AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes

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Three new items for your attention:

Liza Mundy discusses
CODE GIRLS - American Women Who Cracked the German and Japanese Codes to Help Win WWII
at the Spring Cryptologic Program by the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation (NCMF).

14 March 2018 - 10 am - 1 pm (lunch follows) - Annapolis Junction, MD

The NCMF kickoff event for 2018 features award-winning Liza Mundy discussing "Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II."
Liza Mundy, a former staff writer for the Washington Post.

LOCATION: CACI Inc., Maryland Conference Center, 2720 Technology Dr, Annapolis Junction, MD 20755 [Google map link here]

REGISTER NOW: Fee, includes lunch, is $25 for members and guests. Mail check to "NCMF, PO Box 1682, Ft. Meade, MD 20755" or register online here. Further details are here or feel free to call the NCMF office at 301-688-5436. A PDF-format flyer describing event is here.

Books of the Week

Recounting the Anthrax Attacks: Terror, the Amerithrax Task Force, and the Evolution of Forensics in the FBI
by R. Scott Decker, PhD
(Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Apr 2018)

A fascinating and absolutely authentic behind-the-scenes account, never before told in such detail, of the FBI's forensic detective work into the chilling anthrax bioterror attacks after 9/11. Decker, who ran the "dark biology" part of the FBI's investigation, recounts how agents and scientists used cutting-edge tools of biology to narrow down the search for the perpetrator and finally focus in on one suspect. I don't think the world realizes just what the FBI accomplished or how they did it, or the pitfalls and difficulties of the investigation, but Decker tells us the story from the inside. -- Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer.

It was 18 September 2001, just seven days after al-Qaeda hijackers destroyed the Twin Towers. In the early morning darkness, a lone figure dropped several letters in a mailbox. Seventeen days later a Florida journalist died of a very rare disease: inhalational anthrax. The death made world news. These anthrax attacks marked the first time a sophisticated biological weapon was released in the US. It killed five people, disfigured at least 18 more, and launched the largest investigation in the FBI's history. This is the inside story.

Book may be preordered here.

Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech
by Keith E. Whittington
(Princeton University Press, Apr 2018)

Free speech is under attack at colleges and universities today, with critics on and off campus challenging the value of open inquiry and freewheeling intellectual debate. For decades this attitude of intolerance was focused on the intelligence agencies and military. Now it has widened to include a refusal to discuss a wide number of important issues. Too often speakers are shouted down, professors are threatened (by students, protestors, but also by colleagues and cowering administration officials), and classes are disrupted. Whittington argues that universities must protect and encourage free speech because vigorous free speech is the lifeblood of the university...and a democratic society. Without free speech, a university cannot fulfill its most basic, fundamental, and essential purposes, including fostering freedom of thought, ideological diversity, and tolerance. Diversity and tolerance extends to ideas and the expression of different views and opinions, not just race, gender, or nationality. Book may be ordered here.

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Bacon Submits Bill to Fortify Intelligence Sharing Between America's Fusion Centers. U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) has proposed bipartisan legislation that would strengthen national security via a federally coordinated plan with state and urban intelligence-gathering fusion centers located across the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security Field Engagement Accountability Act, H.R. 5079, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop an action strategy with fusion centers, among other purposes. Specifically, fusion centers serve as frontline intelligence-sharing hubs that channel threat assessment and analysis between DHS and state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments and private-sector partners, according to the department.

"Ensuring the Department of Homeland Security has an agency-wide strategy for engagement with fusion centers will provide necessary support to our state and local law enforcement in their efforts to combat the evolving terrorism threat and keep pace with emerging homeland security issues," said Bacon following the Feb. 23 introduction of H.R. 5079.

The nation's 79 fusion centers, including the Nebraska Information Analysis Center in Lincoln, Neb., handle critical information sharing and coordinate with both first responders and the federal government, the congressman said. "This bill will ensure that DHS enhances its support to all fusion centers and fully leverages their capabilities in the department's missions," said Bacon, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, who counted U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, John Katko (R-NY) and William Keating (D-MA) as among the bill's six original cosponsors. [Read More: riponadvance/27Feb2018]

Critically Ill Man is Former Russian Spy. A man who is critically ill after being exposed to an unknown substance in Wiltshire is a Russian national convicted of spying for Britain, the BBC understands.

Sergei Skripal, 66, was granted refuge in the UK following a "spy swap" between the US and Russia in 2010.

He and a woman, 33, were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping centre in Salisbury on Sunday.

Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury has been closed by police "as a precaution". [Read More: bbc/6Mar2018]

Digital Intelligence Biggest Threat to Norway: Spy Agency. Norway's foreign intelligence service has named digital intelligence as the top threat to the Nordic country, public broadcaster NRK reported Monday.

Various subjects try to compromise and infiltrate Norwegian authorities and businesses, the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) said in its annual threat assessment.

Academia, power and telecom companies and state institutions are exposed to persistent foreign intelligence activities, whose purpose is primarily to obtain information about traditional political and military goals, and secondly industrial espionage, NIS said.

The foreign intelligence agency also named a network attack against Norwegian health authorities as a proof that intelligence activity against Norway is not limited to traditional political and military goals. [Read More: xinhuanet/5Mar2018]

UIC Forms Partnership with Central Intelligence Agency. The University of Illinois at Chicago has launched a new partnership with the Central Intelligence Agency that will enhance student career opportunities at the university, officials recently announced.

UIC will receive resources to support academic enrichment and workforce development activities for students. The new pilot partnership, called the Signature School Program, will also draw on UIC's rich academic programs, the graduation rate of its students, as well as the diversity of its student population.

The agreement "will establish a solid partnership between UIC and the CIA and provide our students a greater breadth of career opportunities," said UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis. "The Signature School Program will provide UIC students with direct access to careers and internships within the agency for many years to come. It's a win-win situation for both of us."

Under the program, UIC will partner with the agency to expand current career services programming and provide additional opportunities for students to be exposed to careers in the federal government. [Read More: newswise/2Mar2018]

Putin, Before Vote, Says Russia has Thwarted Hundreds of Foreign Spies. President Vladimir Putin boasted Russia had thwarted more than 400 foreign spies last year and on Monday called on the FSB, the domestic intelligence agency, to act to block further foreign attempts to obtain political, economic and military information.

Putin, who polls show should be comfortably re-elected on March 18, made the comments in a speech to FSB employees in Moscow where he also spoke of the need to step up Russia's cyber defences and strengthen the security of confidential communications systems used by Russian officials.

Putin once ran the FSB himself and his comments played into one of his core narratives which depicts Russia as a fortress besieged by hostile foreign powers and him as its defender-in-chief.

"In recent years, as you know very well, there has been an increase in foreign intelligence agency activity," he said. [Read More: Reuters/channelnewsasia/5Mar2018]

Iranian MP Calls For Separation of Powers Among Rival Intelligence Agencies. Iran's Parliamentary Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy is drafting a bill to separate the responsibilities of the Intelligence Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Intelligence Organization.

"In my opinion, under the law, the IRGC's Intelligence Organization is considered an agency that enforces judicial orders," said reformist lawmaker Mostafa Kavakebian in an interview with the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on February 26, 2018.

"At the same time, we have always believed that the legal authority in charge of espionage operations is the Intelligence Ministry and its decisions are also carried out by the Judiciary. So, naturally, there has to be a separation of responsibilities between these two security organizations," the member of Parliament (MP) added.

Agents of the IRGC's Intelligence Organization, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and otherwise operates independently, arrested several environmentalists in Iran in late January 2018. One of the detainees, prominent Iranian academic and environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami, died in Evin Prison on February 9 in an alleged "suicide" that has not been corroborated by an independent investigation. [Read More: iranhumanrights/1Mar2018]

Exclusive: Xi Confidant Set to Become China's New Spy Master - Sources. A vice minister of public security, a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, is tipped to take over as China's spy master, five sources said, as the country looks to clean up its security apparatus and plug intelligence gaps.

China has poured billions of yuan into domestic security, but the secretive Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security in recent years have been hit with high-level corruption scandals and intelligence failings.

Wang Xiaohong, 60, a vice minister of public security, will replace Chen Wenqing as minister of state security during the session of parliament which begins on March 5, three sources with ties to the leadership and two foreign diplomats said.

Chen, 58, will become the country's top prosecutor after a little more than a year as minister of state security, three of the sources said. The ministry is responsible for counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence and national security. [Read More: Blanchard, Lim, Wen/reuters/28Feb2018]

Contractors Gripe About DHS Clearance Woes. Vendors are losing money while waiting for clearances from the Department of Homeland Security, representatives of contracting firms told a panel of lawmakers at a Feb. 27 hearing.

The problems are many: differing security standards across components, opaque internal processes and slow communications to contractors.

Brandon LaBonte, president and CEO of small tech business ArdentMC, said his employees wait on average 213 days for a DHS fitness determination even though the company has worked with DHS and its components for a decade. One DHS component his company was working for had approved an ArdentMC employee in June but didn't tell the company until February, he said.

The Oversight and Management Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee also heard from representatives from the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, the Professional Services Council and Homeland Security & Defense Business Council. [Read More: Rockwell/fcw/27Feb2018]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Intelligence Documents Confirm Assassination Attempt on Queen Elizabeth in New Zealand. Declassified secret documents have confirmed an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth II in New Zealand's South Island, and potentially implicate New Zealand police in a "cover-up".

On October 14, 1981, teen criminal Christopher John Lewis hid in a deserted toilet cubicle on the fifth floor of a building overlooking the Royal parade in Dunedin. He wanted to assassinate the Queen but his gunshot missed. Incredibly, although the 17-year-old was arrested he was never charged with attempted murder and media, who heard the shot, were told it was a falling sign.

Why? The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) has now released previously classified information to Stuff after The Snowman and the Queen series was published in January.

The NZSIS documents include the file Possible Attempt on the Life of Queen Elizabeth II by National Imperial Guerilla Army, which is dated November 9, 1981 and marked 'SECRET'. [Read More: McNeilly/smh/1Mar2018]

Woodward Publishes Journal Article "A Spy's Guide to BU". John D. Woodward, Jr., Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, published a recent journal article on the history of espionage at Boston University that focuses on BU people and places of special significance.

Woodward's article, entitled "A Spy's Guide to BU," was published in the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) The Intelligencer Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies.

Woodward is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who, during his twenty-year CIA career, served as an operations officer in the Clandestine Service and as a technical intelligence officer in the Directorate of Science and Technology, with assignments in Washington D.C., East Asia, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. He also served as the Director of the U.S. Department of Defense Biometrics Management Office from 2003-2005 where he received the Army's third highest civilian award for his work on using biometric technologies to identify national security threats. [Read More: bu/1Mar2018]

Russia's Fancy Bear Hacks its Way Into Montenegro. The innocent sounding email reached an official of the Montenegrin Defence Ministry in early January 2017.

Entitled: "NATO_secretary_meeting.doc", it sounded like a communiqué from the Western alliance that Montenegro was soon to join.

However, IT experts say the message was not sent by NATO to update Montenegro on useful information.

It came from a notorious Russian hacking group, which wanted to break into the government's IT systems and steal state secrets. [Read More: Tomovic, Zivanovic/balkaninsight/5Mar2018]

Intelligence: Suddenly From Nowhere To Everywhere. In February China launched its ninth Dongdiao class Type 815 AGI (Auxiliary General Intelligence, or electronic reconnaissance) ship. This was significant in several ways, most obviously because China has built six of these ships in the last four years and now has nine of them in service or preparing for service. With this many modern AGI ships China is suddenly able to collect information worldwide and on a sustained basis. In less than a decade China has gone from nowhere to everywhere in offshore intelligence collection.

The Type 815s are 6,000 ton vessels that are 130 meters (418 feet) long and have a crew of about a hundred sailors plus 150 specialists and technicians. Top speed is 36 kilometers an hour and armament consists of a 37mm and two twin 25mm autocannon, which are apparently there mainly to keep minor threats at bay (pirates, suspicious small craft in general). There is also a landing pad and hanger for a helicopter.

These ships sport several domes protecting antennae and the ship is crammed with computers and signals processing gear. The Dongdiao class are replacing at some of older AGI type ships that entered service in the 1970s. Some of these older ships have had their electronics and other information gathering gear upgraded but they are elderly ships and expensive to maintain.

This equipment upgrading has already taken place with the Type 815, which first appeared in 1999 as something of a prototype for a new class of AGIs. The second Type 815 did not appear until 2010 and it was the same ship but with obvious differences in the type and arrangement of radars, antennae and other visible sensors. Inside the ship there was much more powerful computers and electronics in general. In 2017 the sixth Type 815 was another major upgrade and was called the Type 815A in recognition of how extensive the upgrades had been since the first Type 815. [Read More: strategypage/27Feb2018]

Spy Games: Is Buying a Chinese Smartphone Risky? Does buying a smartphone from certain Chinese brands expose you to spying?

Ordinarily you'd judge the Mate 10 Pro from China's Huawei on its its lovely 6-inch OLED display and exceptional battery life.

But there's a bigger issue beyond the specs of the flagship handset from the No. 3 phone maker in the world, which has been banking on the $799.99 smartphone to challenge Samsung Galaxy and iPhone in North America.

Lawmakers in the United States have placed Huawei and another Chinese manufacturer, ZTE, in the crosshairs over their reputed ties to the Chinese intelligence and military establishment. [Read More: Baig/wwltv/27Feb2018]

Geospatial Intelligence Students Boost Careers with Online Program. Dan Steiner knows a thing or two about assessing terrain, gathering knowledge sources and weighing human interactions - all things required in the field of geospatial intelligence - on the fly.

The West Point graduate who served for seven years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including leading an engineering company in combat during Operation Desert Storm, spent his life using these skills, first in the military, then for a pharmaceutical company, and currently for Orion Mapping, a geospatial intelligence business he founded three years ago.

Now, through the online Master of Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) program, he's looking to take those skills to the next level with a master's degree and geospatial intelligence analytics certificate, offered online through Penn State World Campus in partnership with the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' Department of Geography and the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute.

"I see the ground. I see things with that 3-D view," said Steiner, 55. "And I needed to have my skills upgraded with this program so that I can provide customers with exactly the info they want with the technology and legal skills to back it up." [Read More: Kubarek/psu/28Feb2018]

America's Intelligence Agencies Find Creative Ways to Compete for Talent. AMERICA'S intelligence agencies are struggling to attract and retain talent. Leon Panetta, a former Pentagon and CIA boss, says this is "a developing crisis". Barbs from President Donald Trump have chipped away at the prestige of work that some consider already tarnished by leaks and the belief that "enhanced interrogations" is another way of saying torture. The backlog of people waiting for a security clearance approval or renewal has swollen to 700,000 or so, with an average waiting time of well over a year. Many applicants simply give up.

The squeeze is tightest in cyber-security, programming, engineering and data science. Deborah Kircher at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) says entry-level data analysts earn $25,000-50,000 more a year in the private sector. Others report bigger differences. At the Pentagon's Central Command in Tampa, some data scientists' salaries have fallen from about $180,000 to roughly $100,000, says one who left for higher pay which, for shorter contracts at least, can reach $350,000 a year. Hiring by Disney and other firms whittled his old team of eight down to one.

Until the agencies solve this problem, he says, they will fall short in their mission or end up paying more for expertise from contractors. By one estimate, contractors provide a third of the intelligence community's workforce. This can sap morale, as government analysts who quit for a higher contractor salary are often assigned, sometimes just days later, to their former workplace, says Ben Venzke, boss of Intel Center, a Virginian firm that sells reports on extremist activity.

Part of the problem is the demand in the private sector for skills that used to be needed almost exclusively by government agencies, says Robert Cardillo, head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). To hire people for geospatial data analysis, he must now compete with firms like Fitbit, a maker of activity-measurement gadgets. One result of this, says Mr Panetta, the former CIA chief, is "a real tug-of-war" inside agencies, between reformers keen to make the government careers more attractive and an old guard that resists innovation in hiring and employment conditions. [Read More: economist/1Mar2018]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Spies and Disinformation in the Internet Age. Please put on some speed and have someone watch over new technological developments. Almost 170 years ago in the 1840s, Countess Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and a brilliant mathematician, pioneered and worked on a mechanical general purpose computer, considered to be the first computer program, invented even before computers existed. She died young, aged 36, but her influence is immense. She is a foremost role model for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Equally important, she inspired computer pioneers, especially Alan Turing, considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, who helped break the Nazi ciphers code in World War II.

One of the tributes to Lovelace is that the computer language "Ada," created in 1979 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, was named after her. Lovelace may well have understood the astonishing potential for computers and their impact on our lives, but she might have been surprised by the revelations in recent weeks of Russians using various forms of cyberware to gain information and disseminate false information. So-called BlackEnergy malware is said to have been used by Russian cyber-espionage groups in Ukraine to target power facilities and other utilities as well as complex industrial operations.

That interference probably had little or no impact on the 2016 presidential election, nor does it suggest evidence of any Trump-Russian "collusion." But convincing revelations have been presented of the great extent of Russian attempts to gather intelligence and influence opinion in the U.S., as elsewhere - not so much by human individual spies or agents as by other virtual methods, especially social media.

Of course, spies and spycraft are not new. In World War II, various unusual devices were used to obtain information: ravens to deposit and retrieve objects, pigeons to warn of the enemy, cats with electronic transmitters to eavesdrop on conversations. [Read More: Curtis/americanthinker/26Feb2018]

The Politicization of the FBI. Over the past year, facts have emerged that suggest there was a plot by high-ranking FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the Obama administration, acting under color of law, to exonerate Hillary Clinton of federal crimes and then, if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump and his campaign for colluding with Russia to steal the presidency. This conduct was not based on mere bias, as has been widely claimed, but rather on deeply felt animus toward Trump and his agenda.

In the course of this plot, FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Deputy Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, Strzok's paramour and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, FBI General Counsel James Baker, and DOJ senior official Bruce Ohr - perhaps among others - compromised federal law enforcement to such an extent that the American public is losing trust. A recent CBS News poll finds 48 percent of Americans believe that Special Counsel James Mueller's Trump-Russia collusion probe is "politically motivated," a stunning conclusion. And 63 percent of polled voters in a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll believe that the FBI withheld vital information from Congress about the Clinton and Russia collusion investigations.

I spent my early legal career as a federal prosecutor. I later supervised hundreds of prosecutors and prosecutions as a U.S. Attorney and as an Independent Counsel. I have never witnessed investigations so fraught with failure to fulfill the basic elements of a criminal probe as those conducted under James Comey. Not since former Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray deep-sixed evidence during Watergate has the head of the FBI been so discredited as Comey is now. [Read More: diGenova/hillsdale/Feb2018]

My View: Did Graham Make the Right Decision in 'The Post?'. I recently saw the movie "The Post" and it lived up to the hype. It was well acted, with Meryl Streep effectively portraying how Katharine Graham struggled to assert her control over the newspaper. It was exciting, even though most viewers already knew the outcome. It made abundantly clear that five successive presidents, led by Lyndon B. Johnson, lied through their teeth to the American public about the Vietnam War.

It also made Daniel Ellsberg seem like a hero for stealing and making public the Top Secret documents that became known as the Pentagon Papers. But was he?

Having worked in both the journalism and national security worlds, I have mixed emotions about the events depicted in "The Post." My college newspaper adviser had a bumper sticker on the bulletin board in our newsroom that read, "The First Amendment is Absolute." Free speech, whether on college campuses, on the streets of Washington, D.C. or in newspapers, is essential to democracy. But it's not absolute in all circumstances, as the Supreme Court has ruled.

There have to be limits on free speech when national security is at stake. The Alexandria Times exists to be a watchdog on power, dealing with matters much less lofty than those depicted in "The Post," though with the same basic principles in play. But I can't imagine a scenario where this newspaper would print a top secret document pertaining to our country's national security. [Read More: alextimes/1Mar2018]

America's Other Espionage Challenge: China. With all the focus on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the damage done by China's vigorous and continuing espionage against the United States has taken a back seat.

The preoccupation with Russia, in fact, has obscured the significant inroads made by Chinese intelligence and cyberspies. In some cases, China has proved more skillful than Russia in infiltrating American intelligence.

A case involving a former C.I.A. officer named Jerry Chun Shing Lee is a perfect example. Beginning in 2010, C.I.A. sources in China began disappearing; a dozen were reported executed and several more imprisoned. What had seemed a major success in establishing a network of C.I.A. spies inside China had been turned into a devastating intelligence failure. The C.I.A. and F.B.I., suspecting a mole, went on a secret hunt.

Mr. Lee, who had been stationed in Beijing, emerged as a prime suspect. When he stepped off a flight in New York on Jan. 15, he was arrested by the F.B.I. and charged with unlawfully retaining documents related to the national defense. But there is still no certainty that he was responsible for the loss of the agents. [Read More: Wise/nytimes/5Mar2018]

Section IV - Jobs and Obituaries

Jobs

Two Jobs for FireEye in Virginia and Maryland.

Job Title: Strategic Account Manager- Federal System Integrators for FireEye. Experience: 8 to 10 years. Location: Reston, VA

This role requires a deep understanding of the market and technologies that FireEye sells, including our business/industry, our competitors and the ability to use this knowledge to plan for the future. The successful Account Manager drives a superior customer experience by delivering technology solutions tailored to custome...[more info on this opening is here].

Job Title: Security Engineer (Top Secret /SCI with Fullscope Poly) for FireEye. Location: Fort Meade, MD

Enhance operational efficacy and efficiency through security orchestration, automation, and response. Design, test, and implement innovative and advanced solutions in support of a distributed network defense program that focuses on active defense. Interface across engineering and operations teams to translate requirements i... [more info on this opening is here].

Obituaries

Herbert Barnes Jr, 84, CIA photo-interpreter and imagery specialist, died 22 February 2018 at his home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Following his service in the US Navy and graduation from Ohio University, Herb began his career in photography. He first worked as a studio photographer, then as a photo-interpreter, and finally as a photography specialist with CIA. His work with the CIA took him to over fifty countries, including six months in Kinshasa, Zaire, three years in Athens, Greece, with the family, and two years in Istanbul, Turkey. He also enjoyed many hobbies and projects. He was a private pilot and flight instructor. He restored five antique airplanes from bare metal to show-worthy prize winners. He enjoyed boating, fishing, carpentry, and wildlife photography. Survivors include two sons and a daughter, and other family.

Theodore Lewis Daywalt, Capt USNR-Ret, 69, Naval Intelligence Officer, died of pulmonary lung disease -- despite a recent and valiant double lung transplant -- in early March 2018 in Jacksonville, FL. In addition to his career in the Naval Reserve, since 1999, Ted has been the president and CEO of VetJobs, the leading military jobs board on the Internet. He served on active duty in the Navy for seven years. He initially served as a Line Officer on a destroyer with cruises to South America, Europe and Russia. He was then assigned to the Commander United States Naval Forces, European headquarters in London, England, as an intelligence watch officer and later as a geopolitical analyst with responsibilities for the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. In 1978, he transferred to the Naval Reserve Intelligence Program, from which he retired as a Captain (O-6) with 28 years of service. He was a stalwart and proud member of NIP (Naval Intelligence Professionals). He leaves his wife, Belinda, and children.

Donald E. Markle, 86, former NSA Official, Author/Historian, died 3 March 2018 in Gettysburg, PA. Don graduated from Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, MD, and attended Johns Hopkins University but his studies were interrupted by the Korean War. He served in U.S. Army from 1952-1955. Upon return, he graduated from University of Maryland, and did graduate work at American and George Washington Universities in the areas of International Relations. Markle served the country for 34 years, predominantly with the National Security Agency. He retired in 1986 as NSA's Director of Foreign Relations, Europe.
A prolific author/historian, he published several well-regarded books on intelligence topics: Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War [Hippocrene, 1994], The Fox and the Hound: The Birth of American Spying [Hippocrene, 2014]. Other published works include Pennsylvania: An Illustrated History [2009], Intelligence Was My Line: Inside Eisenhower's Other Command [co-authored with Ralph Hauenstein 2005], The Telegraph Goes to War: The Personal Diary of David Homer Bates, Lincoln's Telegraph Operator [co-authored with David Bates 2003] all published by Hippocrene Books.
He lectured at the Smithsonian Institute, the National Archives, and Ford's Theater in Washington. He volunteered 25 years at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. He was an alumnus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. He was a proud member of the Phoenix Society.
In addition to his wife, Geri, he is survived by five children and other family.

Richard R. Mitchell, Col US Army (Ret), 77, former OASD Intelligence, died 18 May 2017 in Florence, AL. He enlisted in the Army in 1962, earned Army Aviator wings and appointment as a Warrant Officer 1 in 1964. He deployed to Vietnam to join the 197th Armed Helicopter Company. In 1966 he received a direct commission to Second Lieutenant. After multi-engine fixed wing transition, it was back to Vietnam in 1969 to fly RU-8 aircraft with the 224th Radio Research Battalion. From here on, Dick was an acknowledged expert and pioneer in Army Special Electronic Mission Aircraft. As a Lieutenant Colonel he commanded 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion (AE) in Stuttgart, Germany, 1986 to 1988. Promoted to Colonel, Dick completed National War College in 1989, and served in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence until retiring from the Army in 1993. Through 1999 he was manager at Raytheon and SAIC. He received numerous awards and medals. COL Mitchell leaves behind his wife of 52 years, Kathy Mitchell, two daughters, and other family.

Christopher Neil Quaid, Lt Col USAF-Ret, 47, Interagency Joint Collaboration Cell Leader, Warrior, died 16 December 2017. Chris went to Southwest Texas University, now Texas State University, on an ROTC scholarship and graduated with a degree in Psychology. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force in 1994 and his first assignment was as a missile operator for the Minuteman III. He next served as a Mission Director and Space Operator and led efforts to enhance warfighter access to data, services, and technical and operational expertise. He joined the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to build operational links and collaboration between NGA and the NSA. During this time he traveled to Iraq to provide direct support to warfighters as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). From NGA, he was assigned to the Air Staff at the Pentagon, where he led future RADAR programs and, as a volunteer, was trained by the US Navy as an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) and deployed with the US Army's 82nd Airborne to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) recruited him as Mission Director for their imagery satellite constellation, where he led the creation of Joint Collaboration Cells (JCCs) across the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) in support of American global operations. He was a leader in recognizing the need to connect National Intelligence to tactical operations in order to provide timely and relevant support to save American and Coalition lives. His final assignment in the military, Chris served at the NRO Operations Center (NROC) with the New York Air National Guard. Chris was a Master Space Operator. His notable decorations included the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with service star and the Air Force Expeditionary Service Medal. Chris retired as a Lt Colonel in December 2015. On his first day of retirement in 2016, he learned he had a glioblastoma (brain tumor), underwent emergency surgery, and lost this one, final, brave battle. He is survived by his wife, Michele R. Weslander Quaid, four children, his mother, brother, sister, and other family.

Casimir Aloysius Raszewski, 90, an outstanding NSA polyglot, died 12 August 2017 in Pikesville, MD. In 1944, Cas entered the seminary at the Oblates of St Francis De Sales and received one year of religious training. Next he studied at both the Catholic University in DC and Niagara University. He also taught World History at North Catholic High School. In 1952, he re-evaluated his calling and enlisted in the US Air Force, serving for 15 years, and then began working for the National Security Agency where he wowed his colleagues with his proficiency with seven languages. After his NSA retirement in 1982, he served as substitute teacher and tennis coach at Smithsburg High School, and taught English in Poland. Cas was a member of the Phoenix Society. Cas was active in the community, enjoyed reading, traveling, tennis, classical music, chess, and many board games. He was a history buff, and an avid Orioles and Ravens fan. He enjoyed many fun times with family and friends at a condo in Ocean City. Cas is survived by a second wife, Rita Jones, her children, by his sister, and many children and other family from his first and second marriages.

Myron Rush, 96, former CIA and Rand analyst on Soviet Russia, Cornell Professor, died 8 January 2018 in Herndon, VA. From a young age, he played violin and read voraciously. He graduated from the University of Chicago and went on to complete his doctorate there with the Committee on Social Thought. After serving as an Army encryption specialist, he worked for the CIA and the Rand Corporation before joining the Cornell faculty where he served for twenty-five years as professor of Russian government. His retirement from Cornell coincided with the collapse of the Soviet regime. He was best known for having discovered the patterns of seating arrangements in the Politburo which revealed the path to Soviet succession. He was a childhood violinist, a connoisseur of art and music, and fan of Mozart. He is survived by a daughter, two sons, and other family. [Read More: O'Donnell/suntimes/5Mar2018]

Jane Milner Schnell, 87, former career CIA Officer, died 24 February 2018. She attended schools in Columbus and Atlanta, GA; Columbus, OH, Berlin, Germany, and Switzerland. Jane graduated from Randolph Mascon Women's College in Lynchburg, VA in 1952. Following in her father's footsteps, Jane went on to work for the CIA for 30 years, a career that took her to exciting locations around the world, such as Singapore, Tibet, and Switzerland. She spent her vacations skiing, sailing and hiking. For several years, she was an accomplished small boat racer. At age 55, after CIA retirement, she planned a bicycle trip of 12,000 miles, 31 states. Thirteen months later she had cycled around the USA. At age 57, she was the oldest and only woman known to have completed a USA perimeter bicycle trip, and the oldest person and only woman to complete the 1989 North-South Pedal for Power sponsored by the League of American Wheelman. She told her story in a book, Changing Gears: Bicycling America's Perimeter. She released four more books about bike rides in Georgia, Europe, and her experiences on a handicapped cycling tour of Siberia and Mongolia. In 1972, in Nepal, Jane fell in love with Tibetan rugs and became a rug expert and dealer, and co-founded the Tibetan Rug Association newsletter. After a stint in Georgia to care for her mother, she settled in Clayton, GA where she became an innkeeper when she purchased, restored, and renovated The Hillcrest Inn, built in 1907 (known today as The Parker Ranch). She enjoyed quilting and raising Highland cows. In 2015 Jane and her son, Sox, moved to The Hermitage in Richmond, VA, where she enjoyed oil painting. She was involved with the Central Asian Institute, Randolph College Alumni Association, Rails-to-Trails, the East Coast Greenway, the American Discovery Trail Society, and Meals on Wheels. She is survived by her son and other family.

Section V - Events

AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Thursday, 15 March 2018, 11:30 AM - Colorado Springs - The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter hosts General Gene Renuart, discussing "Intelligence: Art Form or Science ' How little We Know."

The events of 9/11 and the subsequent operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom will be used to demonstrate that we are failing our national decision makers if we do not find the balance between human and operational intelligence as we assist the National Command Authority.

General Renuart's Air Force career culminated as Commander, NORAD and US Northern Command after nearly 39 years of distinguished service. In this last role, he was responsible for providing for the Homeland Defense and Defense Support to Civilian Authorities for the United States and for partnering with Canada and Mexico in broader security issues for North America. General Renuart served as the Director of Strategy, Policy and Planning (J-5) for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Senior Military Assistant to both SECDEFs Rumsfeld and Gates. He was the Director of Operations for General Tom Franks at US Central Command, planning and executing all combat and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan and Iraq immediately following 9/11. He also served for over 12 years in NATO related assignments in the UK, Germany, and Italy. He has flown over 60 combat missions in four different US and Coalition combat operations.

Since retiring and making Colorado his home, General Renuart has served as a senior consultant for a number of global, defense-related corporations and agencies. In 2012, he founded The Renuart Group (TRG), LLC, a defense, homeland security, energy, project management, and leadership consulting firm, based in Colorado Springs. He also serves on many Boards around the nation and locally. Finally, the General serves on the Colorado Springs Mayor's Air Service Task Force.

To sign up or for more information, please contact Tom VanWormer at robsmom@pcisys.net

19 April 2018, Time: 12.30-2pm - Los Angeles, CA - The AFIO Los Angeles Chapter hosts LAPD Commissioner Soboroff.

The next scheduled meeting will feature speaker Steve Soboroff, President of the L.A.P.D. Police Commission.
Please make sure to mark your calendar. More details to follow.
Qs to Vincent Autiero, President, AFIO-Los Angeles Chapter at afio_la@yahoo.com.

Other Upcoming Events from Advertisers, Corporate Sponsors, and Others

Wednesday 7 March 2018 from 7:30 to 8:45 pm - McLean, VA - "Old Lesson for New Wars: Counterintelligence at the Roots of Provocation and Terror" - Dr John J. Dziak's presentation at the Westminster Institute

"Old Lesson for New Wars: Counterintelligence at the Roots of Provocation and Terror" is the topic of Dr. John J. Dziak's presentation at the Westminster Institute Dr. John J. Dziak served as a senior intelligence officer and senior executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and in the Defense Intelligence Agency, with long experience in counterintelligence, hostile deception, counter deception, strategic intelligence, weapons proliferation intelligence, and intelligence education. He is co-founder and president of Dziak Group, Inc., a consulting firm in the fields of intelligence, counterintelligence, counter-deception, national security affairs, and technology transfer. His clients are found in industry, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of Defense. He is the author of Chekisty. He is a Distinguished Fellow in Intelligence Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council and also is a Senior Fellow at the International Assessment Strategy Center.
TIMING: Reception at 7 PM; Presentation from 7:30 PM to 8:45 PM EST
WHERE: Westminster Institute, 6729 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101
COST: There is no fee to attend. Registration, however, is required. REGISTER here.

14 March 2018 - 10 am - 1 pm (lunch follows) - Annapolis Junction, MD - Liza Mundy discusses CODE GIRLS - American Women Who Cracked the German and Japanese Codes to Help Win WWII at the Spring Cryptologic Program by the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation (NCMF).

The NCMF kickoff event for 2018 features award-winning Liza Mundy discussing "Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II."
As the US headed to war in 1941, two things became clear: victory depended on successful code-breaking and they didn't have enough people working on it. The solution: recruit women for cryptanalysis. Tens of thousands of women mostly college students and teachers with an affinity for math, science, and foreign languages answered the call for top-secret work as codebreakers. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to real careers; however, strict secrecy nearly erased them from history...until now. Mundy provides a riveting account of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.
Liza Mundy, a former staff writer for the Washington Post, is author of four books and has won many awards. She holds an AB from Princeton and an MA in English literature from UVA. She lives a mile from Arlington Hall, where the Army code-breaking women worked.

LOCATION: CACI Inc., Maryland Conference Center, 2720 Technology Dr, Annapolis Junction, MD 20755 [Google map link here]

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.

13 April 2018, 11 am - Arlington, VA - NIP (Naval Intelligence Professionals) 2018 Spring Red Tie Luncheon features VAdm Kernan on "National Security Challenges."

Registration is currently underway for 2018 NIP Spring Luncheon (aka...Red Tie) being held at the stately Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. A special guest goes along with what will be a special day: Vice Admiral Joe Kernan, USN (Ret), Under Seretary of Defense for Intelligence. He will share his thoughts and impressions of the current "National Security Challenges" facing the nation.
VADM Kernan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate at the USD(I) in November 2017. During his naval career, he commanded Seal Team Two, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, Naval Special Warfare Command, and US Naval Forces Southern Command/Fourth Fleet. He also seved as Senior Military Assistant to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and as Deputy Commander of the U.S. Southern Command.
Location: Army Navy Country Club (ANCC), Arlington, VA. Abundant free valet parking. A no-host social hour will commence at 1100 with lunch following at noon.
Registration: NO AT THE DOOR REGISTRATIONS, Reservation deadline is COB 6 April 2018
To register online do so here. To register by US Mail with check, send to: NIP, PO Box 11579 Burke, VA 22009. Include your menu selection - Salmon or Chicken or Vegetarian. Nonmembers of NIP are welcome to attend.

22 - 25 April 2018 - Tampa, FL - USGIF GEOINT 2018 Symposium on "Driving Data to Decisions and Actions."

Always a phenomenal event in number of panels, quality (fame) of speakers, and hundreds of latest tech exhibits. This is the GEOINT version of the dazzling Consumer Electronics Show...

Hear from senior defense and intelligence leaders such as NGA Director Robert Cardillo and USDI Joseph Kernan in keynotes, panels, and presentations.
Learn from 52 hours of professional development, training, and education sessions with PDUs and CEUs.
See the latest in technology, services, and solutions from 200+ exhibitors in more than 100,000 sq ft of exhibit space.
Networking with more than 4,000 GEOINT Community professionals from 40 countries spanning defense, intelligence, homeland security, industry, and academia.

Learn more about the GEOINT Symposium here
Or register now and start planning on your trip to GEOINT 2018 in Tampa.

Friday, 18 May 2018, 1 - 2:30 pm - Annapolis Junction, MD - 2018 Henry F. Schorreck Lecture Speaker Series by NSA's Center for Cryptologic History on "The Pueblo Incident: A Fifty-Year Retrospective."

The National Cryptologic Museum hosts NSA's Center for Cryptologic History's 2018 Henry F. Schorreck Lecture Speaker Series which will explore "The Pueblo Incident: A Fifty-Year Retrospective."

The special guest speaker is Mitchell Lerner, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Institute for Korean Studies at Ohio State University. He is the author of The Pueblo Incident: A Spy Ship and the Failure of American Foreign Policy, which won the 2002 John Lyman Book Award.
"Remember," Rear Admiral Frank Johnson told the officers of the USS Pueblo just before they departed for their first mission, "you are not going out there to start a war." And yet, war appeared to be not far off when the spy ship was captured by North Korean forces on 23 January 1968, leaving one dead crewman and 82 other Americans held captive for a year in North Korean prison camps. This presentation will examine this controversial incident from start to finish, and will open a window into not only American decision making but also into the perspectives of North Korea, South Korea, and the Soviet Union.

REGISTRATION: Event is free. However, a full house is anticipated and thus, advanced registration is required at this link. The NSA-CCH will confirm registrations and answer any questions.
DIRECTIONS: The NCM is located at 8290 Colony Seven Rd, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. Here is are directions to the Museum.
Qs or prefer to register by email?: contact Greg Nedved at gjnedve@nsa.gov to reserve the desired number of seats by email.

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.

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