Weekly Intelligence Notes

18 - 24 September 2024
(Issue 36)

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view the latest edition here.

Send submissions and comments to: winseditor@afio.com.

CONTENTS

Section I - CURRENTS

(Recent Developments)

General Interests

• Back to the Cold War: Russia uses Mexico as a hub for spying on the U.S. - NBC News, 21 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Caught on camera: Satellite tracker photographs secret spacecraft - Space, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• An ex-CIA officer gets 30 years for drugging, filming and assaulting dozens of women - NPR, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• The Peninsula Paris, a luxury hotel turned spy hub by Gaza and Ukraine crisis - Intelligence Online, 20 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• US Global Hawk Spy Drone Suffers 'Problems' Amid Russian Jamming - News Week, 19 Sep 24
• US Navy Spy Drone Flies Deep Into Arctic Amid Russia Threat - News Week, 20 Sep 24
• 'Significant Confusion,' 'Lack of Supervision,' and 'Delayed Notification': IG Report Skewers State Department's Handling of Robert Malley Suspension - Washington Free Beacon, 19 Sep 24
• NSA's secret Amazon-developed cloud environment progressing 'very well' - Next Gov, 18 Sep 24
• How the Intelligence Community Is Adapting to Attract and Retain Top Talent - Clearance Jobs, 17 Sep 24

Special Collections

• Counterespionage - Arrests, convictions, expulsions, and more...
• Cyberespionage - New actors, collection and sabotage ops, countermeasures, policy, other...
• Covert Action - Influence ops, assassinations, sabotage, intel agency paramilitary action, countermeasures, and more...

• Chinese spies are lurking in or around the offices of our elected leaders - Washington Times, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• How Does Iranian Intelligence Recruit Iranians in the West as Spies? - Middle East Forum Observer, 17 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Russian Sabotage in the Gig-Economy Era - Royal United Services Institute Journal, 17 Sep 24
• Britain is losing the spy game to Russia - The Spectator, 20 Sep 24
• From Munich 72 to 7 October attack: the chequered history of the Mossad - The Guardian, 21 Sep 24
• Post-Quantum Cryptography: The Future of Secure Communications and the Role of Standards - Security Boulevard, 18 Sep 24
• Cyber intelligence and international security. Breaking the legal and diplomatic silence? - Intelligence and National Security, 17 Sep 24
• Inside the U.S. Army's Most Secretive Unit: The Story of ISA - The National Interest, 19 Sep 24
• The Brilliance of “Operation Grim Beeper” - Hudson Institute, 20 Sep 24

• Israel's dramatic attack on Hezbollah sent shockwaves throughout the region, but it also demonstrates that a multi-front war is already underway. — Former Acting CIA Dep. Dir. for Ops and Arkin Group President Jack Devine, In Other News
• The Emerging Threat of 3D-Printed Firearms — Former FBI Special Agent and Soufan Group CEO Ali Soufan, Intel Brief
• Michael and Andy: World Roundup — Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell and former CIA Chief Operating Officer Andy Makridis, Intelligence Matters: The Relaunch
• Danger of nuclear war with North Korea greater than ever, U.S. expert warns with former CIA Executive Joseph DeTrani - Washington Times, 20 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• This Fall, the Forecasts, and an Uncertain Future - with Former CIA Senior Analyst and NIO for East Asia Kent Harrington - First and Second Thoughts, 20 Sep 24
• Former NSA Director Nakasone opens new institute at Vanderbilt to train 'right type of leader' with Former NSA Director Paul Nakasone - Washington Times, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• The Greatest Threat to American Spies is Their Own Leadership by Former NSA Counterintelligence Officer John Schindler - Top Secret Umbra, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Israel's Diabolical Caper in Lebanon by Former U.S. Army Case Officer Jeff Stein - Spy Talk, 18 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• 'The Israelis are going to go in' by Former CIA Officer Robert Baer - News Nation Now, 18 Sep 24

Books: (Forthcoming, New Releases, Overlooked)

• Israeli National Intelligence Culture Itai Shapira (30 Sep 24)


• Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute: An Untold History of Spacemen & Spies by Craig Gralley (24 Apr 23)


• The Formative Years of an African-American Spy: A Memoir by Odell Bennett Lee (19 Dec 12)

True Intelligence Matters on Film: Declassified: The Untold Stories of American Spies, S2 E8 - The Nicholsons: A Spy and His Son - Domini Hofmann (2017)

Intelligence in History - A Collection of Recently Released Content

Walking Tours: "The Spies of Embassy Row" and "Spies of Georgetown" - Washington, DC. (Sundays, Dates/Times Vary)

Obituaries

Research Requests and Academic Opportunities

• Call for Articles and Book Reviews: The ODNI at 20 Years - Special Issue of the American Intelligence Journal, Fall 2024. 15 Oct 24 Deadline.
• Call for Papers: Gender in the Security Sectors of the Indo-Pacific Region - Special Issue of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. 31 Oct 24 Deadline.
• Call for Papers: African Intelligence in the Post-Colonial Era, 1960-present - Special Issue of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. 01 Nov 24 Deadline.
• Call for Interviews: Documentary film executive seeking extraordinary, true story material.
• Call for Information: Farewell Dossier and the alleged explosion of the Siberian gas pipeline.
• Call for Online Survey Participants: Institution Review Board approved research project from Northeastern University on critical thinking skills for national security intelligence analysts.
• Call for Information and Interview Subjects: In search of information on possible espionage activity in New York City in the WWII and post-war era.
• Call for information: Child of former CIA officers John and Mary Mae Roman seeks information about parents' careers.
• Call for information: Seeking input and suggestions for a chapter on Counterintelligence for the second edition of the Oxford University Handbook of National Security Intelligence.
• Call for information: Seeking information on Priscilla Griffin de Mauduit, OSS-CIA, 1941-1965.
• Call for information: Seeking information on Peruvian communist terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).
• Seeking Interview Subjects: Seeking information on Czech-U.S. relations late 1970s and 1980s, StB's techniques and effectiveness, exposition and expulsion of U.S. staff in Prague, Czech intel operatives on U.S. soil.
• Seeking Interview Subjects: Current or former intelligence officers, analysts, and counterintelligence (CI) professionals with firsthand experience in dealing with Russian illegals to participate in confidential interview sessions as part of a PhD dissertation.
• Call for Information: Swiss photographer Bruno Zehnder and research activity/death in Mirny Antarctica 1997 / info on climate between Russia and the CIA in the 1980s/90s regarding adhering to the scientific treaty and the race to be the first to breach Lake Vostok.
• Call For Articles: AFIO Journal, The Intelligencer - Assorted Topics

Employment

• 2 Assistant Professors in Intelligence and Security - Institute of Security and Global Affairs, University of Leiden, Netherlands
• Assistant Professor of Intelligence Studies - Mercyhurst University - Erie, Pennsylvania
• Associate Professor and Chair of National Security - University of New Haven, Connecticut
• Wanted: Former intelligence officers to lead spy-themed walking tours in Washington, D.C. - Spyher Tours
• Wanted: Retired Federal Government Employees - National Security Agency - Fort Meade, Maryland
• Assistant Professor - Intelligence Studies - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona

Upcoming AFIO Events

• 04 Oct 24, 11 am (ET) - McLean VA In-Person - AFIO National Fall Luncheon: JJ Green, WTOP, Morning Speaker; Afternoon Speaker TBA - Hold the date. Registration opens 1 August.
• 08 Nov 24, 1130 (ET) - In-Person - Army Reserve Foreign Area Officer (FAO) LTC Tomio "Tomes" Toyama discusses his most recent deployment to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan while serving in the Office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) - San Francisco Chapter

Events of Advertisers, Corporate Sponsors, Others

• Wednesday, 25 September 2024, 6:30-7:50pm – Washington, DC – Spies, Lies, and Robots: The Rise of AI Chatbots and the Counterintelligence Dilemma with H. Keith Melton – In-Person International Spy Museum Program
• 5 October 2024, 2p-4p: Vintage Espionage, a wine tasting with an espionage twist hosted by former CIA officers.
  
• Wednesday, 24 October 2024, 5 - 7 p.m. - In-Person Hanover, MD - NCF & INSF 3rd Annual Cocktails & Codebreakers event
• 30 Apr - 02 May 2025 – In Person – Cryptologic History Symposium - National Cryptological Foundation and NSA Center for Cryptologic History, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
• 30 Aug - 8 Sep 2025 - Mediterranean Cruise - Spies, Lies & Nukes announce Espionage on the High Seas! Plan NOW to join the late-summer 2025 cruise.

See the AFIO Calendar of Events for scheduling further in the future.

DISCLAIMER

The Weekly Intelligence Notes include a wide range of articles and commentary to inform our readers. It also includes several paid advertisements. Views expressed in articles and advertising are those of the authors and advertisers; they do not reflect AFIO's support or endorsement. Notices about non-AFIO events do not reflect AFIO endorsement or recommendation.

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 readers, who should exercise caution and good judgment when responding and independently verify the source before supplying resumes, career data, or personal information.

- William J. Donovan Award Dinner -

Saturday, 19 October 2024
Washington, DC

The OSS Society's William J. Donovan Award Dinner is the preeminent annual gathering of the US intelligence and special operations communities. The OSS Society will honor some of our nation's greatest unsung heroes who have served at the "tip of the spear" as our nation's first line of defense, including Agency veterans Janet Baum and Greg Vogle; commemorate the 80th anniversaries of D-Day and the liberation of Paris; and the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding. The evening's meal will be a tribute to OSS veteran and the "French Chef" Julia Child. You do not want to miss what Washington Post columnist David Ignatius described as a "wonderful celebration of our country at its best." If you are interested in attending or being a sponsor of event, please contact The OSS Society at oss@osssociety.org. Individual tickets can be purchased online at here.

- AFIO NATIONAL FALL LUNCHEON -

- Registration Deadline is THIS FRIDAY. Will You Join Us? -

Friday, 4 Oct 2024, 1100-1400
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, McLean-Tysons, VA
1960 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean VA 22102

FEATURING:

Mark Kelton Former National Clandestine Service Deputy Director for Counterintelligence (DDNCS/CI)		J.J. Green WTOP National Security Correspondent

Schedule:

1030 Check-in for preregistered attendees (no walk-ins)
1100 J.J. Green, WTOP National Security Correspondent
12-1300 Lunch
1300 Mark Kelton, Former National Clandestine Service Deputy Director for Counterintelligence (DDNCS/CI)
1400 Event ends

Registration and Cost:
Registration and credit card payment required before event. Lunch is $60 (members) or $75 (guests, Subscribers).

Register now while space remains. Registration closes 1700 hours, Friday, 27 Sep 2024 or earlier when all seats taken.

Cancellations: No refund for cancellations after 21 Sep 2024. Payment for reservations canceled 21 to 27 Sep 2024 will be converted to donations to AFIO. Payments for reservations canceled after 27 Sep 2024 are forfeit; the meal will have been guaranteed at the hotel, per the contract.
Attendees must be AFIO members or accompanied by a member. For security reasons, no late or last-minute substitutions.

Please direct any questions to events@afio.com

- NEW for September! -

Special Walking Tours
by Spyher Tours

Visit Spyher
Book | Buy | Contact us to schedule a private event | Subscribe and “Get the Intel” for not-yet-public information on upcoming events

Vintage Espionage travels throughout the U.S. 
Visit https://spyher.co to learn more and book all tours.

- Coming in October! -

by Spyher Tours

Friday, 4 October 6:30p-8p Special Guest Host

Enjoy the Embassy Row Spy Tour with Special Guest Host Will Barr. Will Can neither confirm nor deny that he served in the CIA's Directorate of Operations for the better part of a decade. Use promo code SPYWITHWILL for $10 off!

Click here to learn more and book tours.

Saturday, 5 October 2024 DOUBLE HEADER

10a-1230p: Arlington National Cemetery, CIA Memorial Wall Tour with Special Guest Itay Hertz

Itay has 20+ years of operational experience in security, risk, and including 15 years serving in the Israeli government. He brings a unique depth of knowledge on terrorist groups in the Middle East, and has deployed to 39 countries on behalf of the State of Israel, leading international security operations in support of government executives, the intelligence service, and more.

Click here to learn more and book tours.

2p-4p: Vintage Espionage at the Old Forestville Schoolhouse in Great Falls, VA

Immerse yourself in a world of mystery and intrigue with a former CIA officer turned sommelier while you enjoy a curated selection of wines: two sparkling, two chardonnay, and two pinot noir. Along the way enjoy stories from her life on the front lines of intelligence. She is accompanied by Spyher Founder Rosanna Minchew. Use promo code SPYHERWINEFRIENDS for $15 off.

Click here to learn more and book tours.

- CALL FOR ARTICLES -

AFIO seeks authors for "When Intelligence Made a Difference," a feature in the semi-annual Intelligencer journal. Whether contemporary or historical, proposed articles should explain an event in which the application of actionable intelligence made a difference. For professors, this can make a good assignment for students. AFIO welcomes student papers as potential articles, which can be brief or up to 3,000 words. Interested authors can contact senior editor, Peter Oleson, at peter.oleson@afio.com

A Look at Where Intelligence Agencies Are
in the 21st Century

Former NSA and CIA Officer Alma Katsu
discusses her forthcoming book series
The Spy Who Vanished

Recorded: 17 June 2024
Duration: 17 minutes (including Q&A)
Interviewer: AFIO President James Hughes, a former CIA Senior Operations Officer.

Explore Alma Katsu's website or her books on Amazon.

Access the video interview here or click image above.

WIN EXCLUSIVE
BOOK REVIEW OF THE MONTH
(September 2024)

Award-winning Intelligence and Military Historian Rose Mary Sheldon writes on:

Spies for the Sultan: Ottoman Intelligence in the Great Rivalry with Spain

by Emrah Safa Gürkan
(Georgetown University Press, 01 May 2024)

Access review here.

A Career at the NSA, the US Cyber Command, and the US Navy

AFIO Now Presents: RADM Peg Klein

RADM Peg Klein speaks with AFIO board member Everette Jordan about her exceptional career at the NSA, the US Cyber Command, and the US Navy.
Interview conducted Tuesday, 28 May 2024. Hosted by AFIO President James Hughes, Interviewed by Everette Jordan.

The audio-only version of AFIO Now, great for listening to in your car or while accomplishing other tasks, can be downloaded or streamed on any of the following podcast platforms by searching for "AFIO":

AFIO Now interviews, video and audio-only forms, in 2023 and 2024, are sponsored by
Northwest Financial Advisors

Click here to watch interviews in the AFIO Now series released in 2024.
View interviews from 2020 to 2023 here.
Watch public-release interviews on our YouTube channel or listen to them in podcast form at the links in the section above.

Log into the member-only area for member-only features.

COMING in 2025...

We hope you will join us for this celebration.

Section I - CURRENTS

(Recent Developments)

General Interests

Back to the Cold War: Russia uses Mexico as a hub for spying on the U.S. - NBC News, 21 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

Russian intelligence services are building up their presence in Mexico for spy operations targeting the United States, a return to Cold War tactics by an increasingly aggressive regime, according to U.S. officials and former intelligence officers. Russia has added dozens of personnel to its embassy staff in Mexico City in the past few years, even though Moscow has only limited trade ties with the country. U.S. officials say the trend is concerning and believe the extensive buildup is aimed at bolstering the Kremlin's intelligence operations targeting the U.S., as well as its propaganda efforts aimed at undermining Washington and Ukraine. The Biden administration has raised the issue with the Mexican government, a U.S. official told NBC News. "Russia has really invested in Mexico in terms of seeking to extend their presence," the official said. The Mexican Embassy and the Russian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. (Read more here.)

Caught on camera: Satellite tracker photographs secret spacecraft - Space, 19 Sep 24

In the hush-hush, secretive world of space-based spy satellites, few details are publicly available — and groups like the U.S. Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency like it that way. There's an armada of classified spacecraft assigned an array of vigilant duties. Some intercept radio waves or detect missile launches. Others yield close-up looks at select areas using sharp-eyed optical systems or scan Earth with powerful radar technology. These high-flying satellites are tempting targets for amateur astrophotographers. Such is the case for space watcher veteran Felix Schöfbänker in Upper Austria. "My images have certainly revealed a few things that either were not known, or only were speculated before," Schöfbänker tells Space.com. (Full article here.)

An ex-CIA officer gets 30 years for drugging, filming and assaulting dozens of women - NPR, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

A former CIA officer has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for drugging, sexually assaulting and filming more than two dozen women in multiple countries over more than a decade. Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release, pay $260,000 in restitution to the victims and register as a sex offender after leaving prison, the Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday. "Today's sentence ensures that the defendant will be properly marked as a sex offender for life, and he will spend a substantial portion of the rest of his life behind bars," said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. Raymond, of La Mesa, Calif., pleaded guilty last year to one count each of sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, coercion and enticement, and transportation of obscene material, punishable by 24 to 30 years. As part of that plea agreement, Raymond admitted to drugging and engaging in nonconsensual sexual acts with four women, and nonconsensual sexual contact with six others. He also acknowledged drugging two other women, and taking either photos or videos of 28 victims while they were fully or partially nude without their knowledge or permission. (Full article here.)

The Peninsula Paris, a luxury hotel turned spy hub by Gaza and Ukraine crisis - Intelligence Online, 20 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous places for discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online reveals how, since 2024, the Peninsula hotel on Avenue Kléber has established itself as the essential Parisian stop-off point for parallel diplomacy and arms deals involving today's biggest world crises, Gaza and Ukraine. When the new head of France's foreign intelligence agency DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure), Nicolas Lerner, dived into the deep end of global intelligence intrigue, his surroundings could not have been more luxurious: barely a month after his appointment, he found himself on 28 January at the entrance of The Peninsula Paris on Avenue Kléber in the French capital's chic 16th arrondissement. Once past the kitsch oriental statues, he made his way to the luxury hotel's suites that have been reserved for the world's finest intelligence officers, ever hard at work. CIA chief William Burns and his team have their own suite, requiring ever increasing security measures and countermeasures - everyone here has only a relative degree of trust for each other - as does his Mossad counterpart, David Barnea. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani is playing at home as the hotel has belonged to his country since 2007. (Full article here.)

US Global Hawk Spy Drone Suffers 'Problems' Amid Russian Jamming - News Week, 19 Sep 24

U.S. Air Force drone faced issues due to Russian signal interference during a flight on August 29-30, according to the Estonian Ministry of Defense. During a reconnaissance flight in Estonian airspace, the RQ-4B Global Hawk, a U.S. strategic surveillance drone, flew erratically and suffered from signal failure after Russian forces were able to attack electronically. The Estonian Ministry of Defense said that Russian signal interference has larger ramifications in terms of military and civilian aviation in the Baltic region. (Read here.)

US Navy Spy Drone Flies Deep Into Arctic Amid Russia Threat - News Week, 20 Sep 24

U.S. military drone's ability to fly deep into the strategic and contested Arctic region has been successfully demonstrated, the Northrop Grumman Corporation announced Thursday. The MQ-4C Triton is an unmanned aircraft capable of providing real-time intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting over vast ocean and coastal regions, the company said. It can fly above 50,000 feet and has a flight endurance of over 24 hours. The test came as General James Hecker, commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and NATO Allied Air Command, revealed on Tuesday that his command was experimenting with drones to conduct surveillance "farther north in the Arctic Circle" to monitor Russia. The U.S. Air Force already operates the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk in Europe. The MQ-9 collects intelligence and conducts strikes using bombs and missiles. The RQ-4 is an unarmed spy drone similar to the Triton and can stay in the air for more than 34 hours. (Full article here.)

'Significant Confusion,' 'Lack of Supervision,' and 'Delayed Notification': IG Report Skewers State Department's Handling of Robert Malley Suspension - Washington Free Beacon, 19 Sep 24

The State Department grossly mishandled its suspension of scandal-plagued Iran envoy Robert Malley, allowing him to continue accessing classified information and sensitive data after he was disciplined, according to an inspector general report reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The department's assistant inspector general gathered congressional staffers Wednesday afternoon for a closed-door briefing on the agency's missteps after Malley had his security clearance pulled in 2023 for mishandling classified information. The briefing revealed that Malley was permitted to engage in classified activities even after his clearance was pulled, representing a breach of federal protocol, according to attendees. Malley was also treated differently than other employees accused of a major security breach, with the State Department working to shield him from public embarrassment, according to the inspector general report that accompanied the briefing. (Full article here.)

NSA's secret Amazon-developed cloud environment progressing 'very well' - Next Gov, 18 Sep 24

Development of the National Security Agency's commercial cloud environment is progressing "very well," according to an official from Amazon Web Services, the company that ultimately won a contract valued at up to $10 billion from the clandestine signals intelligence agency in 2022. "Our plans are tracking right now," David Appel, vice president of U.S. Federal for Amazon Web Services, told Nextgov/FCW on the sidelines of the Billington Cybersecurity Summit earlier this month. AWS will continue building the physical infrastructure and cloud computing regions required under the massive contract over the next year. "As those areas come online … it's fundamentally changing the way that the agency has typically done work in the past," Appel said. "It's an area that really excites us." Codenamed "WildandStormy," details of the once-secret contract remain mostly classified, but it will likely be a critical component of the agency's yearslong effort to modernize its classified data repository called the Intelligence Community GovCloud. (Full article here.)

How the Intelligence Community Is Adapting to Attract and Retain Top Talent - Clearance Jobs, 17 Sep 24

In a recent discussion hosted by the INSA Foundation, in partnership with ClearanceJobs and GDIT, Kimberly King from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and The Hon. John Sherman from Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service, explored the ever-evolving landscape of national security careers. Moderated by Lindy Kyzer, the session revolved around reshaping the talent pipeline for the Intelligence Community (IC) and how new recruitment strategies and technologies can help build a diverse, agile workforce. King emphasized the diverse opportunities a career in national security offers, highlighting that individuals can either stay rooted in one location or travel globally while engaging in a mission with global significance. She stressed the need to create a robust talent pipeline by offering internships and tech training, especially for STEM-related positions. She also discussed DIA's efforts to attract entry-level candidates with diverse tech backgrounds, noting the importance of reskilling and upskilling through initiatives like university-funded tech training. (Full article here.)

Counterespionage - Recent arrests, convictions, expulsions, and more...

• Twelve devices seized as police go through 'significant volume' of evidence in alleged Russian spy case, court hears - Austria ABC News, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• 23 Taiwanese charged with spying for China - Taiwan News, 18 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• US indicts Chinese national for attempted theft of aerospace technologies. US pharmaceutical firm sues China-based rival over trade secret theft - The Spy Hunter, 17 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Moldova's ex-military chief charged with treason over alleged espionage for Russia - Kyiv Independent, 22 Sep 24
• U.S. and allies seize control of massive Chinese tech spying network - Washington Post, 18 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Report: IDF officer accused of espionage had psych exam by Zoom - Israel National News, 16 Sep 24
• Chinese Engineer Charged in U.S. for Years-Long Cyber Espionage Targeting NASA and Military - The Hacker News, 18 Sep 24

Cyberespionage - Newly identified actors, collection and sabotage ops, countermeasures, policy, other...

• What is Unit 8200, Israel's cyber warfare cell linked to Lebanon attacks? - TRT World, 18 Sep 24
• Phishing Espionage Attack Targets US-Taiwan Defense Conference - Dark Reading, 18 Sep 24
• China Using Powerful Hacking Firms to Run Its Espionage War - Bank Info Security, 16 Sep 24
• NSA and Allies Issue Advisory about PRC-Linked Actors and Botnet Operations - NSA, 18 Sep 24

Covert Action - Influence ops, assassinations, sabotage, intel agency paramilitary action, countermeasures, and more...

• Doppelganger: How Russia mimicked real news sites and created fake ones to target US audiences - DFR Lab, 18 Sep 24
• Russia’s Disinformation Campaign in North America Becomes Smarter and More Flexible - Jamestown Foundation, 23 Sep 24
• Inside Israel’s history of inventive assassination methods - The Telegraph, 17 Sep 24
• Russian election interference efforts focus on the Harris-Walz campaign - Microsoft on the Issues, 17 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Israel has a long history of pulling off complex attacks like the exploding pagers - Associated Press, 17 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• The Long Shadow of Soviet Sabotage Doctrine - War on the Rocks, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)
• Joint ODNI, FBI, and CISA Statement on Iranian Influence Ops - ODNI, 18 Sep 24
• Armenia uncovers alleged coup plot with Russian trace - Kyiv Independent, 18 Sep 24
• Israeli Jew recruited by Iran in plot to kill Netanyahu, Gallant or Shin Bet head Bar - Times of Israel, 19 Sep 24
• Russia Claims to Kill 'Ukrainian Agent' Plotting Assassination of Defense Executive - The Moscow Times, 17 Sep 24
• Pakistani man pleads not guilty to US assassination plot charges - Reuters, 16 Sep 24
• Israel conducted Lebanon pager attack fearing Hezbollah was onto the operation - Axios, 18 Sep 24

Section II - DEEP DIVES

(Research Papers, OpEds, Analysis, Podcasts)

Chinese spies are lurking in or around the offices of our elected leaders - Washington Times, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

Earlier this month, the FBI arrested Linda Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China, who had served for a time as the deputy chief of staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Ms. Sun's husband, Chris Hu, who owned a seafood company as well as a wine store, was also arrested. Ms. Sun was accused of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government. According to the 65-page indictment, she allegedly influenced New York politicians' public statements to conform to the talking points of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. She blocked Taiwanese government representatives from engaging with the governor's office. Ms. Sun and her husband also allegedly engaged in money laundering for almost a decade. The indictment did not state exactly when Ms. Sun allegedly began working for Beijing or how she was exposed. Still, it was the administration of former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo who first hired her in 2012. Ms. Hochul promoted Ms. Sun to deputy chief of staff in 2021 but later fired her after discovering evidence of misconduct. She transferred to the state's Department of Labor, where she presumably continued to act as an agent of the PRC until she was fired in March 2023. (Full article here.)

How Does Iranian Intelligence Recruit Iranians in the West as Spies? - Middle East Forum Observer, 17 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

Between 4 million and 6 million Iranians live outside of Iran, with tens of thousands working in military forces and government organizations in countries that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers hostile. Additionally, many Iranians work in universities, Big Tech companies, and information technology firms in North America and Western Europe. Although many do not wish to work for Iran, the Iranian regime seeks to exploit them for economic, political, and intelligence purposes. Iran has perhaps the world's strictest interpretations of citizenship. While Russia makes its former citizens jump through seemingly endless bureaucratic hoops to renounce citizenship, up to and including proof that they owe no library books or fines, Iran requires an act of the Majlis to recognize the renunciation of any individual's citizenship. This is one reason why so many Americans and Europeans of Iranian descent travel to Iran on Iranian passports; the regime simply will not let them in without them. That they charge exorbitant prices for passports and basic documents is simply icing on the cake. (Access here.)

Russian Sabotage in the Gig-Economy Era - Royal United Services Institute Journal, 17 Sep 24

The West is experiencing the most intense era of sabotage since the Second World War. Russian operations have now reached unprecedented levels. It seems that the main aim of this latest wave is to increase the West's costs of supporting Ukraine, while at the same time slowing the delivery of military supplies. Daniela Richterova, Elena Grossfeld, Magda Long and Patrick Bury suggest a new conceptual approach for understanding the recent evolution of Russian sabotage operations. Russian operations are increasingly organised around 'gig-economy' principles. This article offers suggestions for countering Russian sabotage in this new era. Fires. Cyber attacks. Destroyed subsea communications and defence industry cables. Power outages at major airports. Trains delayed in strange circumstances. Sometimes it is hard to know exactly where underinvestment, accidents and incompetence end and sabotage begins. And maybe that is the point. Sabotage, a classic form of kinetic covert warfare, is designed to hit the enemy in a deniable, undetectable way: to weaken, sow chaos, heighten uncertainty or 'weaponise friction' in times of crisis and escalation. In the 21st century, sabotage takes place in the virtual as well as physical domain, and often in both. Attacks and disruptions have notably increased in 2024 and bear the hallmarks of this age-old practice. Kremlin-sponsored sabotage operations first hit NATO territory a little over a decade after Vladimir Putin's ascent to power. In 2011, the now infamous Russian military intelligence (GRU) Unit 29155 detonated an ammunition depot in Bulgaria, containing Soviet-era artillery destined for Georgia. Three years later, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea, an ammunition depot in the Czech Republic housing military materiel for the Ukrainian armed forces suffered a similar fate. In October and December 2014, the Vrbětice warehouse suffered from two separate explosions, which killed two. Years later, Western intelligence also attributed the incident to the GRU. Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, things escalated further. Europe is now witnessing an unprecedented number of disruptions across a variety of sectors. Civilian shopping malls, furniture stores, paint factories and storage units have been set ablaze. Train lines in Sweden, Germany and Czechia, used for civilian as well as military purposes, have been disrupted. Meanwhile, defence industrial plants that play an important role in supplying Ukraine have also been experiencing incidents. A London warehouse containing aid shipments was destroyed in a fire on 21 March 2024. A month later, a weapons manufacturing facility in Wales supplying weapons to Ukraine suffered an explosion. (Full report here.)

Britain is losing the spy game to Russia - The Spectator, 20 Sep 24

Russia's decision to kick out six alleged British spies in August prompted a strange sense of deja vu. After the Salisbury nerve agent attack in March 2018, I sweated for a week in the British Embassy in Moscow, waiting to hear if I'd be kicked out in the diplomatic tit-for-tat. We need a better plan for Russia expertise if we really want to outsmart Putin. Russia's announcement was timed to embarrass Keir Starmer as he travelled to Washington last week for talks with Joe Biden. It was also a blow to the critically small pool of Russia experts in the British government. In the hostile goldfish bowl of UK-Russia relations, both sides are constantly on the lookout for 'undeclared' intelligence officers (i.e. spies) working covertly by masquerading as diplomatically accredited staff in the respective embassies. We kicked out the Russian Defence Attache earlier this year.. (Access here.)

From Munich 72 to 7 October attack: the chequered history of the Mossad - The Guardian, 21 Sep 24

Israel's foreign intelligence service, usually known as the Mossad, has scored many spectacular victories in almost 80 years of undercover operations, earning a unique reputation for audacious espionage and ruthless violence. But even former agents admit the service's history is "chequered" with many failures that have embarrassed Israel, dismayed allies and led to accusations of systematic disregard for international law. Israel has not formally commented on this week's simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon that killed 37 people and injured about 3,000 others. The consensus among experts is that the Mossad, an abbreviation of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations in Hebrew, was responsible. Other recent operations will also almost certainly have involved the service. The Mossad may have provided the intelligence allowing the assassinations in July of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader killed by a bomb in a bedroom in a government guesthouse in Tehran, and Fuad Shukr, a Hezbollah founder member and in effect chief of staff, who died in Beirut after receiving a message summoning him to a flat that was then hit by a missile. (Access here.)

Post-Quantum Cryptography: The Future of Secure Communications and the Role of Standards - Security Boulevard, 18 Sep 24

Digital security has long relied on cryptographic systems that use complex mathematical problems (also known as algorithms) to keep sensitive data and transactions safe from unauthorized access. These algorithms were designed to be nearly impossible for classical computers to solve, ensuring robust protection and encryption for online activities like email communication, secure banking, and more. However, recent advancements in quantum computing are challenging this security foundation. Unlike classical computers, which process data in binary form (0s and 1s), quantum computers use qubits that can exist in multiple states simultaneously, a property known as superposition. This capability allows quantum computers to solve complex algorithms much faster, potentially breaking the cryptographic systems that have protected data and internet transactions for decades. (Access here.)

Cyber intelligence and international security. Breaking the legal and diplomatic silence? - Intelligence and National Security, 17 Sep 24

In cyberspace intelligence agencies, rather than militaries, are the most prominent security actors. However, many cyber operations conducted by intelligence agencies are not 'classic' espionage activities, but may be best described as digital covert action (sabotage, subversion, information operations). Given the fact that international law and diplomacy traditionally do not address espionage, cyber operations conducted by intelligence agencies have developed in a legal grey zone that gets stretched by the behaviour of the intelligence agencies of the most brazen cyber powers. The digital age has significantly transformed the capabilities and the role of intelligence agencies, which raises the question if the traditional international consensus that 'intelligence is not discussed' is still useful in state-to-state relations. The theoretically underdefined role and activities of intelligence agencies are affected by four big changes in the digital age: increase in scale of their activities and effects, heightened ambiguity, massive expansion of the attack surface and trickle-down insecurity, which point to a need to rethink how cyber intelligence agencies should operate. Some states will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in cyberspace, unless other states break with the legal and diplomatic silence to discuss 'guardrails' to cyber intelligence activities. (Access here.)

Inside the U.S. Army's Most Secretive Unit: The Story of ISA - The National Interest, 19 Sep 24

The U.S. Army Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), established in 1981, emerged from the failure of Operation Eagle Claw, the mission to rescue American hostages in Tehran. Recognizing a gap in actionable intelligence, the Pentagon created the ISA to provide vital human and signals intelligence. This secretive unit, known by various names like Task Force Orange, operates in the shadows, gathering intelligence for elite military units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. With highly specialized training, ISA continues to support critical operations, blending military and intelligence capabilities with extreme secrecy. (Access here.)

The Brilliance of “Operation Grim Beeper” - Hudson Institute, 20 Sep 24

On September 17, thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ pagers exploded, killing at least 10 and injuring many more. Below is Senior Fellow Michael Doran’s analysis of this unprecedented attack, which he named Operation Grim Beeper. Operational Complexity: This is one of the most astonishing intelligence operations in history. It is a reworking of the story of the Trojan Horse for the digital age, and it deserves to become nearly as legendary as its iconic predecessor. If we are not utterly astounded, it is because we have seen too many James Bond and Black Mirror movies for our own good. In real life, operations like this just don’t happen. It is at least four operations in one. First, the Israelis thoroughly mapped Hezbollah’s supply chain. Second, they invented a special explosive charge small enough to be inserted inside a handheld device, sophisticated enough to be remotely activated, big enough to do real harm, and yet not so prominent, physically or electronically, to call attention to itself (Access here.)

Section III - FORMERS' FORUM

(Legacy Intel Practitioners' Informed Perspectives
and Recent Endeavors)

The Latest Insights from Former CIA Acting Deputy Director for Operations Jack Devine.

In Other News The proprietary analytic newsletter crafted for The Arkin Group's private clients by former CIA Acting Deputy Director for Operations Jack Devine.

19 Sep | Israel's dramatic attack on Hezbollah sent shockwaves throughout the region, but it also demonstrates that a multi-front war is already underway. This week in Lebanon, thousands of Hezbollah members suffered injuries from a series of sophisticated attacks targeting the group's communications devices, including pagers and radios. It's uncertain if the attack was timed to thwart an anticipated Hezbollah action, or if Israel acted quickly because Hezbollah was growing suspicious of the pagers, but the attacks serve as a staggering reminder that Israel is at war on more than one front and there's little sign of any of them abating. (Full report here.)

Daily Analysis of Security Issues and Geopolitical Trends

Intel Brief The Soufan Center's flagship, daily analytical product focused on complex security issues and geopolitical trends that may shape regional or international affairs. The Soufan Center was founded by former FBI Special Agent and Soufan Group CEO Ali Soufan.

20 Sep | The Emerging Threat of 3D-Printed Firearms

In early September, authorities in Detroit arrested a 14-year-old who had been manufacturing 3D-printed firearms in his home. The teenager possessed 3D-printed gun parts, 3D printers, and small 3D-printed devices designed to convert pistols into fully automatic weapons. Although police intervened before the firearms could be used, the incident highlights a growing concern and global trend: the ease with which untraceable firearms — known as ghost guns — are falling into the hands of individuals who should not have access to them, including young people and violent extremists. Ghost guns are privately made firearms that lack serial numbers and are manufactured without regulatory oversight. These weapons can be created by assembling components from kits or by 3D-printing parts from scratch. This makes them virtually impossible for authorities to trace, bypassing traditional gun control measures and allowing for the sale or manufacture of firearms without a license.

Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell and former CIA Chief Operating Officer Andy Makridis on critical security challenges.

Intelligence Matters: The Relaunch is a Beacon Global Strategies podcast.

17 Sep | Michael and Andy: World Roundup Michael and Andy discuss their recent travels and the bleak prospects for resolving conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, Taiwan's preparedness for a potential Chinese attack, and the unfolding crisis in Venezuela. Michael also shares his son's podcast, "3rd & 33", which focuses on college football.

Danger of nuclear war with North Korea greater than ever, U.S. expert warns with former CIA Executive Joseph DeTrani - Washington Times, 20 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

The danger that North Korea will set off a nuclear war in Northeast Asia poses the most serious threat to peace in the region since the end of the Korean War, said a former American diplomat and retired CIA officer who may know Pyongyang better than any other U.S. official alive. Joseph R. DeTrani, who spent more than three decades engaged in North Korean affairs and working with officials of its isolated communist regime, warns in a book that North Korea has threatened to share nuclear weapons and material with rogue states or terrorist groups. "The likelihood of intentional or accidental conflict on the Korean Peninsula, with a nuclear-armed North Korea that views South Korea and the United States as enemies, is greater now than at any time since the 1953 armistice that ended combat during the Korean War," said Mr. DeTrani, who was involved in negotiations with the rogue regime in North Korea since 2003. (Access here.)

This Fall, the Forecasts, and an Uncertain Future - with Former CIA Senior Analyst and NIO for East Asia Kent Harrington - First and Second Thoughts, 20 Sep 24

Work expands to fill the time allotted for completion, C. Northcote Parkinson wrote 70 years ago in a satirical essay that became his famous law. So will the political soothsaying this fall. Expect the predictions for 2025 to fill the maximum space available in newspapers, on air, and even the web's bottomless digital pit. This season more than the usual skepticism is in order when it comes to the seers' annual rite and its results. The reason: the monumental uncertainties in election ahead and its aftermath. The most important is Donald Trump's assault on the country's democratic process and the rising risk of political instability it presents. Political chaos is not a threat most Americans have top of mind. Witness the news stories on the Republican Party's push to delegitimize the election in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. The media's coverage is detailed, but its warning message mundane, with its importance buried in the news cycle's daily play-by-play. As the GOP's sequel to Trump's effort four years ago, the rollout of the Big Lie 2.0 in Georgia is well underway. Combined with new state laws aimed at voter suppression, Trump loyalists on the state election board only weeks before the election have made changes in the rules giving county officials carte blanche to meddle in vote counting. (Access here.)

Former NSA Director Nakasone opens new institute at Vanderbilt to train 'right type of leader' with Former NSA Director Paul Nakasone - Washington Times, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

Retired Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone opened a new Institute of National Security at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on Wednesday, with a plan to train the next generation of national security professionals. The former leader of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command is eager to fill the personnel needs of the federal workforce. "With a culture of collaborating across disciplines to solve tough challenges, an ethos rooted in service and a long history of partnering with the defense and aerospace sector, Vanderbilt University and our institute are uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on protecting the United States and our military service people while we prepare the right type of leader for a new era of national security," Gen. Nakasone said in a statement. (Access here.)

The Greatest Threat to American Spies is Their Own Leadership by Former NSA Counterintelligence Officer John Schindler - Top Secret Umbra, 19 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

This newsletter has led the way in exposing the reality of the so-called Havana Syndrome, the mysterious malady that's harmed, crippled, and even killed hundreds of American spies and diplomats going back to 1996 (at a much-increased pace since 2015). Two weeks ago, Top Secret Umbra proclaimed that "Havana Syndrome" is the Greatest Scandal in the History of American Intelligence. That dire assessment came on the heels of my breaking shocking stories regarding what the U.S. Intelligence Community euphemistically terms "Anomalous Health Incidents." In case you're new here (there have been a lot of new subscribers recently — welcome!), you may want to review them to understand how ridiculous the Biden-Harris administration's cover-up of AHIs truly is: CIA to Workforce: Drop Dead (16 APR 2024); How I Became a Deep State Dissident (09 APR 2024); So, I Guess I Touched a Nerve… (04 MAY 2021); How Many American Spies Have to Die Before We Do Something Here? (30 APR 2021). (Access here.)

Israel's Diabolical Caper in Lebanon by Former U.S. Army Case Officer Jeff Stein - Spy Talk, 18 Sep 24 (Member Contribution)

The line between spy thrillers and real life gets blurrier by the day. The diabolically brilliant caper that Israel pulled off with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon could've been invented by any number of former CIA officers-turned fiction writers, like the late Jason Matthews, whose Palace Of Treason climaxed with his hero Nate Nash teaming with the sultry Russian double agent Dominika Egorova to sabotage Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Only bad guys die. In real life, innocent people get killed and maimed. The ops' brilliance quickly dissipates under a dark cloud of humanitarian condemnation. Details emerging from the two-day Lebanon sabotage operation suggest that Israeli intelligence learned about Hezbollah's purchase of pagers from Gold Apollo, a Taiwan firm, then created a front company, seemingly in Hungary, to receive the order, substitute or alter the pagers with explosives and then forward them on to Beirut.. (Access here.)

'The Israelis are going to go in' by Former CIA Officer Robert Baer - News Nation Now, 18 Sep 24

A former CIA officer who spent decades working in the Middle East believes an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon is imminent. "The Israelis are going to go in. I can see it coming," said Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer. He said the recent explosions of pagers and VHF radios being used by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon is a logical prelude to an invasion. "Netanyahu has promised that he's going to go in, and I think it's going to be a ground invasion. And it's going to be very destructive, just as destructive as it was in Gaza," Baer told NewsNation's "CUOMO" on Wednesday. Regarding the collateral damage from the booby-trapped pagers and radios that exploded this week, Baer said the alternative would have been trying to destroy Hezbollah communications with bombs, which would have produced far more civilian casualties. (Access here.)

Section IV - BOOKS, FILM, HISTORY, POP CULTURE

Israeli National Intelligence Culture
by Itai Shapira
(Studies in Intelligence, 30 Sep 24)

The book offers a novel conceptualization of Israeli national intelligence culture, describing the way in which Israelis perceive and practice intelligence. Different nations have different national intelligence cultures, relying on different ideas of intelligence, perceiving and practicing intelligence in different ways. Written by a former senior intelligence officer, this book is the first study dedicated to Israeli intelligence culture and the way it reflects Israeli strategic culture. Relying on more than 30 elite interviews with acting and former Israeli practitioners, the book highlights the Israeli aversion to intelligence theory and scientific methods, as well as to the structured management of the intelligence system at the national level. It describes the intelligence system's emphasis on contrarian thinking and moral courage as the foundations of intelligence professionalism, and the growing inclination of Israeli intelligence toward action and influence. Intelligence is perceived and practiced by Israelis as a tool for problem-solving, addressing unique Israeli challenges. While some traits of the Israeli national intelligence culture have contributed to its high reputation and its 'success story', others might have also contributed to its failure in anticipating the Hamas terrorist attack on October 2023 or have remained aspirational norms rather than realized practice. The October 2023 failure, as that of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, will undoubtfully influence Israeli national intelligence culture for many years to come. This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, Israeli politics, strategic studies, and international relations.

Order book here.

Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute: An Untold History of Spacemen & Spies
by Craig Gralley
(The History Press, 24 Apr 23)

For six decades western North Carolinians have asked the question: "What are those big satellite dishes doing behind that chain-linked fence?" In the early years of the site near Rosman, NASA gave public tours of the antennas it used to track space satellites. When the defense department took over, the tours stopped. Signs were posted that read "Unauthorized Entry Prohibited" and armed guards patrolled the site. Wild myths took root. Underground tunnels held nuclear missiles. The site was a submarine base. A city built underground held captive space aliens. Then, suddenly, DoD departed. New owners dusted off the satellite dishes and pointed them into deepest space. Public tours at the new Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute were reestablished and programs were created for a brand new mission-- science education. Now, local author Craig Gralley tells PARI's full story.

Order book here.

The Formative Years of an African-American Spy: A Memoir
by Odell Bennett Lee
(19 Feb 12)

This story traces the childhood experiences of an African-American C.I.A. officer. Poverty and racism were lesser evils than the Cinderella-like experiences in his dysfunctional family. He endured the volatility of a no-nonsense mother who used the rod at his slightest infraction, and the loathing of two stepfathers that sought to isolate him from the family. By age fifteen, he was the primary caregiver for six half-brothers and sisters. The twists and turns of growing up in a dysfunctional family forced an emotional, intellectual, and spiritual renaissance in his life. Through adversity and chance, at an early age he learned to decouple his self-image from his turbulent childhood experiences. More importantly, he learned to keep a cool head in the face of antagonistic and ambiguous situations, and refused to let others define his personal worth. At sixteen, an unbearable home situation caused him to drop out of high school and join the U.S. Navy. He welcomed the Navy's carefully constructed value system that demanded teamwork, courage, and personal confidence. On his seventeenth birthday he was sailing across the Pacific Ocean to such far off places as Japan, Hong Kong, Guam, and Australia. He discovered that the world was big, complicated, and very different from the one he had known. Yet, he felt safe for the first time in his life. After the Navy, he worked at several dead-end jobs. Friends and colleagues convinced him to complete his education. He received his high school diploma at age twenty-three, and attended undergraduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.), and graduate school at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (S.A.I.S.). He worked for several international businesses before coming to the attention of the C.I.A. The Agency offered him a unique opportunity to serve his country that he could not refuse. Unlike most books about C.I.A. spies, this one is deeply personal and offers an insight into the mind of an African-American C.I.A. officer. It traces many of his positive and negative childhood experiences that, in hindsight, proved essential to his success as a case officer in the covert services of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Order book here.

True Intelligence Matters on Film - Declassified: The Untold Stories of American Spies, S2 E8 - The Nicholsons: A Spy and His Son - Domini Hofmann (2017)

In a story of betrayal against family and country - the FBI and CIA embark on a decade-long effort to catch the highest ranking CIA officer to ever commit espionage and his son, who also joined the spy game.

More on this based-on-true-events production here.

Intelligence in History - A Collection of Recently Released Content

• Newly released memo clears Ethel Rosenberg of spying, but says she knew her husband did; sons seek her exoneration - Mass Live, 20 Sep 24
• Operation COINTAO - Station HYPO, 19 Sep 24
• Winning with Intelligence – The Inchon Landing - Station HYPO, 16 Sep 24

Walking Tours - "Spies of Embassy Row" and "Spies of Georgetown" - Washington, DC - Sundays (Dates/Times Vary)

Former intelligence officers guide visitors on two morning and afternoon espionage-themed walking tours: "Spies of Embassy Row" and "Spies of Georgetown." For more information and booking, click here or contact rosanna@spyher.co

Section V - Obituaries and Classifieds

(Research Requests, Academic Opportunities, Employment)

Obituaries

Dusko Doder — Former Washington Post Moscow Bureau Chief Falsely Accused of KGB Collaboration

Dusko Doder, an acclaimed journalist whose career was cut short by a false accusation in Time magazine in 1992 that while working as the Moscow bureau chief for The Washington Post he had been recruited by the K.G.B., died on Sept. 10 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He was 87. His death, in a hospital, was from Lewy body dementia, his wife, the journalist Louise Branson, said. They had moved to Thailand from suburban Virginia in 2000 as his health declined, she said. Mr. Doder, who was known for his scoops, was reporting for The Post in February 1984 when he noticed hundreds of lights blazing at the Soviet Defense Ministry in Moscow. He surmised that the Soviet leader, Yuri Andropov, had died. United States officials, dismissing the suggestion, said that Mr. Doder was "smoking pot," as he and Ms. Branson wrote in a 2021 memoir, "The Inconvenient Journalist." "Soviet television and radio Thursday night unexpectedly changed scheduled programs to classical music," Mr. Doder's dispatch read. "The unusual change came against the backdrop of the illness of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov." He was correct: Mr. Andropov had died. The C.I.A. was furious. Eight years later — and long after the F.B.I. had cleared Mr. Doder of any ties to Soviet intelligence — Time magazine published a thinly-sourced article by the reporter Jay Peterzell suggesting that Mr. Doder had accepted a $1,000 payment from the K.G.B. and was beholden to the agency. Mr. Doder sued the magazine in Britain for libel and won. In August 1996, Time offered "sincere regret and apologies" in court and agreed to pay him $262,000 and cover his lawyers' fees and costs, a rarity. Mr. Peterzell left the magazine not long after. Ben Bradlee, The Post's former executive editor, recalled in his 1995 memoir, "A Good Life," that "Doder wrote something that embarrassed the C.I.A., and when the agency thought they saw a chance to get even, they took their shot." "It's rare to catch them in the act," he added. But Mr. Doder's career never recovered. The Time article had come out despite a last-ditch appeal by The Post's owner, Katharine Graham, to halt publication, made to Strobe Talbott, the magazine's editor at large, who later became deputy secretary of state under President Bill Clinton. "We believe it's true," Mr. Talbott told Ms. Graham, at a Washington dinner party. It was an assurance that proved costly to the magazine. The cover of "The Inconvenient Journalist," in which the title in tall gold letters is superimposed over a red-tinted photo of a bearded man, most of his face obscured, peering out a window through the slats of a blinds. In this 2021 memoir, written with his wife, Louise Branson, Mr. Doder recounted his journalism career and how the Time magazine episode derailed it.Cornell University Press After the article appeared, in December 1992, "I felt myself being killed," Mr. Doder wrote in his memoir, "not by an assassin's single bullet, but slowly, the poison of the falsehood starting to spread throughout my body. I anticipated the weeks and months of predictable awfulness that would follow. I'd cease to exist for my friends and colleagues." How The Times decides who gets an obituary. There is no formula, scoring system or checklist in determining the news value of a life. We investigate, research and ask around before settling on our subjects. If you know of someone who might be a candidate for a Times obituary, please suggest it here. Until then, he had had an exemplary journalism career. A Yugoslav immigrant whose middle-class family had been ruined by communism, he had been educated at top U.S. schools — including Washington University and Columbia — before becoming a correspondent in the Moscow bureau of United Press International in 1968. There he immersed himself in Soviet society and culture, playing chess in parks and gaining an easy familiarity with Russia that was useful to him in later years. Mr. Doder joined The Post in 1970, hired by Mr. Bradlee. By then, Mr. Doder wrote, he had a patriotic, idealistic vision of journalism that dovetailed with the spirit he found at The Post. "I believed that the United States' mission was to help the weak and oppose the oppressors," he recalled. "We American journalists were the good guys because we were going after the truth." Mr. Bradlee later sent him to Belgrade, and from there he wound up covering conflicts in Cyprus and Lebanon before being named Moscow bureau chief in 1981. He soon put his Slavic background and fluent Russian to good use, developing sources in the government and at its shadowy fringes that were unmatched by most other correspondents. "In the United States and other Western countries, I thought, political journalists cultivated sources in the elite to help them report on power politics," Mr. Doder wrote. "Why not do this in the secretive Soviet Union? Soviet officials and members of the elite were, after all, human beings." He went on to detail his familiarity with Russian curse words and Soviet soccer and hockey stars, using all of it to gain the confidence of his sources. He also wrote about his enormous capacity for drinking vodka, his workaholism and the toll this took on his first marriage, which ended in divorce. It was precisely this ability to ferret out sources that led the F.B.I. to investigate him. And then a supposed Soviet defector, Vitaly Yurchenko, who briefly came to the U.S. before returning to the Soviet Union in 1985, told American officials that Mr. Doder had taken a payment from the K.G.B. "You've been an outstanding correspondent because you had a corrupt relationship with the K.G.B.," an F.B.I. agent snapped at Mr. Doder during an interrogation in 1986, according to his memoir. "Since the K.G.B. controls everything, they were feeding you information to make you look good." But that investigation, like a previous one, came to naught: It concluded that Mr. Doder had no "corrupt" connection to the K.G.B. Mr. Doder, feeling bruised, left The Post in 1987 for a posting in China with U.S. News and World Report. He later went back to Belgrade with Ms. Branson to work as a freelance journalist, and it was there, in September 1992, that he was confronted by Mr. Peterzell in a hotel lobby. After the article appeared in Time three months later, several dozen prominent American journalists wrote to the magazine in protest, and Yevgeny Primakov, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, said there was nothing in K.G.B. files to support the allegations. Still, Time fought Mr. Doder in court, forcing him to sell his house to cover his legal expenses before settling with him three and half years later. But the article had done its damage. He wrote, "It was the end of the world as I knew it, I thought — to be insulted and robbed of my dignity and prestige." Dusko Doder was born on July 22, 1937, in Sarajevo, in the former Yugoslavia, to Vaso and Marija (Gjurhu) Doder. His father was a pharmacist. While in high school in Sarajevo he wrote for a local paper. In 1958, to make ends meet, he was playing the piano at a press club in Vienna when he met an Associated Press correspondent, Clyde Farnsworth.

Harold Smith — AFIO Member and Decorated former NSA and USAF Security Service Officer

Harold Stephen Smith, 82, of Myrtle Beach, SC, died of cancer Monday, September 17, 2024. He was born in Burlington, IA, developed a strong work ethic at an early age, and spent the last three yearly summer breaks of his high school days working on a rural truck farm in Illinois. Five days after graduating from high school Harold was enroute to USAF basic training in Texas. Language aptitude testing during basic training resulted in Harold being offered the option of nine months of Language training at Syracuse University, NY, which he accepted. Upon completion of this training, he was selected for airborne duties and attended technical training at Goodfellow AFB, TX, followed by Survival Training at Stead AFB, Reno, NV, before his initial assignment to the 6916th Radio Squadron Mobile at Rhein-Main AB, Germany. Other than a seventeen-month break in service during 1964-1965, Harold spent a total of twenty-one years in the USAF - all of it on flying status and all of it assigned to USAF Security Service and its successor the Electronic Security Command. He amassed over 7,800 flying hours, including two hundred plus combat hours during three different Vietnam war campaigns. His flight logs reflect the variety of aircraft he flew aboard - C130A-II, C-130B-11, KC-135R (Briar Patch), RC-135C, D, M, U, and V models and some test flights of the EC-47Q. Harold was certified as an Airborne Mission Supervisor as well as instructor and Flight Examiner and he was awarded Command Aircrew Member wings. His final USAF assignment was the first where he had no continuing temporary duty requirement since he was the Operations Superintendent for the 6916th Electronic Security Squadron, Hellenikon AB, Greece. He used this freedom to complete his undergraduate degree on nights and weekends while continuing his flying duties and supervisory assignment. He received a BA summa cum laude from University of Maryland University College and followed this by completion of an MS degree from Troy State University Harold was awarded a number of service awards during his military career including the Meritorious Service Medal, Twenty-five Air Medals (AM with 24 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with three campaign stars, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and other awards. Harold retired from the USAF on 1 January 1982. After retirement from the military, Harold worked briefly as the Director of Admissions for Bellevue College in Bellevue, NE, before applying for a position with the National Security Agency. Harold began his new career at NSA in June 1983 and was seconded, on occasion, to other federal intelligence agencies over the course of the next nineteen years as he eschewed the management track" and worked in the "technical track" performing both overt and covert intelligence operations. Harold was certified as a Master Linguist by the NSA. His federal awards included a Department of State Superior Honor Award (group award) for service in Kabul, Afghanistan during the evacuation of the Embassy in January 1989; an Exceptional Performance Award from the Director of Central Intelligence Agency; and several technical awards by the NSA. He retired from the NSA in January 2002. During his military and civilian careers Harold was stationed in, or visited as part of his duties, several foreign countries, and cities. His travels took him to Germany; the United Kingdom; San Vito dei Normanii, Southern Italy; Teheran, Iran; Adana Turkey; Fairbanks, Alaska; Cam Rahn Bay, Viet Nam; Kadena AB, Okinawa, Yokota AB, Japan; Athens, Greece; Helsinki, Finland; Minsk, Belarus; Moscow, Russia; Bucharest, Romania; Tel Aviv, Israel; Bornholm Island, Denmark; Den Haag the Netherlands; India; and extensive service in Kabul in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan during the mid and late 1980's.

Research Requests and Academic Opportunities

• Call for Articles and Book Reviews: The ODNI at 20 Years - Special Issue of the American Intelligence Journal, Fall 2024. Addressing the theme directly will ensure a higher priority of acceptance, but manuscripts on other intelligence/national security-related topics will be considered. Please submit a simple Word Document, Times New Roman font (12-point text, 10-point notes). Citations can be footnotes or endnotes; double-spaced text; single spaced notes but double-spaced between entries; do not indent the first line of each paragraph of text, which should be formatted flush to the left margin. Articles should be 3,000-8,000 words, not counting notes; this can be waived only by permission of the editor and the criteria for waivers include the complexity of the topic, timeliness, and space available. For book reviews, publication dates should be no older than 2 years. Book reviews should be 800- 2,000 words; footnotes are not required or expected, but a few are acceptable. Longer reviews will be accepted if the reviewer can compare and contrast a new book with one or two other books on the same subject; these are considered "review essays," and will be listed as such in the table of contents. The journal editor is Dr. Chris Bailey; if you have an interest in writing a review, he will forward to you more detailed guidance in an Editor's Note titled "What Makes for a Great Book Review?" published in the "In My View" section of AIJ, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2020. For questions and the full Author's Guidelines, please contact Dr. Christopher Bailey at christopher.e.bailey@odni.gov or christopherbailey286@yahoo.com. 15 Oct 24 Deadline.
• Call for Papers: Gender in the Security Sectors of the Indo-Pacific Region - Special Issue of the Journal Policing, Intelligence, and Counterterrorism. Sexism, misogyny and gender bias remain pervasive issues within the security sectors throughout the Indo-Pacific, undermining the effectiveness and equity of policing, intelligence and counter-terrorism efforts. Recent studies on women's roles in the security sector have concluded that women face barriers due to institutional sexism and gender biases. Despite the critical roles women play, their contributions often go unrecognized, and they continue to be underrepresented in decision-making roles while facing systemic barriers that limit their participation and advancement. This special issue will highlight the need to investigate how gender impacts the logic and structures of thinking that shape practices, policymaking and knowledge-production within the security sector. We encourage the submission of scholarly research papers, as well as forum pieces (i.e., notes from the field, reviews, autobiographies, collective accounts and other forms of contemplation) on issues surrounding the preservation of gendered stereotypes, biases, and sexism within the security industries. We particularly encourage submissions from female early career researchers, established scholars and practitioners within the security sector from across the Indo-Pacific region that analyse these issues. Works submitted can have a theoretical, empirical, or practical focus. More information and submission instructions here. 31 Oct 24 Deadline.
• Call for Papers: African Intelligence in the Post-Colonial Era, 1960-present - Special Issue of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. Africa is the second most populous continent. Unfortunately, this continent's intelligence community is one of the most underexamined. To fill this gap, this issue will explore any country within the continent's intelligence service and its relationship to the military, society, and external relations with partnerships with foreign governments, non-government organizations, and international organizations. The editors are particularly interested in submissions that focus on the intentionality of African governments and their security and intelligence services' efforts to redefine the nature and functions of institutions and the environment in which they operate. They are also interested in the nature and dynamics of non-state actor intelligence, including the role of sub-state actors and private security and intelligence entities. Submissions should focus on African governments, non-state actors, individuals, and institutions as the drivers of continuity, change, and innovation within specific historical, social, political, and/or economic contexts. More information and submission instructions here. 01 Nov 24 Deadline.
• Call for Interviews: Kingston Trinder is a Los Angeles-based nonfiction author and documentary film and television executive who is seeking extraordinary true, untold, stories featuring unforgettable characters, and unbelievable narrative arcs. He develops compelling factual storytelling with a variety of international publishing houses and television networks, and is in search of primary source material from former intelligence officers about their lives, specific cases or projects that they can get cleared for discussion, or other aspects of working in the shadows that would be informative and entertaining for readers who live outside of that world. Please email hello@kingstontrinder.com or call (323) 570-5715.
• Call for Information: Farewell Dossier. As noted in Peter Oleson's article (The Intelligencer, Vol. 29, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2024) on the Farewell Dossier case, there is controversy about the alleged explosion of the Siberian gas pipeline. One AFIO member is investigating the issue and would like to hear from anyone who was involved in the affair and willing to comment. Please email peter.oleson@afio.com.
• Call for Online Survey Participants: Northeastern University is conducting an Institution Review Board approved research project on critical thinking skills for national security intelligence analysts and welcomes the input, via online survey, of AFIO members. Access survey here.
• Call for Information and Interview Subjects: In search of information on possible espionage activity in New York City in the WWII and post-war era to help a family investigating their heritage. Specifically looking at The Plaza (1955), Hotel Pierre (1935 through 1970), and Hotel Delmonico (1945) (now Trump Park Avenue) as well as "Office of 39" Room 3603, and the OWI (Office of War Information) (1945). Details on the Grand Central Station underground and Waldorf Astoria Secret Elevator are also of interest. Other areas of interest for any information on the following people or more generally who may be able to speak to the climate include Swiss involvement in the Abwehr, The Nestle Company 1935-1945, Reinhard Gehlen, German Soldier Thilo Von Trotha in Addis Ababa in 1948-53, Michael Wardell in London, John B. McNair, Canada, Lord Beaverbrook in Cromarty 1948-49. Contact Rosanna Minchew at Rosanna@spyher.co.
• Call for information: Child of former CIA officers John and Mary Mae Roman seeks information about parents' careers. John Roman, Jr. (6 Feb 1924 - 20 Nov 1997) served in Munich (1953), Saipan (1955-1959), and Addis Ababa (1959-1960). He and his family returned to the US in 1960 and settled in Vienna, VA. He retired in 1969. Mary "Mae" P. Roman's (8 August 1926 - 12 December 2013) career probably started in Saipan (1955-1959). She served mostly at CIA Hqs, but also served in Accra and Kingston before retiring in 1986. If you have any information, please contact Susan Roman Bailey at suzen27@gmail.com.
• Call for information: Paul Redmond requests members' input and suggestions for a chapter that he will be writing on Counterintelligence for the second edition of the Oxford University Handbook of National Security Intelligence (last edition published in 2010). Tentative Title: Challenges to Counterintelligence in 21st Century United States. Some examples of possible topics: Post- Ames reforms in CIA; DNI's NCIX/NCSC and its expansion into security role; leakers as a new threat; post-Cold-War cultural changes in the United States relating to USG CI and Security; post-911 concentration on terrorism perhaps at expense of CI; cyber threat from outside, cyber threat from inside (systems administrators); impacts of policy changes, such as transfer of some of CIA personnel data to OPM; impact/implications of DNI-imposed policy of "obligation to provide;" lessons learned and implemented from espionage/leak cases; impact/implementation of DNI promulgated "Insider Threat" policy; implementation by succeeding administrations of Presidential Decision Directives; effect of Congressional oversight on USG counterintelligence; impact of enhanced reporting requirements on contractors and contract employees; overall impact of the Internet and digital technologies on the CI craft; and impact of post-Cold war geopolitics on counterintelligence; impact of CIA involvement in military activities on CI; Attitudes of senior national security agencies management on CI. Published materials will be precleared with CIA's PCRB. Contact Paul Redmond at pjr@redmondfamily.net or 202-288-0671.
• Call for information: In search of information on the career of my grandmother, Priscilla Griffin de Mauduit, at OSS-CIA, 1941-1965. She worked mostly in the Washington, DC office except for 1963-1965 in Miami during the Cuban crisis. Believed to have been forging documents during WWII and did some anti-communist research in the 1950s regarding Albania. She also worked on clothing disguises and "pocket litter". I have seen her personnel file for OSS, which has only the first 10 months of her employment beginning as a gs4 assistant in the security office doing applicant background checks. She started at OSS at the age of 50 and worked 7 years past the automatic retirement age of 65. As she was multi-lingual and knew Germanic script she moved early on into forging passports for agents. Any assistance would be appreciated. Contact Sharon C. Park at sharoncpark@gmail.com.
• Call for information: AFIO member, author, and former CIA officer Michael Ard is researching the Peruvian communist terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and how intelligence made a difference in capturing its leaders. Anyone with information that would help with his research is asked to contact Michael at mard@jhu.edu.
• Seeking Interview Subjects: Seeking information on Czech-U.S. relationship in the late 1970s and 1980s, including StB's techniques and effectiveness, exposition and expulsion of U.S. staff in Prague; conversely frequency of U.S. finding Czech intelligence operatives on U.S. soil. Have any former StB personnel spoken publicly about their previous work? Please email viveca.novak@gmail.com.
• Seeking Interview Subjects:Current or former intelligence officers, analysts, and counterintelligence (CI) professionals with firsthand experience in dealing with Russian illegals to participate in confidential interview sessions as part of a PhD dissertation. Research Topic: The research investigates the impact of technological advancements on the operations and effectiveness of the Russian illegals program. Your insights will be invaluable in understanding the evolving landscape of espionage and informing potential countermeasures. Confidentiality: Your anonymity will be strictly protected. No identifying information will be used in the dissertation or any subsequent publications unless otherwise agreed to. However, written transcripts of the interviews will be retained for academic purposes. Eligibility: If you possess relevant experience and are willing to share your expertise in a confidential setting, please email omid.townsend@kcl.ac.uk.
• Call for Information: A documentary on the life and death of Swiss photographer Bruno Zehnder needs some help. His family members received information that Bruno may have been approached by the CIA in the 1990s to help inform on Russian research activity in Antarctica. Bruno died whilst on a 1997 expedition there at Mirny under questionable circumstances as he was dubbed ' the western spy' on board. We are looking for anyone who may have any information in Bruno or more generally who may be able to speak to the climate between Russia and the CIA in the 1980s/90s regarding adhering to the scientific treaty and the race to be the first to breach Lake Vostok. Contact Thomas Whitmore at Naomi.harvey@clockworkfilms.tv.
• Call For Articles: AFIO's Journal, The Intelligencer. AFIO seeks authors for its section on "When Intelligence Made a Difference" in the semi-annual Intelligencer journal. Topics of interest for which we are seeking authors include:
  
  - The breaking of the Nazi U-boat SHARK encryption system.
  - How A.Q. Khan's nuclear proliferation efforts were uncovered and stopped.
  - How US intelligence found Usama Bin Laden in Abbottobad, Pakistan.
  - How US intelligence discovered the Soviet's high speed Shkval torpedo.
  - Intelligence and the rescue of Scott O'Grady.
  - The hunt for Pablo Escobar.
  - How National Technical Means (NTM) have been used for environmental purposes (MEDEA Program).
  - Other topics are also welcome.
  
  Interested authors can contact The Intelligencer's senior editor, Peter Oleson, at peter.oleson@afio.com

Jobs

• 2 Assistant Professors in Intelligence and Security - Institute of Security and Global Affairs, University of Leiden - Netherlands

The successful candidates will have demonstrable research records in themes related to the vacancy and strong teaching background in intelligence and security, or a related field, as well as in topics related to the Institute's Bachelor's and Master's programme offerings. The candidate will be expected to teach across several programmes in the Institute, notably the master's programme Crisis and Security Management and the bachelor programme Security Studies, and our minor in Intelligence Studies. The positions are aimed at strengthening the Institute's teaching, research and grant-acquisition capacities in a phase of growth and exciting interdisciplinary research opportunities. Full details on qualifications, duties, and application here.

• Assistant Professor of Intelligence Studies - Mercyhurst University - Erie, Pennsylvania

Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor of Intelligence Studies in the School of Intelligence, Computing and Global Politics. The position is at the Erie campus and begins Fall Semester 2024. Successful candidates will teach introductory and applied courses in Crime and Law Enforcement intelligence analysis at the undergraduate and graduate levels, in addition to the ability to teach undergraduate or graduate courses in: Leadership in Intelligence; Advanced Analytic Techniques; Intelligence Collection and Analysis. Additional information and application instructions here.

• Associate Professor and Chair of National Security - University of New Haven, Connecticut

The Department of National Security invites nominations and applications for a tenured Full/Associate Professor and Chair of National Security. The department includes a dynamic undergraduate program encompassing four distinct bachelor's degrees (Security & Defense Policy, Intelligence Analysis, Homeland Security, and International Affairs), a robust master's degree program, and several practitioner-oriented certificates. Qualifications: A terminal degree in national security, public policy, political science, or related field is required; Ph.D. preferred. The successful applicant will have a record of teaching excellence at the university level, established catalog of academic publications, and an innovative research agenda. Applicants should also possess experience in university-level service and leadership. The department is particularly interested in candidates with policymaking experience in national security at either the federal, state, or local level. Tenurable Assistant Professors may also be considered in accordance with the aforementioned qualifications. Application Instructions: Please submit a brief cover letter explaining teaching experience and philosophy, publication record, practitioner-oriented experience (if applicable), CV, and the name and contact information for three references. Applicants may also include up to 3 artifacts of teaching ability (examples include syllabi, student evaluations, learning exercises, assignments, or other feedback) that illustrate teaching experience. All materials should be submitted online via interfolio link: https://apply.interfolio.com/138857 and indicate position search #24-26F in the subject line. For additional information, feel free to contact Search Committee Chair, Dr. Jeffrey Treistman at jtreistman@newhaven.edu.

• Wanted: Former intelligence officers to lead spy-themed walking tours in Washington D.C. - Spyher Tours

These are 90-120 minute historical tours with an interactive "operational" component. Most tours start at 10am on select Thursdays-Sundays. The immediate opportunity is for dates in March, but additional opportunities are available through June, and new opportunities are likely to become available throughout the year. This is a fun way to get back out on the streets, engage/educate the public on the world of espionage, and make some extra cash. The next opportunities to see a tour in action (and train before the Spring rush) are Sunday 2/18 and Sunday 3/3. Please contact Rosanna at 571-236-9052 or rosanna@spyher.co. Visit https://spyher.co.

• Wanted: Retired Federal Government Employees - NSA - Fort Meade, Maryland

The National Security Agency (NSA) may occasionally need skilled civilian retirees to augment the existing work force on high priority projects or programs. In order to fill these temporary positions quickly, we need to know who may be interested and available to return to work with us on a short notice basis as well as their skills. Retired federal government employees at NSA provide expertise and corporate knowledge to temporarily support mission requirements, manpower shortfalls, and/or mentor the next generation of Agency employees. Applications accepted until 30 September 2024.

Additional information and application here.

• Assistant/Associate Professor of Intelligence Studies (Global Security and Intelligence Studies) - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott, Arizona

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott, Arizona campus is accepting applications for a tenure-track assistant or associate-level professor of intelligence studies to teach intelligence courses to students in the Global Security and Intelligence program. The successful candidate will teach students about the intelligence community, strategic intelligence, the intelligence cycle and intelligence analysis, writing, and briefing. Prior experience working in the intelligence community is strongly preferred. We are interested in candidates with teaching acumen in intelligence analysis and writing using structured analytical techniques.

Additional information and application here.

Section VI - Events

AFIO Events

20 Sep 24, 1130 (PT) - San Francisco CA - In-Person - The AFIO San Francisco Chapter Lunch and Presentation by Dr. Matthew Brazil on "China's Ministry of State Security." Dr. Matthew Brazil will offer his expert analysis of China's Ministry of State Security - it's organization, expanding activities and unique culture. Followed by Q&A moderated by Lt. Col. Roger S. Dong (USAF, ret.)
Time: 11:30am no-host cocktails; 12 noon meeting start. Location: Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Avenue, South San Francisco.
RSVP at Eventbrite here. Questions? Contact Mariko Kawaguchi, Board Secretary, AFIO SF Chapter at afiosf@aol.com.

04 Oct 24, 1100 (ET) - McLean VA In-Person - AFIO National Fall Luncheon: Speakers - J.J. Green, National Security Correspondent, WTOP; Mark Kelton, Former Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service for Counterintelligence (DDNCS/CI) - Registration available here.
Morning speaker starts 11 a.m.: J.J. Green, National Security Correspondent, WTOP
Afternoon speaker starts 1 p.m.: Mark Kelton, Former Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service for Counterintelligence (DDNCS/CI). Schedule: Lunch served noon to 1 p.m. Event ends at 2:00 p.m. Luncheon prices are $60 for Members; $75 for nonmember guests and all Subscribers. Payment by credit card required at time of registration. No mailed checks or "at door" payments accepted or permitted.
Register here. Registration closes 5 p.m., Friday, 27 September 2024 or when all seats taken.
Check-in and badge pickup for Registered Attendees begins 10:30 a.m. NO registrations or walk-ins at hotel. No payments by cash or check or onsite registrations at venue.
Cancellation Schedule: AFIO must commit to the hotel facilities and regrets it must charge a cancellation fee. No cancellations with refund after 21 September. Any cancellations 21 September to date of event will be converted to donation to AFIO. Cancellations after 27 September are not donations because your meal has been guaranteed at hotel per event contract. Thank you for your understanding. All attendees must be members of AFIO or accompanied by a current member. For security reasons, we are unable to accept late or last minute substitutions for non-attendance or changes in your guests.
Questions regarding this event to events@afio.com

08 Nov 2024, 1130 (ET) - In Person - AFIO San Franciso hosts Army Reserve Foreign Area Officer (FAO) LTC Tomio "Tomes" Toyama, who will discuss his most recent deployment to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan while serving in the Office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) as Deputy Director for Operations and lead Training Advisor to the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF). USSC is a unique US-led multinational organization staffed primarily by military personnel serving under State Department foreign relations authorities and funding. No-host cocktails 11:30am, meeting starts at 12. Location: Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Avenue, South San Francisco. RSVP here. Address questions to Mariko Kawaguchi via email.

Events of Advertisers, Corporate Sponsors, Others

5 October 2024, 2p-4p: Vintage Espionage, a wine tasting with an espionage twist hosted by former CIA officers. Enjoy two hours of spies, sips and stories, where secrets and wine collide. Your sommelier for the afternoon, known only as DECANTER/1 (C/1) lived and served around the world. She's an expert in relationship building and persuasion and guides you through a blind tasting of old-world and new-world wines - six wines total. Along the way enjoy stories from a life on the front lines of intelligence operations from C/1 and Spyher Founder Rosanna Minchew. Whether you're a wine connoisseur or simply love intrigue, Vintage Espionage promises an afternoon you won't want to miss. We're especially excited to host this event at a The Grange historic schoolhouse built in 1889, a perfect venue for a pop-up speakeasy! Book here and use promo code SPYHERWINEFRIENDS for a $15 discount. Use this Eventbrite link to sign up.
Location: 9818 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA 22066.

Wednesday, 24 October 2024, 5 - 7 p.m. - In-Person Hanover, MD - NCF & INSF 3rd Annual Cocktails & Codebreakers event. Please join the NCF & INSF [National Cryptologic Foundation (NCF) & Intelligence and National Security Foundation (INSF)] for the 3rd Annual Cocktails & Codebreakers event
We are pleased to announce that this year's program will feature a Fireside Chat with Gen Timothy D. Haugh, USAF, Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service and a special presentation by Mr. Montel Williams, military veteran/retired cryptologic officer (US Marines & Navy), actor, and motivational speaker. We are also grateful to welcome journalist Mr. Steve Scully as moderator for the Fireside Chat. Learn about our speakers & view the draft agenda or...
REGISTER HERE.
Location: The Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7795 Arundel Mills Boulevard, Hanover, Maryland 21076
Registration Fee: $225. A selection of sponsorships are still available.
This October 24th event will celebrate Men & Women in Cryptology.
If you missed our previous Cocktails & Codebreakers programs - you can view recaps & photos of 2023 and 2022.
Questions? Email ncfinfo@cryptologicfoundation.org

30 Apr - 02 May 2025 – In Person – Cryptologic History Symposium - National Cryptological Foundation and NSA Center for Cryptologic History, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland

Since 1990, the Cryptologic History Symposium has served as an opportunity to present historical scholarship found in unclassified and declassified cryptologic records and engage in discussion about their significance to history. The event is an occasion for historians and those interested in history to gather for reflection and debate on relevant and important topics from the cryptologic past. Regular speakers include historians from CCH, the Intelligence Community, the defense establishment, the military services, scholars from American and international academic institutions, veterans of the cryptologic profession, graduate and undergraduate students, and noted authors. Past symposia have featured scholarship that set out new ways to consider our cryptologic heritage. The conference provides many opportunities to interact with leading historians and other experts. The mix of practitioners, scholars, and interested observers guarantees a lively debate that promotes an enhanced appreciation for past events and their applicability to current and future issues. More information and registration here.

30 Aug - 8 Sep 2025 - Mediterranean Cruise - Spies, Lies & Nukes announce Espionage on the High Seas! Plan NOW to join the late-summer 2025 cruise. Instead of their traditional Spies, Lies & Nukes conference in 2024, Valerie Plame and other intelligence colleagues are thrilled to introduce an exciting variation for 2025: Spies at Sea. A combined cruise and conference through the breathtaking Mediterranean, from August 30 to September 8, 2025! See brochure here.
What to Expect:
• Intimate Conference Setting: Enjoy the same close-knit, engaging environment you've come to expect, with unparalleled access to our expert speakers.
• Exclusive Shore Excursions: Explore clandestine meeting spots, delve into espionage history, and more on excursions EXCLUSIVE TO OUR GROUP.
• Seminars at Sea: Participate in lectures and presentations led by Valerie Plame and other top intelligence professionals, all the while cruising through some of the Mediterranean's most iconic destinations.
• Special Events: Enjoy exclusive cocktail receptions, surprise activities, and one-on-one conversation time.
Exclusive Spies, Lies & Nukes Itinerary Highlights:
• Barcelona, Spain: Begin your adventure in this vibrant city.
• Valletta, Malta: Walk through history with guided tours led by espionage experts who will lift the veil on area spy stories and meeting sites.
• Mykonos, Greece: Discover the charm and beauty of this picturesque island.
• Ephesus, Turkey: Explore ancient ruins with a private guide and enjoy a unique group lunch, all while learning about intelligence activities that took place at each spot.
• Santorini, Greece: Experience the iconic beauty of Santorini with endless photographic opportunities.
• Naples, Italy: Enjoy a group lunch at a local restaurant and an exclusive walking tour with a private guide while learning a few spy secrets from Naples, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast.
We've secured a discounted rate that includes your stateroom, meals, classic beverage package, wi-fi, exclusive excursions, and all conference activities. These cabins will get booked quickly, so don't wait—book now and get $100 off! This is your chance to combine professional enrichment with an unforgettable travel experience. Network with like-minded professionals, gain exclusive insights, and create memories that will last a lifetime. Secure Your Spot Today.

Gifts for Friends, Colleagues, Self

Gray long-sleeved polo shirts with embroidered AFIO logo. Men's sizes only.
Show your support for AFIO with our new Gray Long-sleeve Polo Shirts. Shirts are shrink and wrinkle resistant of fine cotton with a soft, "well-worn, comfy" yet substantial feel. They feature a detailed embroidered AFIO seal. Get a shirt for yourself and consider as gifts for colleagues, family, and friends. Only $60 each including shipping.
Sizes for men, only: Small, Medium, Large, XL, XXL, and XXXL.  $60 per shirt. Order this and other store items online here.

20 oz ceramic Mug with color glazed logo. Made in America. Check out our new tapered, sleek AFIO coffee mug!! This handsome 20 oz. ceramic mug is made in the USA, has a white matte exterior, sports a beautiful navy-blue interior, and is dishwasher safe.  Order yours today! $35 per mug includes shipping to a CONUS address. [includes shipping to U.S. based address, only. For foreign shipments, we will contact you with a quote.] SHIPPING: For shipment to a U.S.-based CONUS address, shipping is included in price. For purchases going to AK, HI, other US territories, Canada, or other foreign countries the shipping fees need to be calculated, so please call our office M-F 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET at 703-790-0320 or email afio@afio.com providing following information: 1) your name, 2) mailing address (or addresses where each gift item will be shipped), 3) name of the AFIO store items you wish to purchase, 4) quantity of each, 5) your credit card number and expiration date, 6) amount (except for additional of shipping fees) authorized to charge, and 7) your phone number and email should we have questions. Foreign shipments fees will be calculated and estimates emailed to you, awaiting your approval.  Order this and other store items online here.

Black short-sleeved polo shirts with Embroidered AFIO logo
Show your support for AFIO with our new Black Short-sleeve Polo Shirts. Shirts are shrink and wrinkle resistant of fine cotton with a soft, "well-worn, comfy" yet substantial feel. They feature a detailed embroidered AFIO seal. Get a shirt for yourself and consider as gifts for colleagues, family, and friends. Only $50 each including shipping.
Sizes for (M) men, only; Small, Medium, Large, XL, XXL, and XXXL. $50 per shirt.
You may pay by check or credit card. Complete your order online here or mail an order along with payment to: AFIO, 7600 Leesburg Pike, Ste 470 East, Falls Church, VA 22043-2004. Phone orders at 703-790-0320. Questions? Contact Annette at: annettej@afio.com.

PopSocket for cellphones or tablets
Show your support to AFIO while enjoying the convenience offered by our AFIO Logo PopSocket. The PopSocket is most commonly used as a stand and as a grip for your mobile phone or tablet; handy for taking selfies, watching videos, and for texting. The PopSocket looks like a small button or sticker which, when closed, sticks flat to your mobile device. However, its accordion-like design enables it to pop open for use. The benefits of using a PopSocket make it a must-have accessory for your mobile phone or tablet. It also aids in keeping your phone from slipping off your hand during use, falling, or breaking.
Price: $15. Order this and other store items online here.

Duffel Bags - Royal Blue and Black with Full Color AFIO Logo This duffel has it all when it comes to value, style and organization.
600 denier polyester canvas with polyester double contrast; D-shaped zippered entry for easy access. Front pocket with hook and loop closure. End mesh pocket Easy-access end pockets. Four durable, protective feet and built-in bottom board for added strength. Web handles with padded grip. Detachable, adjustable shoulder strap.
Dimensions: 11"h x 19.75"w x 9.75"d; Approx. 2,118 cubic inches
Price: $50. Order this and other store items online here.

Caps - Dark Navy with Navy AFIO Logo
An authentic silhouette with the comfort of an unstructured, adjustable fit. Fabric: 100% cotton. Unstructured. Fabric strap closure with adjustable D-clip. Price: $30. Order this and other store items online here.

AFIO's Guide to the Study of Intelligence...and...When Intelligence Made a Difference

"AFIO's Guide to the AFIO's Guide to the Study of Intelligence has sold out in hard-copy.
It is available in digital form in its entirety on the AFIO website here.
Also available on the website here are the individual articles of AFIO's history project "When Intelligence Made a Difference" that have been published to date in The Intelligencer journal. More articles will be appear in future editions.

PUBLISHED IN 2023—Be informed on career opportunities in the U.S. Intelligence Community

Intelligence as a Career - with updated listings of colleges teaching intelligence courses, and Q&As on needed foreign languages, as well as the courses, grades, extracurricular activities, and behavioral characteristics and life experiences sought by modern U.S. intelligence agencies.

AFIO's popular 47-page booklet reaches thousands of high school, college students, university guidance offices, and distributed in classes teaching intelligence, to help those considering careers in the U.S. Intelligence Community.
This is the fifth edition.
The publication is also popular with University Career Guidance Centers, professors and academic departments specializing in national security, and parents assisting children or grandchildren in choosing meaningful, public service careers.
This booklet is provided online as a public service from the generosity of AFIO board, volunteer editors/writers, donors, and members.
We thank all for their support which makes this educational effort possible.
Careers Booklet (2023 Fifth Edition) can be read or downloaded here

Some features of the email version of the WIN do not work for readers who have chosen the Plaintext Edition, some AOL users, and readers who access their email using web mail. You may request to change from Plaintext to HTML format here afio@afio.com. For the best reading experience, the latest web edition can be found here: https://www.afio.com/pages/currentwin.htm

To unsubscribe from the WIN email list, please click the "UNSUBSCRIBE" link at the bottom of the email. If you did not subscribe to the WIN and are not a member, you received this product from a third party in violation of AFIO policy. Please forward to afio@afio.com the entire message that you received and we will remove the sender from our membership and distribution lists.