Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Argentina's Congress Debates Reform of Spy Agency. Argentina's clandestine spy agency has a notoriously dark past that includes its failure to prevent a major attack on a Jewish community center, then allegedly sabotaging the investigation into what happened.

Operating with autonomy - and many critics argue, frequent impunity - the intelligence gathering groups under the umbrella of the Secretary of Intelligence have been used by governments dating back to the military dictatorship of the early 1970s to gather dirt on opponents.

"Everybody knew how the Secretary of Intelligence worked," said Gaston Chillier, executive director of the Center for Legal and Social Studies, an Argentine think tank. "But nobody wanted to say anything because their services were needed, or because of fear."

Argentina's Congress on Tuesday began debating a proposal to reform the clandestine service, whose alleged transgressions have ranged from simple corruption to helping the former military government identify many of the thousands of political detractors who were disappeared or killed. [Read more: AP/3February2015]

Canadian Military Wants to Be 'Main Player' in Global Intelligence, Document Shows. Canada's military intelligence branch laid out a path to become a "main player" in the global intelligence community, according to an ambitious planning document obtained by the Star.

The discussion document set out a five-year plan to "maximize" the Canadian Armed Forces' intelligence-gathering, with an eye to making military intelligence more "relevant" to the current national security conversation.

It placed the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) at the centre of a nexus that includes Canada's law enforcement and spy agencies - the RCMP, CSIS, and CSE - as well as international security partners, special operations units, and the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

The documents stated the Forces could harness "all of (the) strengths and capabilities" of the overall intelligence community, and should gain an understanding the complexities of Canada's domestic and foreign spy agencies. [Read more: Boutilier/TheStar/6February2015]

Obama to Create New Agency to Coordinate Intelligence About Cyberthreats. The White House is setting up a new agency designed to coordinate cyberthreat intelligence that currently is spread across the federal government.

The agency would be modeled after the National Counter Terrorism Center, which was established after 9/11 to coordinate terrorism intelligence. The lack of such an agency before led to missed opportunities to thwart the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, was to announce the new agency in a speech Tuesday at the Wilson Center in Washington, said a White House official who was not authorized to be quoted by name ahead of the announcement. The plan was first reported by the Washington Post.

US companies have been buffeted by a series of damaging cyber incidents in recent years - some from nation states, others from criminal groups. Government expertise in analyzing the various cyberthreats resides in a number of agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command. [Read more: Dilanian/AP/10February2015]

Former Spy Chief in South Korea Sentenced in Election Case. In a political blow to President Park Geun-hye, a South Korean appeals court on Monday convicted a former government intelligence chief on charges of intervening in the 2012 vote that elected her president.

The former intelligence chief, Won Sei-hoon, was arrested at the Seoul High Court and taken to jail after the court sentenced him to three years in prison.

The court did not comment on whether Mr. Won's intervention helped Ms. Park get elected. But it said that agents from the government's National Intelligence Service, under Mr. Won's instruction, began an online smear campaign against Ms. Park's political rivals ahead of the December 2012 vote, often depicting the rivals as North Korean sympathizers.

Ms. Park defeated her main opponent, Moon Jae-in, by a margin of 3.5 percentage points or roughly one million votes. Some opposition politicians have insisted that the spy agency's online smear campaign undermined the legitimacy of her victory by illegally swaying votes in her favor, although they have not officially claimed that it should be nullified. [Read more: Choe/NYTimes/9February2015]

Turkey's Intelligence Czar Resigns to Run for Office. As the clock hit midnight Feb. 7, news broke in Turkey that Hakan Fidan, head of the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), had resigned. Although no official announcement was made as to why he resigned, none was needed. Everyone knew this meant that Fidan would be running to become a deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the June 7 parliamentary elections.

While his resignation ended one puzzle, it opened up quite a few others for Turkish rumor mills. Ankara has been buzzing with all kinds of possible scenarios on what future political position Fidan would assume. Almost all pundits are confident that he did not resign his post simply to become a deputy. While tradition calls for members of parliament to be appointed to Cabinet posts, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he was prime minister, on several occasions assigned outsiders to be ministers. For example, current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was appointed foreign minister before he became a deputy in parliament. Current Interior Minister Efkan Ala is another example. Quite a few pundits thought that Fidan could have resigned after the elections and be appointed to a Cabinet position. Yet, he has resigned now. Why?

As the events unfolded, Al-Monitor spoke with two senior government officials. On condition of anonymity, these officials provided important insights into three crucial questions: the reasons why Fidan resigned now; who will replace Fidan; what is Fidan's five-year legacy in MIT and what can we expect for the institutional setup in the near future?

Trying to sift through the intriguing scenarios circulating in Ankara, here are the most sober answers Al-Monitor gathered: [Read more: Tremblay/AL-Monitor/8February2015]

LoBiondo Named Chairman of House Intelligence Subcommittee Focused on CIA. US Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (N.J.-02nd) has been named chairman of the Subcommittee on Central Intelligence Agency. He has been a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence since 2011.

"Given the critical role the CIA and its officers play in acquiring and deciphering intelligence in their unwavering efforts to protect our country, I'm honored to lead the subcommittee charged with oversight of the agency and its mission," said LoBiondo.

"After nearly a dozen Intelligence Committee trips to Africa and the Middle East, I've seen firsthand the vital duties our men and women of the CIA fulfill while risking their lives to defend our nation and its interests abroad. I appreciate Chairman Nunes' trust in tasking me with this new responsibility."

HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.-22nd) said, "Congressman LoBiondo has made outstanding contributions to the Intelligence Committee. With his intimate knowledge of the operations of the intelligence community, I expect he will be an exceptional chairman of the CIA Subcommittee. [Read more: TheSandPaper/6February2015]

Britain 'Threatens to Stop Sharing Intelligence' With Germany. British intelligence officials are so alarmed at a parliamentary inquiry into their activities in Germany that they have threatened to stop sharing information if it goes ahead.

According to a report in Focus magazine, British spy chiefs are worried that German politicians could reveal classified information about their joint projects, including details about code-breaking and technology. They fear a Europe-wide surveillance project that began last year, and includes British and German intelligence, could be comprised.

Germany is taking the threat, said to have been made by senior British officials, seriously. Gerhard Schindler, the head of Germany's federal intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) reportedly brief the parliamentary inquiry on the "unusually tense relations with British partner agencies" on Wednesday evening.

German intelligence depends on shared information from the UK, particularly when monitoring jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq. [Read more: Huggler/TheTelegraph/5February2015]

Peru: Spying Agency Temporarily Closes Following the Dialogue. Today at the Dialogue of the Peruvian government, Prime Minister Ana Jara announced the temporary closure of the National Directorate of Intelligence (DINI).

This morning President Ollanta Humala and the Prime Minister presided over the conversation between the political authorities and government officials to discuss transparency and improved communication.

After evidence surfaced of espionage carried out by Ollanta Humala against critical political figures, investigations into DINI opened. Police officials released notes for spying on Vice President Marisol Espinoza and Jorge del Castillo claimed he had been spied on for months by intelligence agents.

President Humala denied the accusations and has called for democratic investigations into the case of espionage and as well into the cases investigating his wife for money laundering. [Read more: Ojeda/PeruThisWeek/9February2015]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

How James Grady's Spy Thriller Became a Lethal Weapon. Every writer hopes one of his books makes it into the movies. Forty years ago, James Grady got lucky with his very first, Six Days of the Condor, which was turned into the hit Watergate zeitgeist film (albeit shortened to Three Days of the Condor) starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway and Max Von Sydow. Decades later, the book not only remains the platinum standard for Washington-based spy thrillers, but a kind of cultural meme for paranoia.

"Shit, it's starting to feel like Three Days of the Condor, you know?" Breaking Bad's Hank says to Walt on a 2011 episode, one of many such references over the years. The 1974 book is still in print. The movie pops up frequently on cable.

Now, exactly 40 years after the release of the movie, Grady is back with Last Days of the Condor. Yes, the Redford character, a researcher in a secret CIA unit, is on the run again - albeit wheezing a bit in middle age. He should be on the cover of AARP. Unlike the first time around, however, his innocence is long gone. He's seen CIA guys go rogue.

So, too, Grady. Even as a 21-year-old Senate intern in 1972, the Montana native had sensed there were clandestine undercurrents to Watergate. Two years later, he went home and wrote Condor "on nights and weekends while working state government jobs," he says. As much as he had a precocious sense of the secret world that emerged during Watergate, as well as revelations about CIA assassinations and the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, he knew nothing about how to get a book published. [Read more: Stein/Newsweek/9February2015]

Fascinating Photos Reveal How They Built the SR-71 Blackbird. Built and designed in the 1960s after the A-12 Oxcart, the SR-71 Blackbird is still the fastest, most vanguardist air-breathing airplane in the history of aviation. These once classified photos reveal how Lockheed built both birds in secret, in California. They look taken at the Rebel base in Hoth.

The A-12 and the SR-71 were a completely different design from anything else before it - and everything after, as time has demonstrated. At the time, many of the technologies needed to make these airplanes were considered "impossible." And yet, thanks to Kelly Johnson and the amazing team at engineers and scientists at Lockheed's Skunk Works, they were invented from scratch - in twenty months.

According to Lockheed Martin's official account, Kelly Johnson - the engineer who made the A-12 Oxcart and the SR-71 Blackbird - "everything had to be invented. Everything." From the Pratt & Whitney J58 engines - a technological feat still unsurpassed by today's mass manufactured airplanes - to its titanium skin - capable of surviving temperatures from 315C (600F) to more than 482C (900F) - and composite materials. Its landing gear, for example, is "the largest piece of titanium ever forged in the world." Ironically, the United States did not have enough titanium to build these airplanes, so they had to buy it from the Soviet Union. Imagine that: Buying the only material in the world that could make a spy plane from the country you wanted to spy.

Major Brian Shul, one of the SR-71 pilots and author of Sled Driver, tells more about the manufacturing process: [Read more: Diaz/Gizmodo/7February2015]

Escape Artist: How a Legendary Hezbollah Terrorist Eluded the CIA. Beirut, 2003: The trap was set. US counterterror operatives were ready to move. The plan called for a Lebaneser CIA asset to lure Imad Mugniyah, the terrorist kingpin of Hezbollah, to a place where he would be captured and flown to a US Navy ship in the Mediterranean. From there he would be flown to a US courtroom, where he would eventually stand trial for the murder of hundreds of Americans in Lebanon two decades earlier. 

But something went wrong. According to a former top US counterterrorism official, the Lebanese go-between was murdered. The wily Mugniyah, variously known as "the fox" and "the father of smoke" (for his ability to disappear like a wisp after one of his spectacular terrorist attacks), had foiled yet another plot to capture him. The US plan, the former counterterrorism official suspected, had leaked.

"We had him!" the official said, still exasperated years later about the failure to capture Mugniyah. Upon investigating, the official concluded that idle chit-chat by a careless US intelligence official at a small party attended by Americans and Lebanese in Beirut on the eve of the operation had foiled the plot. 

"Some guy was shooting the shit at an embassy social event," he told Newsweek on condition of anonymity "We had the whole network set up. Everything was done, everything was in place. And then this guy runs his mouth." [Read more: Stein/Newsweek/6February2015]

10 Things We Learned Watching Allegiance at The International Spy Museum. If you watched the premiere of Allegiance, NBC's new spy drama, on Thursday night, you likely wonder what the creators can possibly do to top it. Modern day sex, lies and videotape - not to mention some pretty gnarly torture and a spy-within-a-spy plots - kept us on the edge of our seats when we previewed it at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Still, questions arise as to whether or not the show, which centers on a 40-something Brooklyn couple (she's Russian-born, he's American), is really true to life. Would a couple like this really be forced to spy as a prerequisite to their marriage? And how likely would it be that a couple who thought their spy days were behind them would find their sleeper cell reactivated, with orders to bring their brilliant CIA analyst son (who knows nothing about their spy activities), into the fold?

Former intelligence officers at the Spy Museum screening spoke about the show during a panel discussion, and in subsequent one-on-one conversations. Here's what we learned. [Read more: Dunham/PasteMagazine/7February2015]

Follow the Money: New Game Plan in Thwarting Terrorism. Jimmy Gurule remembers struggling for a seat at the table with his counterparts from US intelligence agencies when he was an undersecretary of the Treasury a decade ago. In those days, the Treasury Department was a minor player in the world of three-letter spy agencies - CIA, NSA, DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency).

"It was hard for us to get an audience, it was hard for us to be invited to the meeting," said Gurule, now a law professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. "There were these intelligence meetings and we were like, 'We want to have a seat at the table' and they'd say, 'Naw, what you're doing isn't that important.'"

No more.

Economic and financial intelligence is critical to targeting and enforcing sanctions against Iran, North Korea and Russia; strangling the flow of money to terrorist organizations, drug cartels and weapons traffickers; tracking nuclear proliferation; and assessing the strength of nations such as Russia and China that are now part of the global economy. [Read more: Atlas&Mayeda/Bloomberg/6February2015]

The Intrepid Life of Sir William Stephenson. Pilot, prisoner, inventor, spy - Sir William Stephenson lived a courageous life full of adventure and derring-do. (Many people consider him one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond.)

In honor of his 118th birthday last month, here are a few tales of one of WWII's most infamous intelligence officers, the man code-named "Intrepid."

Stephenson, born in Winnipeg, Canada on January 23, 1897, distinguished himself at a young age.

In WWI he was a fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, bringing down 12 German aircraft. Shot down and captured on a mission, Stephenson managed to escape in October 1918.

After the war ended, Stephenson became an entrepreneur and inventor, but he grew concerned about the growing power of Nazi Germany. [Read more: CIA.gov/5February2015]

Retired CIA Agent Uses Spy Skills for New Healing Mission. To the naked eye it's nearly impossible to tell what has Eric Brenner so excited. For the first time in his life, the 12-year-old has looked in the mirror and seen himself with a right ear.

"It's really awesome," said Eric, admiring his new ear. "Even I can't tell."That's the ultimate measure of success for Robert Barron - the man who designed Eric's prosthetic.

It's something he's used to because Barron's designs are fit for spies - literally. In his previous life, Barron was an undercover agent, creating disguises for the Central Intelligence Agency.

"I tinted silicone to look like skin, that was my forte," Barron told me.

For 15 years, he crafted silicone masks for operatives working incognito around the world. [Read more: CBSNews/5February2015]

The 10 Biggest Blunders in the History of Espionage. In movies and books, spies are always debonair and brilliant, pulling off the most complex schemes without getting caught (too badly.) But in real life, espionage is a messy, complicated business, and sometimes people screw up. Here are the 10 most jaw-dropping screwups in the history of real-life spies. [Read more: Inglis-Arkell/io9/9February2015]

The Big Ears of the USSR: The Top 5 Soviet Wiretaps During the Cold War. In an interview Leonid Shebarshin, a former head of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB said, "Our good fortune will only be made known after we suffer a major defeat. Our real success will be made known no earlier than 50 years down the line." Successful spy operations are already a thing of the past, with modern-day intelligence seeming to consist of a series of failures. With modern-day intelligence seeming to consist of a series of failures, RBTH looks at five super successful Soviet spy operations of the past. [Read more: Korolkov/RBTH/30January2015]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Obama Pushes for Greater Intel Sharing in New Strategy. Risky or not, the new national security strategy pushes for greater information sharing between intelligence agencies, at home and abroad.

In the new National Security Strategy unveiled Friday, President Barack Obama said better information sharing across intelligence agencies is one of his key requirements to protecting the country from everything from ISIL to infrastructure-crippling cyber attacks.

The administration is working to "better integrate" the intelligence community, or IC, across agencies and foreign intelligence services. 

What does that look like, exactly? [Read more: Tucker&Konkel/DefenseOne/February2015]

Nation's Top Spies Will Have to Smile for the Cameras After All. For much of his career, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, has made his distaste for public hearings widely known within the intelligence world.

The televised grilling of America's top spies, in the view of the Republican from North Carolina, needlessly risked disclosing national security secrets and provided little oversight benefit. In fact, Burr despised public hearings so much that he vowed to put an end to the practice if he were in charge.

"I personally don't believe that anything that goes on in the intelligence committee should ever be discussed publicly," Burr told reporters last year. "If I had my way, with the exception of nominees, there would never be a public intelligence hearing."

But that was last March - before Republicans took over the Senate and before they placed Burr at the helm of the committee. [Read more: Hudson/ForeignPolicy/9February2015]

After Paris, Rethinking Intelligence Bashing. In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, might we ask Senator Diane Feinstein if she'd like to rethink her very public discussion about the CIA and enhanced interrogation?

Such discussions are meaningless when they take place as 9/11 recedes into memory and as we sit safe and secure in America while all over the Middle East people's lives are disposed of from suicide and truck bombs. The time to have a discussion over enhanced interrogation is when the horror confronts us, as it now does. The place to have it is behind closed doors.

Does the greatest threat to our free institutions emerge from a government conducting enhanced interrogation of erstwhile mass murderers or from the murders themselves and the ensuing fear they will cause? Given a choice between freedom and personal security, even democratic societies choose security. Those were the lessons indelibly written into law when Irish Republican Army terror bombings crossed the Irish Sea onto British soil.

When politicians pretend they have no idea of the means that intelligence agencies are exercising against those who plan mass murder, they are simply engaging in deception. If they don't know, it is because they don't want to know. If they seek to create reform through public spectacle, it is because there is a political benefit in the spectacle and reform is unlikely. [Read more: Miller/AmericanThinker/7February2015]

Section IV - Books, Obituaries and Upcoming Events

Books

Spymaster: The Secret Life of Kendrick by Helen Fry - Review. It is strange, given the important and dangerous role played by Thomas Kendrick in crucial episodes of the twentieth century, both as a spy for MI6 and in helping thousands of Jews escape from Austria before the outbreak of war with Nazi Germany, that he has not been properly acknowledged.

Helen Fry has filled the gap with an exhaustively-researched book on a man whose life cried out for an autobiography. Fry describes her book as the beginning of a campaign to have Kendrick and his MI6 secretaries in Vienna recognised as "Righteous Gentiles" at Yad Vashem, Israel's National Holocaust Memorial. She calls Kendrick Vienna's "Oskar Schindler", and points out that Frank Foley, his British Passport Office colleague in Berlin who saved more than 10,000 Jews, has been honoured at Yad Vashem.

The British Passport Office and MI6 were virtually the same organisation at the time. Kendrick was posted to Vienna, a centre of espionage and political intrigue in the 1930s. There, he met and recruited as informers opponents of Hitler, left-wingers and their circle, including the British spy Kim Philby and the recruiter of Russian spies, Edith Tudor-Hart. When Hitler annexed Austria in the Anschluss of March 1938, Kendrick was swamped by a human catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. He and his staff worked 12-hour shifts handing out visas to more than 200 Austrian Jews a day, in operations that sometimes involved forged baptism certificates.

With the help of a double agent, Karl Tucek, who spied for the Abwehr, Germany's foreign intelligence service, the Gestapo's "elusive Englishman" was arrested in August 1938 - the very time, Fry notes, that Hitler was putting the final touches to Operation Green, the invasion of Czechoslovakia. [Read more: Norton-Taylor/TheGuardian/10February2015]

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Obituaries

Bruce C. Clarke, Jr. On October 5, 2014, in Vienna, Austria. He leaves to cherish his memory his wife, Renate Clarke; children, Bruce III, Priscilla, Julia, Constance, Nora, Matthew and Valerie and their spouses; his former wife, Jona; 10 grand-children, a brother, David (Eileen) and a sister, Lisa (Ludlow). He was predeceased by his brother, Gordon (Peggy). Born in Washington, DC, on April 3, 1926 to Bruce and Bessie Mitchell Clarke, he was the godson of West Point's class of 1925. He was a graduate of Syracuse University, the Sorbonne, American University, and the National War College. A radarman during World War II and the Korean War, he was commissioned a naval intelligence officer, and joined the Central Intelligence Agency on leaving the Navy in 1953. He was the first director of the Office of Strategic Research at the CIA. He represented the Defense Department at the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction talks in Vienna, Austria; served briefly in the Department of Energy; and returned to the CIA to become the Deputy Director of Intelligence under Adm. Turner. He received medals for distinguished service from the CIA and the Defense Department, and was awarded the rank of Meritorious Officer in the Senior Intelligence Service. He earned his private pilot's license in his mid-40s, and most memorably enjoyed a flight that took him from Leesburg, Virginia to Alaska north of the Arctic Circle and back over the course of three weeks. Upon retirement, he began a second career as a Mozart scholar, writing and translating articles and books in the field of Mozart biography. He was a founding member of the Mozart Society of America, and created an acclaimed website, www.aproposmozart.com[aproposmozart.com]. He is remembered for his delighted laugh, his love of flying, his wonderful baritone, his enjoyment of music, and his generous and unconditional love of his family. [Read more: WashingtonPost/8February2015]

Thomas Francis Duffy. Born July 11, 1938 and died Jan. 27 of complications from influenza.

Thomas Francis Duffy was born at home in Mullan, Idaho. He was the youngest of five children. His father was a Hard Rock miner at the Morning Mine. Two years after his birth, his mother died in child birth. His father Bernard lacked the resources to care for his children and the family was broken apart. They were tough times at the tail end of the Great Depression, and Tom and his brother Pat were placed in Saint Joseph's Orphans Home in Helena, Mont., when he was 4. The orphanage was not a nurturing place for a young child. He was everlastingly grateful to his sister Catherine who rescued him from the orphanage when he was 9. She was recently married and visited Tom at the orphanage and couldn't bear to leave him there.

The next years of his life were some of his most fondly remembered, living with Catherine's family in Seattle and later in Anchorage. When Catherine's marriage later broke up, he was sent to live with his Uncle Al and Aunt Jen in East Helena. It was a great experience to be reunited with his brother Jim on the ranch.

His experiences on the ranch gave him a lifelong love of physical labor and hard work. In the last year of high school, he moved from the ranch to live with his brother Dick and his wife Mary Ann in Helena. The next years were filled with hard work and studying as he paid his own way through school at Carrol College. He was forever grateful for the education he received from the Jesuits. At school, he met the love of his life, Yvonne Gauthier from Williston, ND. Tom and Yvonne loved to go to dances and Jitterbug. They were married on Tom's birthday in 1959.

Following graduation from Carrol, Tom enrolled at Georgetown University, where he received a master's degree in American history. Subsequently he got a job at the CIA working initially as a document clerk and later becoming an analyst in the Africa Division. He worked on the editorial staff producing the CIA's Presidential Daily Briefing. He was the chief of the Africa Division and ultimately the special assistant to Robert Gates, who was then the deputy director for intelligence for the CIA. Upon leaving, he was awarded the Career Intelligence medal. Though he enjoyed a rewarding career, he retired early to return to Montana. [Read more: HerringGrosecloseFuneralHome/3February2015]

AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Wednesday, 11 February 2015, 11:30AM - Scottsdale, AZ - The AFIO Arizona Chapter hosts Gilbert Orrantia, Director of Arizona Department of Homeland Security

Director Gilbert M. Orrantia became the Director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security in June, 2009. Prior to heading Arizona’s Homeland Security efforts at the State, he served in the FBI for 26 years. Mr. Orrantia brings a national and global perspective on counterterrorism that is gained from vast counterterrorism experience including the supervision of an FBI counterterrorism squad in Phoenix and serving eight years as a Supervisory Special Agent. For four years he helped lead the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Phoenix, Arizona located at Arizona’s fusion center, known as the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC). Recognized as an expert in investigations of terrorism, drugs and violent crimes, Mr. Orrantia’s successful FBI law enforcement career is reflected in the numerous awards and commendations he received. Among them are two of the FBI’s highest commendations: the Medal of Valor and the FBI Star. These awards were made to Mr. Orrantia for his role in the deadliest firefight in FBI history;- a gun battle known as the “Miami Shootout” in which two fellow FBI agents were killed. Mr. Orrantia has lectured to members of the FBI Academy at Quantico, VA on officer safety and survival and continues to share his expertise in surviving a deadly encounter with numerous law enforcement agencies. Director Orrantia currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Governors Association Homeland Security Advisors Council and also serves as a Tri-Chair of the National Homeland Security Consortium. In April of 2013, he was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer to serve as Co-Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Human Trafficking. Mr. Orrantia, a native Arizonan who is fluent in Spanish, was raised in Mesa, Arizona. He is a graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education.
LOCATION: McCormick Ranch Golf Course, 7505 McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale AZ 85258 ~ Phone 480.948.0260)
RSVP to Simone at simone@4smartphone.net or simone@afioaz.org or call and leave a message on 602.570.6016
WE WILL NEED YOUR RSVP no later than 72 hours ahead of time; in the past, not reserving or canceling 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.
Fee $20 for AFIO members; $22 for guests.

13 February 2015, 1:30 - 3 pm - Los Angeles, CA - AFIO Los Angeles Chapter Meets to conduct Election of New Officers

AFIO-LA will conduct its 2015 Annual Chapter Meeting on February 13, 2015 (Friday) from 1.30 PM-3 PM at Alejo's Restaurant in Playa del Rey, the address is listed below. We will be conducting our re-election of chapter officers along with an open discussion of our agenda for the new year of 2015. This meeting is open only to current updated dues chapter members, lunch will be served, if you are interested in running for any of the chapter officer positions or attending this meeting please RSVP via email (AFIO_LA@yahoo.com) by February 6, 2015.
Location: Alejo's Italian Restaurant, 8343 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Agenda: Election of Officers: President & Treasurer; Treasurer's Financial Report; Upcoming Events & Focus for 2015; Open Discussion.

5 March 2015 - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO Andre LeGallo Chapter hosts Lt. Col. Enrique Oti, National Security Affairs Fellow, Hoover Institution. Topic: "Chinese Threats to the Internet - It is Not Just Hacking." The briefing will cover Chinese hacker methodologies and will dive deeply into Chinese vision for the future of cyberspace and the threats to the United States that this entails. Four unique Chinese cyber strategies (domestic development, international environment, domestic security and war) will be discussed.

11:30AM no host cocktails; meeting starts at noon. United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Avenue, SF (between Sloat/Wawona). E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi at afiosf@aol.com and you will be sent an Eventbrite link to reigster. Alternately, mail a check made out to "AFIO" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578, Burlingame, CA 94011. Members and students: $25; non-members $35. $35 at the door. RSVP is required for this meeting.

Thursday, 19 March 2015, 11:30 am - Colorado Springs, CO – The Rocky Mountain Chapter presents Col. T. Small, Special Operations Command North.

The presentation is about Turkey, the Region and Current Conflicts. To be held at The Monument Hill Country Club, 18945 Pebble Beach Way, Monument, CO 80132. Please RSVP to Tom VanWormer at robsmom@pcisys.net Directions are here.

19 March 2015, 12.30-2pm - Los Angeles, CA - AFIO-LA Chapter Meets to discuss spy "Christopher Marlowe" with Francis Hamit

Francis Hamit will be discussing "Christopher Marlowe" an upcoming film about the poet, playwright and spy who helped to defeat the Spanish Armada. The spy thriller is based on the 1988 stage play about Christopher Marlowe's service as a secret agent for the Crowne. The film will be shot in the UK later this year and Francis Hamit will serve as the Executive Producer. More about that movie can be seen here.
Location: LAPD-ARTC, 5651 W Manchester Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045
Francis Hamit served in the US Army Security Agency during the Vietnam War. Francis Hamit discovered this story when he worked for the Encylopaedia Britannica and wrote a number articles about intelligence organizations and personalities, he has written several historical fiction spy thrillers and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop and a member of AFIO since 1987.
RSVP via email AFIO_LA@yahoo.com

Other Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 11 February (also 18 Feb., and 25 Feb.) 2015, 10:15am - Washington DC - Spy Seminar Series. Hot Spies/Cool Cases: 50 Shades of Espionage at the International Spy Museum.

Spy thrillers are filled with seductive agents who get what they want through the power of persuasion—between the sheets. Does this actually happen? Are there “Romeo spies” and “honey traps”? Is sexpionage a reality? In this series, former intelligence officers and historians share the stories of five magnetic and charming spies who used the bedroom as their base of operations.

Wednesday, 11 February 2014 - "The Profumo Affair"
Wednesday, 18 February 2014 - "Stalin’s Romeo Spy"
Wednesday 25 February 2014 - "Codename Cynthia"

Details on all dates above are here.

Wednesday, 11 February 2014, 8:30 A.M. � 4:30 P.M - Washington, DC - The Journal of National Security Law & Policy Annual Symposium

Hold the date! Conference theme: Trials and Terrorism: The Implications of Trying National Security Cases in Article III Courts.
The symposium will feature the following three panels:
Panel 1, �Terror Suspects: Pretrial Considerations in Civilian Terrorism Investigations,� will provide an overview of international terrorism cases from investigation to indictment.
Panel 2, �Courtroom Challenges: The Evidentiary and Trial Management Issues that Arise During Terrorism Trials� will focus on the evidentiary and procedural challenges that arise during the trial of defendants charged with terrorism offenses and the implications these potential precedents could set.
Panel 3, �Convicted Terrorists: Sentencing Considerations and Their Implications on Foreign and Domestic Policy,� will focus on the factors that impact the sentencing phase of terrorism trials.
Location: Georgetown University Law School, Washington, DC
REGISTRATION: Will be available at http://jnslp.com/symposium/ in early 2015.

To attend click here and then submit the form on the page that opens, or email events@cato.org, fax (202) 371-0841, or call (202) 789-5229 by 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 11, 2014.

17 February 2015, 11:30 am - 2 pm - McLean, VA - DIAA's DIF meets to hear Russell Rochte on "Media Wars."

Mr. Russell C. Rochte, Jr. will speak on “Media Wars.” at the Defense Intelligence Forum, a gathering of the Defense Intelligence Alumni Association.
He will discuss recent academic studies which point out Al Q’aida and Associated Movements attempts to wage media wars. USA strengths and weaknesses against these wars will be discussed. He will suggest both a strategy and a body of tactics for both short-term and long-term success in the “war of ideas” via television media.
Mr. Rochte is a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) and has been a member of the faculty of the National Intelligence University since 2005. He teaches courses in information operations, information power, foreign info ops, globalization, and propaganda/propaganda analysis to graduate and undergraduate students from across the US Intelligence Community. He also lectures by request several times yearly to audiences at the National Defense University; the NATO School at Oberammergau, Germany; Johns Hopkins University; the USMC Command & Staff College; and by invitation at a variety of events, both in CONUS and abroad.
Mr. Rochte graduated in 1980 from the University of Michigan as the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Military Graduate, and received a regular Army commission as a second Lieutenant in the US Army Signal Corps. He retired from the US Army in 2005 as a Lieutenant Colonel, after more than 25 years of active commissioned service. From June 2003 until his retirement, he taught information operations and information assurance courses on campus and on-line as a Professor of Systems Management at the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan (BA) and Troy State (MS), and has completed additional post-graduate work in information assurance, systematic theology, and American history.
Location: Pulcinella Restaurant, 6852 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA. Generous, free parking.
Fee: Pay at the door with a check for $29.00 payable to DIAA, Inc. Checks are preferred, but will accept cash; however, credit card payments are discouraged.
This forum will follow a modified Chatham House rule. You may use the information, but with the exception of speaker's name and subject, you may make no attribution. Everything will be off the record.
RSVP: Make reservations by 17 February 2015 by email to diforum@diaalumni.org. Include names, telephone numbers, and email addresses. For each attendee, choose among chicken cacciatore, tilapia puttanesca, lasagna, sausage with peppers, or fettuccini with portabella for your luncheon selection. Please include your luncheon selection to reduce the wait time for your food!!!

Friday, 20 February 2015, 1:00pm - 4:00pm - Washington DC - Meet A Spy: Sandy Grimes at the International Spy Museum

Join us at the International Spy Museum Store and “Meet A Spy” – uncover the world of espionage and intelligence from people who practiced professionally. Sandy Grimes is a longtime veteran of the CIA’s clandestine service who—along with her co-worker Jeanne Vertefeuille—helped capture Aldrich Ames, the infamous CIA officer turned traitor. Meet Sandy Friday, February 20.
Tickets: Free! No registration required. Visit www.spymuseum.org

Saturday, 21 February 2015, 1 - 4pm - Washington DC - Meet A Spy: Melissa Mahle, at the International Spy Museum

Join us at the International Spy Museum Store and “Meet A Spy” – uncover the world of espionage and intelligence from people who practiced professionally. Melissa Mahle is a former US intelligence officer and 16-year covert operative for the CIA in the Middle East. Meet Melissa Saturday, February 21.

Tickets: Free! No registration required. Visit www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 25 February 2015, 6:30pm-8:45pm - Washington DC - "The Role of African Americans in Intelligence Operations" at the International Spy Museum

In the history of intelligence, African American contributions have too often been unknown, overlooked, and understated. To provide a more complete and accurate account, Connie Huff, a retired US Army counterintelligence special agent and instructor, will focus not only on key events, but also on the implications of race and gender in espionage. She’ll also discuss spies on the personal level: their motivations, risk taking, sacrifices, contributions, accomplishments—and betrayals. This survey begins with the Revolutionary War Era; and includes the organizers of the Underground Railroad, who used intelligence tradecraft and collection techniques without benefit of training or mentoring; the Civil War era slaves and free blacks who took initiative at great personal risk to provide information they observed or heard in the course of their work tasks; the daring 20th century spies, double agents, and in some cases traitors to America; and individuals who are part of the intelligence community today.
Tickets: $12. Register at www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 4 March 2015, 10 am - 1 pm - Annapolis Junction, MD - National Cryptologic Museum Foundation [NCMF] 2015 Spring Cryptologic Program featured Col. Phil Thompson, USAF(R) on "Little Things Matter: What Our Eyes Won't See and Our Ears Won't Hear."

The NCMF is pleased to welcome Phil Thompson, Col, USAF (Ret), for the Foundation's 2015 Spring Cryptologic Program. You will not want to miss this exciting program which promises new information and humorous anecdotes. Col. Thompson will speak about his intelligence experiences as an attaché in Poland and the challenges of overcoming conventional wisdom, preconceived notions, and an aversion to studying maps of Soviet installations. The title of his presentation is "Little Things Matter: What Our Eyes Won't See and Our Ears Won't Hear."
Col. Thompson is a retired Air Force Signals Intelligence Officer who served as the Air and Defense Attaché in Poland during the era of Solidarity and the imposition of martial law in the early 1980s. His career included assignments in Pakistan, Vietnam, Germany, Greece, and Poland, as well as tours with the National Security Agency and the Pentagon. He also served on the faculty of the US Army War College where he taught courses in national security strategy, the theory of war and strategic leadership with a special focus on Generals Ulysses S. Grant and George C. Marshall.
For further insight into the program: recommended reading is The Priest Who Had to Die by John Moody and Roger Boyes and A Secret Life by Ben Weiser. Both books are interesting reads on the cold-war era in Poland during the early 1980s and copies will be available for sale at the program.
Registration Details: Registration for the event includes lunch which will be served from noon-1 pm. Register here online or mail your registration fee of $20 (NCMF Members) or $50 (Guests, includes a one-year NCMF basic membership) to the NCMF office at PO Box 1682, Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755-9998. ***Registration will close on 26 February.***
Event Location: L-3 Communications at 2720 Technology Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701

Tues-Wed, 24-25 March 2015 - Washington, DC - International Conference on Exercises, Gaming, and Simulations for Intelligence and National Security, Communication, Culture & Technology Program (CCTP)

Dates and times: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 8:30 AM - Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 7:00 PM (EDT)
This international conference, between the Center for Intelligence Services and Democratic Systems at Rey Juan Carlos University and the School of Continuing Studies at Georgetown University will enhance the role of experiential learning methods and techniques showcasing original simulations, exercises, and games applied to national security intelligence, competitive intelligence, and foreign affairs. The conference will bring together ideas, concepts and demonstrations that can further train and educate military, law enforcement, and national security professionals.
A sample of conference topics include:  Scenario-based approach for developing the links between analysis and reporting;  Computational Simulation In Intelligence Analysis;  The Induction Game and Intelligence Education;  Gaming and Modeling Before a Crisis;  Use of Gaming and Exercise as Part of an Engagement Strategy;  Gaming the Nexus between Intelligence and Policy;  Concrete Tabletop Exercises for Cognitive Skill Development in Analysts;  Serious gaming & how to create visionary practitioners and policy makers;  Balancing Realism and Playability in the Intelligence Classroom;  Structured Analytic Techniques for Cyber Security through Role Playing; Cyber-Attack and Ethics Simulations;  Virtual Training Systems and Survival Humanistic Factors;
Discounted hotel accommodations, questions or comments should be directed to Dr. Jan Goldman jg28@georgetown.edu or Dr. Ruben Arcos Martin, ruben.arcos@urjc.es (outside North America)
Registration and Information is available here.

26 April to 3 May 2015 - Berlin and Vienna - ESPIONAGE IN EUROPE: Now and Then - a New York Times Journey with AFIO Member/former CIA Officer, Jon Wiant.

Reserve now to travel on this exciting eight day intelligence excursion. "Espionage in Europe: Now and Then" is a journey focused on history & context. From the Cold War to present day government phone-hacking. Berlin and Vienna are two of Europe's capital cities that have seen more than their fair share of activity. Explore how, why and who was involved, the back stories and realization that it will never go away.
Join us on a unique tour to Berlin and Vienna, to learn about both underground goings on and those taking place in plain site, how World War II shaped Cold War intelligence operations and why our espionage bases in Berlin and Vienna became the dangerous front lines of our conflict with the Soviet Union. The Times-selected expert accompanying this trip is Prof. Jon A Wiant, retired Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, former White House director of intelligence policy and former member of the CIA. To hear more about this tour, listen to Jon Wiant speak, during a recent webinar.
Cost: $7,450 pp, +$1,000 single supplement. Deposit $500. Itinerary: 8 days, 7 nights. Activity Level: More active trips involving hiking over moderately strenuous and varied terrain, usually — but not always — with vehicle support and at elevations most often below 10,000 feet, or trips with significant hiking days, wilderness camping, or other mandatory activity. On some trips, you can elect to skip a day’s hike, depending on logistics. Questions? Call 855-698-7979.

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