AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes

WIN CREDITS FOR THIS ISSUE: The WIN editors thank the following special contributors: pjk, mh, km, gh, mk, rd, fm, kc, jm, mr, jg, th and fwr. They have contributed one or more stories used in this issue.

The WIN editors attempt to include a wide range of articles and commentary in the Weekly Notes to inform and educate our readers. However, the views expressed in the articles are purely those of the authors, and in no way reflect support or endorsement from the WIN editors or the AFIO officers and staff. We welcome comments from the WIN readers on any and all articles and commentary.

CAVEATS: IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse research inquiries, career announcements, or job offers. Reasonable-sounding inquiries and career offerings are published as a service to our members, and for researchers, educators, and subscribers. You are urged to exercise your usual caution and good judgment when responding, and should verify the source independently before supplying any resume, career data, or personal information.]
If you are having difficulties with the links or viewing this newsletter when it arrives by email, members may view the latest edition each week at this link. You will need your LOGIN NAME and your PASSWORD.

ANNOUNCEMENT

AFIO National Board Elections are now open for terms running 2018 - 2021.
The list of candidates and re-nominations and their bios appear on online ballot accessed at link below.
Current members are requested to cast their votes.

Vote Here

Election closes EST 15 February 2018

First notice...first luncheon of 2018 ...for your calendar Friday, 9 February 2018 Tysons, VA

Toni Hiley, CIA Museum Director Center for the Study of Intelligence
and
Steve Coll, author/journalist on his reviewer-praised forthcoming book debuting at event
	DIRECTORATE S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016

Early registration here.

Books of the Week

In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies
In the Enemys House by Howard Blum
(Harper, Feb 2018)

"A finely detailed study of crime and punishment in the days of the Manhattan project...reinforces several points: how thoroughly Soviet agents were able to penetrate the government and scientific circles and the undeniable guilt of those who were eventually brought to justice—and, to boot, the ordinariness of some of the key players. Taut and well-crafted—of great interest to students of spydom and the early Cold War." (Kirkus Reviews)

"The spy hunt set off by the Venona decrypts is one of the great stories of the Cold War and Howard Blum tells it here with the drama and page-turning pace of a classic thriller." (Joseph Kanon, author)

Book may be ordered here.

Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations
by Amy Chua
(Penguin Press, Feb 2018)

Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. In many parts of the world, the group identities that matter most – the ones that people will kill and die for – are ethnic, religious, sectarian, or clan-based. But because America tends to see the world in terms of nation-states engaged in great ideological battles – Capitalism vs. Communism, Democracy vs. Authoritarianism, the "Free World" vs. the "Axis of Evil" – we are often spectacularly blind to the power of tribal politics. Time and again this blindness has undermined American foreign policy. Chua argues that America must rediscover a national identity that transcends our political tribes. Enough false slogans of unity, which are just another form of divisiveness. It is time for a more difficult unity that acknowledges the reality of group differences and fights the deep inequities that divide us.
Book may be ordered here.

False Flag - a novel
by F. W. Rustmann Jr.
(Regnery Fiction, Mar 2018)

Captured by Hezbollah...interrogated by Iran...how long can undercover CIA case officer Yasmin Ghorbani survive?

That's the question facing CIA Deputy Director of Operations Edwin Rothmann, whose last agent captured by Hezbollah was tortured, killed, stuffed into a garbage bag, and dumped on the street. This time, even more is at stake than an individual life—there's also an explosive threat of nuclear war. And in his whiteknuckle race against time, Rothmann is compelled to enlist maverick former agents who can do the dirty work official agents can't touch.
...a thriller of heart-racing suspense and gripping realism you won't soon forget—written by a former CIA case officer who lived through adventures just like this.
"Spy fiction has a new superstar, F. W. Rustmann Jr., a retired twenty-four-year veteran of the CIA's Clandestine Service who it turns out has a terrific talent for fiction. I loved False Flag and you will too. One wishes Rustmann were running the CIA in his spare time, when he isn't writing!"—STEPHEN COONTS, bestselling author
Book may be ordered here.

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Jordanian Intelligence Stops Terrorist Plot Targeting Public Security. Jordan's intelligence service foiled, on Monday, a major terrorist and sabotage scheme with a premeditated effort planned by a terrorist cell supporting ISIS organization during the month of November 2017.

According to the agency "Petra", elements of the cell has planned to carry out a number of terrorist operations, simultaneously with the aim of destabilizing the national security in Jordan.

Early intelligence operations resulted in the arrest of 17 members involved in these operations and the seizure of weapons and materials that were to be used to carry out the terrorist attacks.

Investigations with the cell members revealed that this cell prepared complete strategies to carry out their plans, as well as initial inspections of these targets, setting up the mechanism to carry out the operations. [Read More: alarabiya/9Jan2018]

Israel to Train High Schoolers for Big Data Intelligence Jobs. Unit 8200, the Israeli military's NSA equivalent, is collaborating with the Israeli ministry of education on a new big data training program for the country's high schoolers, according to two high ranking unit officers who were interviewed by Calcalist last week on conditions of anonymity. The new program is intended to provide Israel's security and intelligence arms, including Unit 8200, the Mossad and Israel's internal security service, with pre-trained recruits.

As part of the program, big data courses will be offered to Israeli high schoolers. To increase the numbers of potential recruits, the Israeli military and Unit 8200 need to seed early training programs, one of these officers said.

Israel relies heavily on pervasive signal intelligence capabilities in Gaza and the West Bank to combat terrorism. In the past years, Israeli government officials, and Israeli military officers have repeatedly referred to the increased use of big data capabilities to counter terror attacks, including through social media monitoring. Use of such tools has been especially crucial for Israel's efforts to curtail a wave of attacks carried out by Palestinians with no known affiliation to terror organizations.

"We use big data technologies to attain the intelligence capabilities required to handle security challenges, starting with terror coming from the West Bank," said one of the high ranking officers interviewed by Calcalist. [Read More: Stoler/calcalistech/3Jan2018]

Singapore Arrests Vietnamese Spy Linked to Berlin Kidnapping. Lawyers representing fugitive Vietnamese intelligence officer Phan Van Anh Vu confirmed on Tuesday that Singaporean authorities took their client into custody.

Vu confirmed that "apart from being a property developer, he was also a senior officer in the Vietnamese intelligence services," Singaporean lawyer Remy Choo told AFP news agency.

The fugitive intelligence officer is wanted in Germany for his potential knowledge about the alleged forced disappearance of Vietnamese oil tycoon Trinh Xuan Thanh, according to German lawyer Victor Pfaff.

"Vu is a lieutenant colonel of the Vietnamese secret police in division five of the Ministry of Public Security, which is responsible for the abduction of...Trinh," a letter from the German lawyer said. [Read More: dw/3Jan2018]

Ex-U.S. NSA Contractor to Plead Guilty to Massive Theft of Secret Data. A former U.S. National Security Agency contractor has agreed to plead guilty to stealing classified information, according to court filings on Wednesday, in what may have been the largest heist of U.S. government secrets in history.

Harold Martin is scheduled to plead guilty to one count of willful retention of national defense information at a federal court in Baltimore on Jan. 22, according to the filings.

Prosecutors said Martin, who was indicted last February, spent up to 20 years stealing highly sensitive government material from the U.S. intelligence community related to national defense, collecting a trove of secrets he hoarded at his home in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Authorities said they seized 50 terabytes of data from Martin's home, which officials said could be the biggest theft of classified information in U.S. history. [Read More: reuters/3Jan2018]

NSA's Top Talent is Leaving Because of Low Pay, Slumping Morale and Unpopular Reorganization. The National Security Agency is losing its top talent at a worrisome rate as highly skilled personnel, some disillusioned with the spy service's leadership and an unpopular reorganization, take higher-paying, more flexible jobs in the private sector.

Since 2015, the NSA has lost several hundred hackers, engineers and data scientists, according to current and former U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The potential impact on national security is significant, they said.

Headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland, the NSA employs a civilian workforce of about 21,000 there and is the largest producer of intelligence among the nation's 17 spy agencies. The people who have left were responsible for collecting and analyzing the intelligence that goes into the president's daily briefing. Their work also included monitoring a broad array of subjects including the Islamic State, Russian and North Korean hackers, and analyzing the intentions of foreign governments, and they were responsible for protecting the classified networks that carry such sensitive information.

"Some synonym of the word 'epidemic' is the best way to describe it," said Ellison Anne Williams, a former senior researcher at the NSA who left in 2016 to start her own data-security firm, Enveil. More than 10 of her employees also came from the NSA, she said. "The agency is losing an amazing amount of its strongest technical talent, and to lose your best and brightest staff is a huge hit." [Read More: Nakashima, Gregg/washingtonpost/2Jan2018]

Trump to Give Award to Top NSA Veteran. After a year pillorying U.S. intelligence agencies and railing against the "deep state" for plotting to undermine him, President Donald Trump is set to tack in a sharply different direction Thursday and bestow a prestigious award on an official who occupied a series of top positions at the National Security Agency, including as the spy agency's deputy director.

Rick Ledgett, who retired in April after nearly three decades at the NSA, is scheduled to receive the National Security Medal from Trump in an afternoon presentation in the Oval Office.

Ledgett's former colleagues sung his praises Wednesday, although some said there was an inherent awkwardness in Trump paying tribute to a career intelligence official while routinely taking shots at the spy agency workforce, dismissing their conclusions on issues like Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and accusing them of political bias.

"At the end of the day, honoring a career like Rick's is itself a rebuke of the many falsehoods Trump has alleged against the intelligence community," said Susan Hennessey, a former NSA attorney who now serves as executive editor of the blog, Lawfare. "He has served his country with integrity and distinction and one can only hope - probably foolishly - that the ceremony will give Trump and White House officials who enable him a moment to pause and reflect on the legacies and sacrifices of the very real men and women whose honor and integrity they so casually besmirch." [Read More: Gerstein/politico/4Jan2018]

U.S. Spy Satellite Believed Lost After SpaceX Mission Fails. An expensive, highly classified U.S. spy satellite is presumed to be a total loss after it failed to reach orbit atop a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket on Sunday, according to industry and government officials.

Lawmakers and congressional staffers from the Senate and the House have been briefed about the botched mission, some of the officials said. The secret payload - code-named Zuma and launched from Florida on board a Falcon 9 rocket - is believed to have plummeted back into the atmosphere, they said, because it didn't separate as planned from the upper part of the rocket.

Once the engine powering the rocket's expendable second stage stops firing, whatever it is carrying is supposed to separate and proceed on its own trajectory. If a satellite isn't set free at the right time or is damaged upon release, it can be dragged back toward earth.

Scheduled for mid-November, Zuma's launch was delayed when SpaceX announced engineers "wanted to take a closer look at data from recent" tests of a fairing, or protective covering for a satellite, used for another customer. At the time, the company didn't publicly outline what prompted the additional testing. Fairings are used to shield satellites that are carried near the nose of the rocket. They remain in place during the early phases of the ascent, but are jettisoned before final insertion into orbit. [Read More: Pasztor/wsj/9Jan2018]

NSA's Rogers to Retire This Spring. NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers has decided he will retire this spring, two former U.S. intelligence officials told POLITICO, ending a near four-year tenure bookended by major leaks that rattled the agency.

It's expected that President Donald Trump will nominate Rogers' successor this month, putting a final Senate confirmation vote two to three months away. The pending departure ends well over a year of rumors that the NSA chief was on his way out - willingly or not.

The Navy admiral was brought in to head the NSA in 2014 after former government contractor Edward Snowden made the agency's spying tools front-page news. He was immediately tasked with implementing some internal surveillance restraints amid outcries over the country's collection of Americans' personal information.

But Rogers - known around Washington for a gruff style - has struggled at times both to regain the public's trust and to keep more secret details about the government's spying tools under wraps. And morale at the agency has reportedly suffered, with many senior hackers and analysts leaving to collect big paychecks in the private sector. [Read More: Matishak, Bennett/politico/5Jan2018]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Inside the Cutting-Edge Israeli Army Intelligence Unit that's 'Like a Start-Up Company'. The army is increasing the effectiveness of its troops on the battlefield with a unit in Military Intelligence that has revolutionized how soldiers receive and understand intelligence.

Formed in September 2014 as part of a reorganization of responsibilities by Military Intelligence, Unit 3060 has some 400 soldiers (half of them career intelligence officers) who specialize in technology-related fields.

The unit, which reports to the head of Military Intelligence, is made up of 75% men and 25% women.

Its mission? Use modern data science for operational and visual intelligence for commanders and intelligence officers to increase the combat effectiveness of the IDF. [Read More: Ahronheim/businessinsider/3Jan2018]

PDDNI on Intelligence, Leadership, and Fallen Officers. The U.S. intelligence community's second-in-command, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon talks to Michael Morell about being a career CIA officer, starting as a young analyst and working her way to up to leading all four of the CIA's Directorates. Her vast experience and innovative approach to bridging gaps is what prepared her for the PDDNI role, where she focuses on integrating each of the nation's intelligence agencies and innovating so that the United States retains its advantage in an ever-growing interconnected world. PDDNI Gordon also talks about leading in a time of political polarization, and reflects on the personal impact of losing officers serving their nation in the field. [Read More: thecipherbrief/9Jan2018]

How Indiana Got a Spy to Come in From the Cold: BTN LiveBIG. The greatest skill of an international spy is the ability to become anyone: The quiet neighbor down the street, the friendly co-worker, your college professor.

If you think that last one is impossible, you didn't take a class at Indiana University with Gene Coyle, who served in the CIA for 30 years before hanging up his international man of mystery hat to teach at his alma mater. Coyle recently retired from IU as an adjunct professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He still lives in Bloomington with his wife, who also served in the CIA.

The man has some stories. Working deep undercover in Moscow during the hottest time of the Cold War as you try to recruit Soviet defectors will certainly give you some material. He once played a U.S. vs. Russia pickup basketball game with former Senator and NBA star Bill Bradley - against a member of the Red Army basketball team ("they brought in a ringer, we still beat them"). He once had a potential foreign defector offer his 12-year-old daughter up to Coyle for marriage.

Coyle dealt with the shadiest of characters, lived to tell about it, and then taught a class on it. He was gracious enough to give us some time to relive some of his career and life highlights. [Read More: Wood/btn/5Jan2018]

Iran's Cyber Threat: Espionage, Sabotage, and Revenge. Incidents involving Iran have been among the most sophisticated, costly, and consequential attacks in the history of the internet. The four-decade-long U.S.-Iran cold war has increasingly moved into cyberspace, and Tehran has been among the leading targets of uniquely invasive and destructive cyber operations by the United States and its allies. At the same time, Tehran has become increasingly adept at conducting cyber espionage and disruptive attacks against opponents at home and abroad, ranging from Iranian civil society organizations to governmental and commercial institutions in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. [Read More: Anderson, Sadjadpour/carnegieendowment/4Jan2018]

Retired Marine, FBI Agent Compiles Whimsical Vignettes. From its beginning 78 years ago in Jerusalem, Dimitry Droujinsky's life has been marked by adventure, creativity, daring and serendipity.

Given all the strife in the Middle East over the past several decades, one initially suspects the Oakton resident's memoir, "Life Experiences of a Youth from Palestine," will be a chronicle of struggle, deprivation and oppression.

Hardly. Subtitled "A Book for Children of All Ages," it's instead a series of amusing, observant and personal vignettes about being creative and self-reliant and making the most of life.

"It gives you a good sense of satisfaction to be able to do things," Droujinsky said over coffee and sweets during an interview in his living room. "I feel badly for the kids. They're all texting now. They don't even talk to each other." [Read More Trompeter/insidenova/3Jan2018]

What Makes Russia's New Spy Ship Yantar Special? The Russian navy is very proud of its new spy ship, the Yantar, which is now doing Argentina a favour by helping to search for a missing submarine.

Argentina has given up trying to rescue the 44 crew aboard the ARA San Juan, which disappeared on 15 November. But it still wants to find the diesel-electric submarine.

Enter the Yantar, officially an oceanographic research vessel, but actually bristling with surveillance equipment, and the mother ship for manned and unmanned deep-sea submersibles.

A Russian ROV - remotely operated underwater vehicle - is scouring the ocean floor off Argentina. [Read More: Peter/bbc/3Jan2018]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Was the 2016 Election an Intelligence Failure? Russia tried to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election. Its method was simple: steal emails from prominent Democrats and leak them to the public. According to multiple government and private sector reports, Russian intelligence organizations deceived email users into undermining their own communications security. It then used cutouts like Wikileaks and DCLeaks to reveal their communications. Russia also engaged in a massive disinformation campaign to sow confusion and doubt among the public. Spreading "fake news" supported Trump's claims that the electoral system was rigged, that mainstream media outlets were untrustworthy, and that existing institutions were designed to favor elites at the expense of the people. All of this created an environment of distrust and disillusionment.

This was not the first time that Moscow employed so-called active measures to interfere with U.S. politics, but Cold War efforts were laughable flops. This case was different. The rise of social media created new opportunities to spread misinformation rapidly, and the razor thin electoral margin in key states meant that even minor shifts in public opinion could change the outcome.

Some observers claim Russian success was also an American intelligence failure. Writing in The New Yorker, Dana Priest charges the intelligence community with failing to predict the Russian disinformation campaign, and then failing to warn the public and Congress when it occurred. "Only after the fact," she concludes, "when a Russian disinformation campaign had already tainted the 2016 Presidential election, did the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, another vast post-9/11 creation, disclose the Kremlin's interference."

Others have made similar arguments, including longtime intelligence officials. Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morrell suggested that the election was a multi-layered failure. Part of the problem, said Morrell, was a "lack of imagination." While analysts had been worried about Russian cyber operations for years, they had failed to imagine how Moscow could use social media platforms as political tools. [Read More: Rovner/warontherocks/4Jan2018]

War Games: Cyber Espionage and the New 'Cold War'. Steeped in a climate of Cold War anxiety, the 1983 box office hit WarGames was a satirical product of the doomsdayish-thriller psychology of the American public in an era of nuclear proliferation. The movie humorously preyed upon the sentiments of a public mired in the fear of living in a nuclear world, with its seemingly fantastical and far-flung story of a teenage computer-whiz who nearly single-handedly instigated a third World War by hacking into government computers. In a rare convergence of cinematography and public policy, the film captured the attention of President Ronald Reagan, days after its release. In the collegial setting of Camp David, the President digressed from talk of nuclear arms strategies to synopsize the plot, much to the baffled amusement of the gathered national security advisors. He ventured the simple, yet provoking question: "Could something like this really happen?" At a time when "the first laptop computers had barely hit the market [and] public Internet providers wouldn't exist for another few years," Reagan's inquiry reflected a shared public incredulity and embodied a certain paradox: if the WarGames plot was merely a comically absurd concoction of sci-fi fantasy, how did it square with the realities of nuclear technology in the modern state? And then the zinger hit: research by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John W. Vessey Jr., revealed that WarGames could not be consigned to fantasyland. "Mr. President," he said, "the problem is much worse than you think." WarGames only scratched the surface as to the risk and vulnerability of our systems. Thus, even in the then relatively nascent field of computer technology, there was a dawning awareness of the vast potentialities of the cyber domain.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War was brought to an unequivocal end; yet, the haunting reverberations of WarGames still has profound implications for modern diplomacy. As nation-states rapidly augment their metaphorical 'arsenals' of cyber capacities, the world once again enters into a state of tenuous diplomacy - largely unbeknownst to the public - with increasing instances of cyber espionage and attacks. A brief overview of cyber-aggressions in the past ten years uncovers a definitive pattern of escalation; Stuxnet, Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections, the Sony attack, and the Mandiant reports (all to be discussed in further detail) are proof of a mushrooming conflict between world powers. Modern diplomacy is daily redefined by tensions and developments in cyber technology as nations assess new threats and scramble to keep apace in the burgeoning realm of cyber activity.

With nation-states continuing to expand and deploy their new capabilities, history looks as if it is doomed to repeat itself. The prospect of cyber war draws a haunting parallel to the strained diplomacy of the Cold War era, and perhaps more significantly, will intensify the already uneasy relations between the United States, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. But while media stories certainly reflect this escalating 'cold war' diplomacy, they fail to ask the obvious, yet unspoken question: Are we at war?

In the late twentieth century, nuclear threats ushered in an unprecedented form of international diplomacy. As the United States and Soviet Union frantically added to their nuclear stockpiles, a diplomatic conflict ensued as the US and USSR engaged in a blustery war of words and threats. As they wrangled to assert dominance, both nations continually pushed the envelope, bringing the world closer and closer to what appeared to be an impending nuclear holocaust. In a paradoxical sense, these tactics of mutually assured destruction (MAD) and brinksmanship are what, in effect, kept the peace while simultaneously perpetuating the 'war' and intensifying its stakes. [Read More: Skahill/brownpoliticalreview/6Jan2018]

How U.S. Intelligence Agencies Underestimated North Korea. At the start of Donald Trump's presidency, American intelligence agencies told the new administration that while North Korea had built the bomb, there was still ample time - upward of four years - to slow or stop its development of a missile capable of hitting an American city with a nuclear warhead.

The North's young leader, Kim Jong-un, faced a range of troubles, they assured the new administration, giving Mr. Trump time to explore negotiations or pursue countermeasures. One official who participated in the early policy reviews said estimates suggested Mr. Kim would be unable to strike the continental United States until 2020, perhaps even 2022.

Mr. Kim tested eight intermediate-range missiles in 2016, but seven blew up on the pad or shattered in flight - which some officials attributed partly to an American sabotage program accelerated by President Barack Obama. And while the North had carried out five underground atomic tests, the intelligence community estimated that it remained years away from developing a more powerful type of weapon known as a hydrogen bomb.

Within months, those comforting assessments looked wildly out of date. [Read More: Sanger, Broad/nytimes/6Jan2018]

Section IV - Jobs, and Obituaries

Jobs

Staff Data Science Software Engineer in Reston, VA with FireEye, Inc.
Experience: 5 to 10 years
As a data science software engineer you will be responsible for collecting requirements, designing, and building back end components and tools to run ML models, assess ML model efficacy, manage large scale datasets, and generate features for ML models. Work with data scientists and data engineers to develop data models. More info here.

Education Project Manager in Alexandria, VA with FireEye, Inc.
Experience: Open Ensure all client engagements are executed on time and as outlined in the statements of work (SOWs) Develop, cultivate, and manage customer relationships Work with team members and stakeholders to anticipate and manage changes to projects, such as but not limited to, technical and functional requirements, business requirements... More info here.

Obituaries

Ulrich Wegener, German Commando Who Ended 1977 Hijacking, Is Dead. Ulrich Wegener, the police commando who led the 1977 West German raid that rescued 90 people from a Lufthansa jetliner that four militants had hijacked and flown to Somalia, died on Dec. 28 in Cologne. He was 88.

The death was announced on Wednesday by the German Interior Ministry. Mr. Wegener was widely celebrated as a hero in a country that tends to avoid the term.

The hijacking was one of a series of attacks in 1977 linked to the anarchist Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang. In April of that year, adherents of the gang killed Siegfried Buback, West Germany's chief public prosecutor, along with his driver and a police escort; in July, they killed J'rgen Ponto, the chairman of Dresdner Bank; and in September, they kidnapped Hanns-Martin Schleyer, head of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations, fatally shooting his driver and three policemen in the process.

The traumatic events, which became informally known as the German Autumn, culminated in the hijacking on Oct. 13 of Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737 that had departed from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, with 86 passengers and five crew members, destined for Frankfurt. [Read more: Chan&Eddy/nytimes/3January2018]

Erasmus "Ras" Helm Kloman Jr, 97, a former OSS and CIA officer, died 5 January 2018 in Chestertown, MD. He attended three Ivy League universities, served in the OSS in WWII, worked as a corporate executive and government consultant, and in retirement wrote travel books and dabbled in the fine arts. He attended Princeton University and, while there, joined Army ROTC. He graduated six months early to join the Allied forces in WWII. During the war he joined the OSS which sent him to Harvard University to learn Russian. He served the remainder of the war on assignment in Algiers. At war's end, he returned home and earned a PhD in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.
He moved to Washington DC to work at various government agencies including CIA, Department of State, and the Foreign Policy Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. He pursued a variety of professional opportunities at IBM, AMAX, and The Diebold Group, but was passionate about his service at the National Association of Public Administration where he served as a senior research associate.
In retirement he traveled and tried his hand at watercolors. He exhibited his artwork in shows in Washington, Baltimore, and Maine. He also wrote and published six books, one of which recounted the early days of his time in OSS. An optimist, when he became wheelchair bound he remained busy and active in his art studio, and often spoke of the "next book."
He is survived by his second wife, Suzanne Roosevelt, a son, two step-daughters, and other family.

William John Beane, 79, a former CIA operations officer, died 31 December 2017 in Gaithersburg, MD.
A native of Washington DC, he was educated at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service ('61) also obtained his MA degree at that institution.
Bill served as a CIA operations officer in the Clandestine Service from1957 to 1969. In 1964 he had a two-year tour of duty in Laos. After returning to the US, he worked for the Departments of the Navy, Army and Air Force in Washington.
After his 2007 retirement, he was active with AFIO. His pastimes included golf, visits to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and spending time with his grandchildren. He is survived by a daughter and two sons, and other family.

Section V - Events

AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Thursday, 18 January 2018, 11:30 AM - Colorado Springs, CO - The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter hosts Julio Gutierrez, discussing "Naval Intelligence from the Cold War to the Present."

The presentation includes a comparison of the Navy's all-source Intelligence operations and emphases during the Cold War, versus very different Naval Intelligence missions in 2017 -- especially asymmetric threats like terrorism, piracy, arms/drugs/human trafficking, WMD counter-proliferation, and the emergence of new strategic threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. New areas of strategic maritime competition encompass Russian Arctic development, Chinese exploitation of undersea methane hydrates, and Russian "new physical-principles weapons" threats.

Captain (Ret.) Julio Gutierrez had a 26-year Naval, Joint, Inter-Agency, National and Coalition Intelligence career around the globe, including F-14 Tomcat squadron, carriers, cruisers, expeditionary amphibious warfare, NATO SHAPE, Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Central Command, and the Chief of Naval Operations' Strategic Studies Group. After active duty retirement in 2003, he was a GS future-concepts and unmanned systems technologist for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and NavSeaSysCom Technical Representative to NORAD & USNORTHCOM 2006-2011 for Maritime Homeland Defense. He is now a contract Maritime Security executive course instructor in the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Civil-Military Relations, for foreign senior officers at Monterey and abroad. Education: Stanford B.A. (International Relations) and Naval War College Masters (National Security Strategy & Policy). Wife Cecily is a retired Naval Intelligence LCDR.

To Attend or for more information, contact Tom VanWormer at robsmom@pcisys.net

Thursday, 18 January 2018, 12:30 - 2 pm - Los Angeles, CA - The AFIO LA Chapter hears from Dr. Paul Smith on "Operational Remote Viewing."

Our next meeting features Dr. Paul Smith discussing "Operational Remote Viewing: Considerations and Concerns."
Dr. Smith is a retired Army intelligence officer, having worked at the tactical level during Desert Storm with the 101st Abn Div, and strategically in the special operations arena and at DIA, among other assignments. His primary expertise is remote viewing. For most of the seven years he was a captain assigned to a black project known these days as the Star Gate Program. Hh holds an MSSI degree from National Defense University focusing on the Middle East. After retiring, he earned a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in philosophy.

Location: LAPD-ARTC 5951 W. Manchester Ave. L.A. CA 90045 ROOM 1E. Refreshments will be served.

RSVP ASAP and then mark your calendar. RSVP to Vince Autiero at AFIO_LA@yahoo.com. The meeting will include general chapter business matters at the conclusion of the guest speaker's presentation.

31 January 2018 (Wednesday), 11:30 am - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO San Francisco Chapter hosts Alan Brown on "The History of the Lockheed Skunk Works and the Development of the F-117A Stealth Fighter"

Alan Brown, former Director of Engineering at Lockheed discusses "History of the Lockheed Skunk Works and the Development of the F-117A Stealth Fighter" at this January meeting of the AFIO "Andre LeGallo" San Francisco Chapter.
WHERE: Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Avenue, South San Francisco, CA 94080.
TIMING: 11:30AM no host cocktail; meeting and luncheon at noon.
RSVP: Register here. Reservation and pre-payment is required before January 21, 2018. The venue cannot accommodate walk-ins. Questions? Contact Mariko Kawaguchi, Board Secretary at afiosf@aol.com.

9 February 2018 - Tysons, VA - First AFIO luncheon of 2018 features Toni Hiley, CIA Museum Director, and Steve Coll, author/journalist, on The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Our first luncheon of 2018 ...for your calendar. Toni Hiley, CIA Museum Director, Center for the Study of Intelligence speaks in the morning. Followed by lunch, and then a presentation by Steve Coll, author/journalist, on his reviewer-praised forthcoming book debuting at event, DIRECTORATE S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016.
Times: 10 am badge pickup; Hiley speaks at 11; lunch at noon; Coll at 1; event closes at 2.

Saturday, 10 February 2018, 11:30-2 - Melbourne, FL - The AFIO Florida Satellite Chapter hears from Professor Scott Tilley on "Big Data and Predictive Analytics: Who Watches the Watchers?"

Florida Institute of Technology professor and regular Florida Today columnist Scott Tilley will address the current big data landscape, provide an overview of some of the tools available to manage massive datasets, and discuss some of the possible impacts of big data and predictive analytics on businesses and society at large in the coming years.

For further information and to register to attend meeting, contact FSC Chapter President at afiofsc@afio.com.

Early registration here.

Other Upcoming Events from Advertisers, Corporate Sponsors, and Others

Wednesday, 10 January 2018, noon ' Washington, DC ' Global Terrorism, Espionage and Cybersecurity Monthly Update ' at the International Spy Museum

Be the first to learn the latest intelligence news! Join David Major, retired supervisory special agent of the FBI and former director of Counterintelligence and Security Programs at the NSC staff at the White House, 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. 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. Event is free. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

10 January 2018, 7pm - McLean, VA - "The Terrorist Argument: Modern Advocacy and Propaganda" by Christopher Harmon at Westminster Institute

Christopher C. Harmon discusses "The Terrorist Argument: Modern Advocacy and Propaganda" at this Westminster Institute event.
Dr. Harmon is the lead author or editor of four books on terrorism and counterterrorism, including A Citizen's Guide to Terrorism & Counterterrorism and Toward A Grand Strategy Against Terrorism. His new book, The Terrorist Argument, will be available for purchase and signing.
Harmon is a terrorism specialist and full Professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Dr. Harmon traces how armed groups and terrorists around the globe have honed their messages for maximum impact, both on the communities they hope to persuade to support them and on the official state organs they hope to overthrow. Terrorist groups use a fantastic variety of means to seize attention, explain themselves, and seek recruits and support: song and speech, "guerrilla theater," leaflets, radio, cable TV, newspapers, print ads, books, videos, web sites, e-zines, and of course social media.
Dr. Harmon examines how terrorist groups in recent history have used propaganda, and how they adapted to new communications technologies while retaining useful techniques from the past. Whatever the ideas or methodology, all are intended to use the power of ideas, along with force, to project an image and to communicate - not merely intimidate.
Dr. Harmon earned a Ph.D. in International Relations and Government and an MA in Government from Claremont Graduate School.
TIMING: Reception at 7:00 pm; Presentation starts at 7:30 pm and ends 8:45.
WHERE: Westminster Institute, 6729 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101
FEE: None
Register Now

Wednesday, 17 January 2018, 6:30pm ' Washington, DC ' Escape the Enemy: An Aggressively Interactive Evening with Navy SEAL Clint Emerson ' at the International Spy Museum

When the world hands you a bad situation, Clint Emerson can give you the skills to be prepared. He should know. During his time as a Navy SEAL and Joint Special Operations Command Operator, he was a violent nomad―someone who traveled the world employing his unique set of skills to support operations in hostile environments against high value targets. Join Emerson for a crash course in restraint defeat. He will help you discover how to pick locks, break out of handcuffs, and generally get away. You'll receive a 10-piece lock-picking kit and practice padlock, so you can keep your newfound skills sharp when you return to your-hopefully-everyday ordinary life. Emerson is the author of 100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation--don't miss this chance to learn from an actual Special Forces operator how to actively and creatively protect yourself. Tickets for the general public: $20 per person; Members: $10. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

Sunday, 21 January 2018, 12:30pm - Alexandria, VA - Author Liza Mundy discusses CODE GIRLS - Women Codebreakers who aided WWII

The Washington Society for Churchill hosts author Liza Mundy discussing her new book Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II. Enjoy brunch and bottomless champagne during her presentation.
Mundy is a former staff writer for the Washington Post and author of three other books. She also is a frequent contributor to a number of current events and political publications. She has a BA from Princeton University and an MA from the University of Virginia.
PRICE: $35/pp includes brunch, champagne, and donation to The Society.
LOCATION: Joe Theismann's Restaurant, 1800 Diagonal Rd., Alexandria, VA.
RSVP by 17 January to: Sam Ankerbrandt at 703-999-7955 or sankerbrandt@gmail.com
MAIL PAYMENT and names of self and guests by January 17 to Society Treasurer Karin Mens, 5192 Maitland Terrace, Frederick MD 21703. Make checks payable to "Washington Society for Churchill."
PS: If you already have copy of book, bring it to have Mundy inscribe.

Tuesday, 23 January 2018, 6:30pm ' Washington, DC ' Sunken Gold: A Story of World War I Espionage ' at the International Spy Museum

On January 25, 1917, HMS Laurentic, a British ship laden with forty-four tons of Allied gold was sunk by German mines off the coast of Ireland. Desperate to recover the treasure, the Admiralty sent its best divers to salvage the gold. Their experiences in the tight confines of the sunken wreck drew the attention of Rear Admiral Reginald "Blinker" Hall, the Head of British Naval Intelligence, who organized the group into the legendary "Tin-openers." These divers, operating in live minefields, plumbed into freshly sunk U-boats searching for codes, ciphers, and other intelligence to assist the codebreaking operations of the mysterious Room 40 and help win the war. Joseph A. Williams, author of The Sunken Gold: A Story of World War I, Espionage, and the Greatest Treasure Salvage in History will recount, through newly discovered sources, the epic deeds of these covert divers, bringing to light the grit and determination their project demanded.
Co-sponsored by the Naval Intelligence Professionals. For NIP Member tickets email: soltmans@spymuseum.org.
Tickets for the general public: $10 per person; Members: $8. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

24 January 2018, 6-9:30 pm - Washington, DC - "A Year In Review with James Clapper" at the International Spy Museum

The International Spy Museum invites you to join them for a cocktail and hors d'oeuvres reception and an evening of conversation with James Clapper as he offers his perspective on a "Year in Review." Topics covered include North Korea, Iran, China, Russia, and other technologies of concern. Bring your questions for the Q&A.

Clapper is the former Director of National Intelligence, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Lt. Gen Clapper worked under four Presidents, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton and Barack Obama after serving 32 years in the Air Force.

TIMING: Reception 6-7:15 pm, includes cocktails and heavy hors d'oeuvres; Conversation with James Clapper 7:15-8:30 pm; After-Glow Dessert Reception 8:30 - 9:30 pm
PRICES range from $275 per seat up to $15,000. Register here while space remains.

Friday, 26 January 2018, 6 - 9 pm ' Washington, DC ' Spy Fest: A Kidspy Family Festival ' at the International Spy Museum

Sitting in your comfy chair watching James Bond makes spy tradecraft look easy―now's your chance to find out if you could be the next 007. Do you have the savvy to beat a lie-detector? The smarts to break a top secret coded message? The wits to create secret writing? The moves of a Ninja? Families are invited to find out how they measure up at the Museum's Annual Spy Fest. Mini-missions, tradecraft demonstrations by the experts, and the chance to try spy skill challenges will give KidSpy agents and their handlers an insider's peek into the shadow world of spying―and who knows, there just may be a spy or two in your midst.
Tickets for the general public: $14 per person; Members: $12. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

4-7 April 2018 - San Francisco, CA - ISA2018: The International Studies Association (ISA) 59th Annual Convention includes an Intelligence Studies Section with a exceptional program.

The Intelligence Studies Section content (4 straight days, 30 panels and roundtables) is one small part of ISA's much larger conference. The full conference program is almost 300 pages; find details at the full conference website here. The Intelligence Studies Section (ISS) is one of thirty thematic sections that make up the ISA, has approximately 350 members, and has been sponsoring research about intelligence as a function of government since the mid-1980s. Additional information on the ISS can be found here.
If you have questions about the ISS program, contact the Section Chair: Stephen Marrin at marrinsp@jmu.edu or spm8p@yahoo.com
The updated program of Intelligence Studies Section panels at ISA2018 is here. Scan down that page to be dazzled by the number of presenters and breadth of intelligence and national security topics. This is a must attend conference.

Gift Suggestions:

AFIO's Guide to the Study of Intelligence AFIO's 788-page Guide to the Study of Intelligence. Peter C. Oleson, Editor, also makes a good gift. View authors and table of contents here.

Perfect for professors, students, those considering careers in intelligence, and current/former officers seeking to see what changes are taking place across a wide spectrum of intelligence disciplines.

AFIO's Guide to the Study of Intelligence helps instructors teach about the large variety of subjects that make up the field of intelligence. This includes secondary school teachers of American History, Civics, or current events and undergraduate and graduate professors of History, Political Science, International Relations, Security Studies, and related topics, especially those with no or limited professional experience in the field. Even those who are former practitioners are likely to have only a limited knowledge of the very broad field of intelligence, as most spend their careers in one or two agencies at most and may have focused only on collection or analysis of intelligence or support to those activities.

For a printed, bound copy, it is $95 which includes Fedex shipping to a CONUS (US-based) address.
To order for shipment to a US-based CONUS address, use this online form,

To order multiple copies or for purchases going to AK, HI, other US territories, or other countries call our office at 703-790-0320 or send email to afio@afio.com to hear of shipment fees.

Order the Guide from the AFIO's store at this link.

...ORDER HERE from AFIO.

The Guide is also available directly from Amazon at this link.

AFIO's 2017 Intelligence Community Mousepads are a great looking addition to your desk...or as a gift for others..
Made in USA. Click image for larger view.

These 2017 mousepads have full color seals of all 18 members of the US Intelligence Community on this 8" round, slick surface, nonskid, rubber-backed mouse pad with a darker navy background, brighter, updated seals. Also used, by some, as swanky coasters. Price still only $20.00 for 2 pads [includes shipping to US address. Foreign shipments - we will contact you with quote.] Order NEW MOUSEPADS here.

Disclaimers and Removal Instructions

Weekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are commentaries on Intelligence and related national security matters, based on open media sources, selected, interpreted, edited and produced for non-profit educational uses by members and WIN subscribers.

REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not wish to add clutter to inboxes. To discontinue receiving the WINs:

a) IF YOU ARE A MEMBER - click here: UNSUBSCRIBE and supply your full name and email address where you receive the WINs. Click SEND, you will be removed from list. If this link doesn't open a blank email, create one on your own and send to afio@afio.com with the words: REMOVE FROM WINs as the subject, and provide your full name and email address where you are currently receiving them.

b) IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER, and you received this message, someone forwarded this newsletter to you [contrary to AFIO policies]. Forward to afio@afio.com the entire WIN or message you received and we will remove the sender from our membership and distribution lists. The problem will be solved for both of us.

CONTENTS of this WIN [HTML version recipients - Click title to jump to story or section, Click Article Title to return to Contents. This feature does not work for Plaintext Edition or for some AOL recipients]. If you wish to change to HTML format, let us know at afio@afio.com. The HTML feature also does not work for those who access their e-mail using web mail...however NON-HTML recipients may view the latest edition each week in HTML at this link: https://www.afio.com/pages/currentwin.htm

WINs are protected by copyright laws and intellectual property laws, and may not be reproduced or re-sent without specific permission from the Producer. Opinions expressed in the WINs are solely those of the editor's) or author's) listed with each article. AFIO Members Support the AFIO Mission - sponsor new members! CHECK THE AFIO WEBSITE at www.afio.com for back issues of the WINs, information about AFIO, conference agenda and registrations materials, and membership applications and much more!

(c) 2000, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. Please note AFIO's new address: AFIO, 7600 Leesburg Pike, Suite 470 East, Falls Church, VA 22043-2004. Voice: (703) 790-0320; Fax: (703) 991-1278; Email: afio@afio.com

Click here to return to top.