 11:30 am - 2 pm - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO James Quesada Chapter hosts former FBI Special Agent Frank Doyle, discussing "The Oklahoma City Bombing and Timothy McVey."

Former FBI Special Agent Frank Doyle will discuss the Oklahoma City bombing, a homegrown domestic terrorism event which occurred on April 19, 1995. This April will be the 19th anniversary of this most destructive act of terrorism on U.S. soil, only superseded by the September 11 attacks in 2001. 11:30AM no host cocktails; meeting starts at noon.
Event location: United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Avenue, SF (between Sloat/Wawona).
RSVP required by 2/25/2014 to Mariko Kawaguchi at afiosf@aol.com and mail check made out to "AFIO" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, PO Box 117578, Burlingame, CA 94011. Members and students: $25; non-member guests $35 (must be accompanied by member).

Wednesday, 12 March 2014, 11:30am - 1:30pm - Scottsdale, AZ - FBI Analyst/former CIA Officer Matt Perez discusses "Differences and Similarities in Intelligence Work between FBI and CIA."

Mathias J. Perez, Intelligence Analyst, FBI Phoenix Division, will discuss "The differences and similarities in intelligence work between the FBI & CIA"
Matt Perez is an intelligence analyst for the Phoenix Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During his seven years with the FBI, Matt has worked as a manager and leader of analysts, as a line analyst embedded in a squad, and as a collection manager.
Prior to joining the Bureau, Matt served as the chief of China leadership political analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency. He has also worked as an all source analyst at the National Counterterrorism Center. Matt earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Arizona, and he is a US Army veteran.
Event location: McCormick Ranch Golf Course, 7505 McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale AZ 85258 - Phone 480.948.0260
RSVP no later than 72 hours ahead of time. No Shows who have not cancelled 48 hours prior will be charged. Fee is $20/pp ($22/pp nonmembers). For reservations or questions, contact Simone at simone@afioaz.org or simone@4smartphone.net. To call, please leave a message on 602.570.6016.

12 March 2014 - Laurel, MD - The National Cryptologic Museum Foundation hosts the Spring Program featuring Jim Ohlson of NSA's Office of Counterintelligence

The guest speaker is Jim Ohlson. Jim is a retired FBI Special Agent with over 28 years of service to the FBI, primarily in the counterintelligence and counterterrorism programs.
On 20 February 2001, Mr. Ohlson's phone began to ring early in the morning and continued without letup throughout the day. He was stunned to learn that Robert Hanssen, a co-worker he had formed close ties with during assignments in D.C. and New York, was under arrest for espionage. The media frenzy that followed the Robert Hanssen spy case can be used to judge its impact. No modern spy has been the focus of so much attention as fast as Robert Hanssen. By 2003, five books had been published and numerous articles written and by 2007 several films had been produced.
Jim Ohlson had come to know Bob Hanssen fairly well over the years and felt the books and movies had done a mixed job at solving the essential mystery. To explain why, it will be helpful to address a series of questions: Who is Bob Hanssen? What made him a good FBI agent? What made him a good KGB agent? What was the damage? Why did he do it? Where is he now?
Early in his career he studied Arabic at the Defense Language Institute and then put the language to use in the Bureau's New York Field Office. He spent over 14 years in the New York Office working counterterrorism, counterintelligence and directing FBI support to the National Foreign Intelligence programs for the U.S. Intelligence Community. Following that assignment Jim was awarded the DCI's National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. Jim retired from FBI Headquarters as the Security Program Manager. In 13 years since leaving the FBI, he has worked with the Center for Public Justice, the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive [NCIX]; and, since 2004, with NSA's Office of Counterintelligence. Prior to his years in the FBI, Jim served in the U.S. Army, to include a tour in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.
Event Location: L-3 Communications located at 2720 Technology Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701, Tel 301-575-3200. Lunch will be served 1200-1300.
To join us for this exciting program mail your registration fee in the enclosed envelope or register online at www.cryptologicfoundation.org. The fees are $20 for members and $50 for guests (includes a guest membership). Deadline for registration is 07 March 2014.
If you wish to register by sending a check via U.S. mail, do so by making it payable to NCMF and send to PO Box 1682, Fort George G Meade, MD 20755-3682. Questions? Contact Mary J. Faletto, Senior Administrator, National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, Office: 301-688-5436 Cell: 443-250-8621. E-mail: cryptmf@aol.com

Thursday, 13 March 2014, Noon-2 pm - Washington DC - The Returned & Services League of Australia meets to hear The Hon Kim Beazley AC Ambassador of Australia.

Topic: Possible Future Directions in Australia's Defence Force.
Where - Amenities Room, Embassy of Australia, 1601 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Washington DC 20036
Charge - $15.00 including buffet lunch and sodas. Alcoholic beverages - $2.00 each.
RSVP  by noon on Wednesday March 12, to David Ward at 202-352-8550 or via e-mail to dmward1973@gmail.com
NOTE: Valid photo ID required
Parking: While there is no parking at the Embassy, paid off street parking is available behind and under the Airline Pilots Association- 17th and Mass, and at 15th and Mass (1240 15th street). On street two hour metered parking is also available.

Friday, 14 March 2014, 6:30pm - 9:30pm - Washington, DC - Spy School Workshop: Inside Surveillance 101 with Eric O'Neill, at the International Spy Museum

Spring into surveillance! As a young operative in the FBI, Eric O'Neill was used to conducting surveillance; he was even put into the position of spying on his boss. The boss was Robert Hanssen, who was under suspicion of working for Russia, and O'Neill was up to the challenge. Now he'll share his expertise with you. O'Neill has conducted many outdoor surveillance exercises for the Museum, and he's ready to take those with the right skills up a notch. You'll be trailing the "Rabbit" through a complicated urban setting with red herrings and false leads. O'Neill will rate your clandestine prowess while you spy on secret meetings and operational acts and see if you can uncover the spy skullduggery that's afoot while you are on foot. There is no guarantee that your "Rabbit" won't escape!
Tickets: $94. Space is limited to only 10 participants - advance registration required! Call Laura Hicken at 202-654-0932 to register.

19 March - 21 May 2014 - Washington, DC - Frontiers: A Ten Week Program in American Strategy and Statecraft at the Institute of World Politics.

Frontiers consists of ten-weekly luncheons featuring a panel of experts on each session's topic including Cyber and Corporate Statecraft, Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Counter-radicalization and more. Frontiers is an intensive ten-week program in American strategy and statecraft that reflects the unique curriculum offered at The Institute of World Politics (IWP) based on statecraft, strategy, political philosophy, and applied ethics. The program will emphasize the concept of integrated strategy, which attempts to address foreign policy and national security challenges by applying and integrating different instruments of statecraft such as military, traditional and public diplomacy, strategic communications, intelligence, counterintelligence, and economic strategy - within the rule of law.

Schedule: Click here for the schedule for the Spring 2014 Frontiers program. 

Application: Click here to apply for Frontiers Spring 2014 (March 19-May 21).

Tuition: The cost of this program is $3,000.  Once you have been accepted to the program, please mail your check to: The Institute of World Politics, Attn: Tania Mastrapa, 1521 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 

Contact: Dr. Tania C. Mastrapa at mastrapa@iwp.edu

Thursday, 20 March 2014 - Colorado Springs, CO - AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter luncheon features Inspector John San Agustin of El Paso County Sheriff's Office

Inspector John San Agustin of the El Paso County Sheriff�s Office discusses the Jon Benet Ramsey case. That case has been in the news in December 2013 and again in January 2014. John Agustin and Ollie Gray, partners in an investigation with full access to the Ramsey�s files, will demonstrate their findings and evidence, which may surprise you. The Chapter meets at its new venue: the Falcon Room of the Air Force Academy, Falcon Club, starting at 11:30 am. Price: $12.00 payable at the door. Please RSVP to Tom VanWormer at robsmom@pcisys.net.

Friday, 21 March 2014, 10:30am - 2pm - Tysons Corner, VA - AFIO's first 2014 luncheon features John Rizzo, former Acting General Counsel, CIA - the most influential Career Lawyer in CIA history, and Philip Mudd, Former DD/National Security, FBI and Former DD/Counterterrorist Center, CIA.

John Rizzo, former Acting General Counsel, CIA, author of: Company Man: Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA, makes his presentation to our members at 1 p.m. "Rizzo rose to become the most influential career lawyer in CIA history ...involved in proxy wars in Central America in the 1970s to recent drone strikes in Pakistan." "Practicing law at CIA was unlike any other attorney job in the government. Few federal statutes were meant to apply to the Agency's activities..." Company Man is "an atlas to navigate the dark, murky morality that governs the business of intelligence." -- The Washington Post, Dina Temple-Raston, 10 January 2014

Morning speaker, 11 am, is Philip Mudd, Former Deputy Director of National Security, FBI, and Former Deputy Director, Counterterrorist Center, CIA, author of TAKEDOWN: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaida. Philip Mudd, a career CIA officer, become second-in-charge of counterterrorism analysis in the Counterterrorist Center. He was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Center in 2003 and served there until 2005, when FBI Director Mueller appointed him as the first-ever deputy director of the National Security Branch in 2005.  He later became the FBI's Senior Intelligence Adviser and then resigned from government service in March 2010.

<Register Here while space remains.

EVENT LOCATION: The Crowne Plaza, 1960 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22102. Driving directions here or use this link: http://tinyurl.com/boey9vf

Friday, 21 March 2014, 12.30 - 2pm - Los Angeles, CA - The AFIO L.A. Chapter hosts speaker on "The U-2 Incident: A Son's Perspective."

Francis Gary Powers, Jr will be our guest speaker discussing "The U-2 Incident, A Son's Perspective." Powers, Jr., was born five years after his father was shotdown over the Soviet Union. The downing was an incident that triggered much embarrassment for the Eisenhower Administration. Powers Jr. is founder of The Cold War Museum located in Vint Hill Farms, Virginia.
Event location: LAPD ARTC, 5651 W Manchester Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045.
Please RSVP for attendance: afio_LA@yahoo.com.

25-27 March 2014 - Oxford, MS - Five Eyes Analytic Workshop at the University of Mississippi's Center for Intelligence and Security Studies

The University of Mississippi's Center for Intelligence and Security Studies is pleased to host the Five Eyes Analytic Workshop at the Oxford, MS campus on March 25-27, 2014. We invite you to attend and/or present; information is available at our event website:
http://5eyes.olemiss.edu/spring2014
code: 5eyesreg
The workshop's theme is "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds," based on the 2012 document published by the National Intelligence Council; DIA originally selected this theme for the cancelled November 2013 workshop. You may view the NIC publication at: http://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/national-intelligence-council-global-trends
At this time, we'd like to invite proposals for presentations, which must be submitted at http://5eyes.olemiss.edu/propose. We'd like to include, on the March 2014 agenda, any presenters from the November 2013 schedule who wish to attend the upcoming workshop. Please indicate your proposal's initial acceptance to the November Five Eyes on the online submittal form.
If you have any questions, please contact Carl Julius Jensen, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies: Legal Studies, at carlj@olemiss.edu, (662) 915-1886, or Melissa Anne Graves, Associate Director, Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, magraves@olemiss.edu, (662) 915-1474. Feel free to share this call for proposals with your colleagues.

 Friday, 28 March 2014, 6 - 7:30 pm - Washington, DC - IWP Professor and AFIO President, Gene Poteat, speaks on The Changing Face of American Intelligence: From OSS Special Operations, to Analysis and High Tech Reconnaissance, back to Special Operations

The CIA has responded to changing national security needs. The early CIA, staffed by former OSS men with Special Ops expertise, succeed in countering the Communist subversion of Italy, Greece and Turkey. Political interference however, led to the disastrous Bay of Pigs fiasco. Special Ops were replaced by analysts who sought to inform policymakers on all they needed to know. But without HUMINT, analysts failed to answer the most critical intelligence question of the time, the "bomber and missile gap." Eisenhower answered the question with high tech reconnaissance, beginning with the U-2 and Corona satellites, which also helped in the Berlin and Cuban Missile crises. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, followed by challenges of global Islamic terrorism, American intelligence has returned to an updated version of Special Ops, i.e., integration of HUMINT, analysis, high-tech weapons, such as the Predator, all working hand-in-glove with Special Forces based in Florida.
Location: The Institute of World Politics, 1521 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036.
RSVP Required. Do so to sdwyer@iwp.edu.

7 April 2014, 5:30 - 8 pm - New York, NY - Master of Disguise CIA Officer Tony Mendez, of the ARGO Operation which inspired the film, to speak on his unusual tradecraft techniques.

Speaker: Tony Mendez, 25 year distinguished CIA career. Awarded CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit in 1980 for exfiltrating six Americans from Iran, subject of the Oscar-winning movie ARGO, awarded "Trailblazer Medallion"
Topic: His book Master of Disguise - A classic story about life in the CIA. Iran was only one of several places where this master of disguise was successful.
Location: Society of Illustrators building 128 East 63rd St, New York City
Time: Registration 5:30 PM Meeting Start 6:00 PM
Cost: $50/person Cash or check, payable at the door only.
Register: Registrations required - afiometro@gmail.com or 646-717-3776

Tuesday, 8 April 2014, 11:30am - 2pm - Tampa, FL - The AFIO Florida Suncoast Chapter hears Col Michael Hill on USSOCOM's History and Background

Colonel Michael S. Hill is the Deputy Director, Communications Systems, J6/CIO, for Headquarters United States Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, FL. He is responsible for developing USSOCOM's Information Technology (IT) strategy as well as executing the Command's C4 acquisition program. He is also responsible for operating and maintaining USSOCOM's global network providing support to more than 56,000 special operations personnel.
COL Hill will brief us on USSOCOM history and background, strategic context, the commander's priorities, and how the J6 Communications Systems Directorate provides support in achieving the Commander's Vision and the SOCOM Mission. He will close with the challenges facing USSOCOM and its current priorities.
The meeting will be held at the Surf's Edge Club at MacDill AFB, with the program beginning at noon. Advance reservations are required by Wednesday, April 2, and the luncheon cost is $20. Please contact the Chapter Secretary, Michael Shapiro at michaels@suncoastafio.org for further information or to make reservations

Tuesday, 08 April 2014, 6 p.m. - Washington, DC - "Witness to History: DarkMarket and the FBI Agent who Became Master Splynter" (How an online agent exposed an exclusive cyber club for crooks) at the International Spy Museum

Selling stolen personal credit and identity information online is not a recent phenomenon, in 2005 DarkMarket was created to be a one-stop shop for illicit data. The online site became a hub for underground criminal enterprise, with over 2,500 registered members at its peak. In 2008, Agent J. Keith Mularkski of the FBI's Cyber Initiative & Resource Fusion Unit creatively masked his true identity joined DarkMarket under the handle Master Splyntr and remained undetected for two years. His ingenious efforts were responsible for preventing millions in financial loss and resulted in 60 worldwide arrests. Hear directly from Mularski how he learned to log on and think like a crook to catch criminals and hear from the experts how cyber security adapts to current threats and trends in the marketplace.
Presented in collaboration with the National Law Enforcement Museum. Sponsored by Target.
Tickets: Free! For more information visit www.spymuseum.org.

Wednesday, 09 April 2014, noon - Washington, DC - Global Terrorism, Espionage and Cybersecurity Monthly Update at the International Spy Museum.

Join David Major, retired FBI agent and former director of Counterintelligence, Intelligence and Security Programs, for a briefing on the hottest intelligence and security issues, breaches, and penetrations. Presented in partnership with The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre), these updates will cover worldwide events such as breaking espionage cases and arrest reports, cyber espionage incidents, and terrorist activity. Find out Snowden's current status and what could happen next with this case. Major uses his expertise to analyze trends and highlight emerging issues of interest to both intelligence and national security professionals and the public. Cases are drawn from the CI Centre's SPYPEDIA�, the most comprehensive source of espionage information in the world, containing events and information that may not be reported by mainstream media outlets. Major will also highlight and review the latest books and reports to keep you current on what is hitting think tank desks.
Tickets: Free! No registration required.

Wednesday, 09 April 2014, 7 - 10 p.m. - Washington, DC - Dinner with a Spy: An Evening with Sandy Grimes, at Poste.

Dine with a woman who helped identify Aldrich Ames -- the infamous CIA officer turned traitor.
Aldrich Ames could not have been more wrong when he considered Sandy Grimes a dumb broad. As a former CIA officer in the Agency's Clandestine Service, she and her fellow co-worker Jeanne Vertefeuille used determination and hard work to identify him as a KGB mole inside CIA. He was not only a co-worker and long-time acquaintance but someone they saw frequently in the hallways of CIA Headquarters. The women were finally able to tell the inside story of the unmasking of the CIA's most notorious mole in their remarkable book Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed which was the basis for the recent ABC Television mini-series The Assets. At this gathering, International Spy Museum executive director, Peter Earnest, who was once Ames' immediate supervisor, will lead a discussion with Grimes about how she and Vertefeuille pursued Ames until his capture. You will be one of only 7 guests at Poste for this three-course dinner.
Tickets: $450. To register please contact lhicken@spymuseum.org.

Wednesday, 23 April 2014, 6:30 - 9:30pm - Washington, DC - Spy School Workshop: Surveillance 101 with Eric O'Neil, at the International Spy Museum

Spring into surveillance!
As a young operative in the FBI, Eric O'Neill was used to conducting surveillance; he was even put into the position of spying on his boss. The boss was Robert Hanssen, who was under suspicion of working for Russia, and O'Neill was up to the challenge. Now he'll share his expertise with you. O'Neill has conducted many outdoor surveillance exercises for the Museum, and he's ready to take those with the right skills up a notch. You'll be trailing the "Rabbit" through a complicated urban setting with red herrings and false leads. O'Neill will rate your clandestine prowess while you spy on secret meetings and operational acts and see if you can uncover the spy skullduggery that's afoot while you are on foot. There is no guarantee that your "Rabbit" won't escape!
Tickets: $94. Space is limited to only 10 participants -- advance registration required! Call Laura Hicken at 202.654.0932 to register.

REGISTRATION HAS OPENED

AFIO 2014 Intelligence Symposium

First Call for AFIO's 2014 Intelligence Symposium
Tentative Agenda and Registration Now Available Online

1 - 3 May 2014

GEOINT, HUMINT, SIGINT: Expanding Capabilities; Growing Challenges and Risks

Day One at the new headquarters of the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Tentative Agenda is <here.
The Agenda was updated on 25 February 2014
There will be occasional updates so check again every ten days.

Be an early registrant....to get best hotel rooms and seating...
To apply quickly and securely online, do so .

For an application form to mail or print, download this 1-page PDF here

You will hear/meet NGA Director Letitia Long, as well as the following speakers (confirmed or invited):
Michael Sulick, former Director, CIA's National Clandestine Service; Michael Warner, Historian, DoD and CIA; James Hughes, CIA Mideast Expert; Kai Bird, author on CIA in Beirut; Keith Alexander, Director, NSA; Stewart Baker, former NSA & DHS; John Bennett, former Deputy Director, CIA's National Clandestine Service; Spike Bowman, former NSA, NCIX/DNI, FBI; David Major, former FBI/National Security Council; David Ignatius, journlist Washington Post; John Sano, former Deputy Director National Clandestine Service, CIA.

Day One of the Event [at NGA] is open to U.S. citizens only. Days Two and Three are open to all members, subscribers, and guests.
All three days will be conducted at UNCLASSIFIED level.

Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1960 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, VA 22102, Phone: 1-888-233-9527

Use the following link: http://tinyurl.com/ko6ppau to enter a hotel reservation at the discounted $109/nite rate.

If there is any difficulty getting the AFIO $109/night rate, at the hotel ask for Kristina Dorough at 703-738-3114 M - F 7am - 5pm EST
We do NOT recommend calling the national reservation lines but suggest calling the hotel at the above number to get the special event rate.

Wednesday, 14 May 2014, 6 - 9 pm - Scottsdale, AZ - AFIO AZ Chapter's 2nd Annual James Bond 007 Black Tie Event

AFIO's Arizona Chapter's scholarship fundraiser helps support the students of the defense and security studies at ASU.
Attire: Black Tie Optional
EVENT: Shaken not Stirred Martini Bar, Sit down dinner with hosts at each table representing the CIA Clandestine Service, FBI, Military Intelligence, and Law Enforcement Intelligence who will share war stories and answer questions; Bond Girls; live entertainment and dancing; Aston Martin (minus Machine Guns); Charitable fundraising auction of intelligence & spy paraphernalia; related art objects.
Tickets: $62.50 per person; $125 per couple until April 30
$75 per person; $150 per couple May 1 to May 11.
RSVP: 0072014@afioaz.org. Send check to: AFIO AZ 8614 E Appaloosa Trail, Scottsdale, AZ 85258. Select Chicken Provencal or Poached Salmon, and indicate full name of each guest.

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

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