The authors acknowledge with deepest appreciation the overwhelming and gratifying support we received from more than a hundred active and retired CIA officers in preparing this history. We conducted dozens of interviews and received correspondence from many others who devoted their careers to the Office of Technical Service or related engineering and development offices. Other case officers and operations managers who used the equipment, disguises, and alias doc.u.ments OTS produced offered significant insights into processes that tightly wove operations and technology together. Virtually every request for a.s.sistance, whether for an interview, ill.u.s.trative stories, verification of information, or photographs received the traditional OTS response: "So what can I do to help?"
The leadership of the Technical Service Retirees a.s.sociation facilitated our contact with its members. Bruce Bixby, Dave Gokey, Tom Herring, Jim Joyce, Jerry Lee, Karl Muenzenmayer, Ray Parrack, and John Tredwell have devoted significant personal time to preserving OTS history and traditions through the TSRA and were especially helpful in identifying techs and case officers for us to contact.
Significant contributors to chapters on OTS"s "early years" include John Aalto, Andy Anderson, Tom Beale, Howard Gamertsfelder, Cleo Gephart, Lyle Greeno, Norm Jackson, Irv Kemp, d.i.c.k Krueger, Hugh Montgomery, Al Schumann, Pauline Sypolt, Elsie Szuminski, Wally Szuminski, and Glenn Whidden.
Episodes and adventures from the middle decades of OTS history were recounted by Lynn Ashe, Bob Barron, Rosemary Capuzzi, David Coffey, d.i.c.k Corbin, Sam David, Phil Dean, Walt DeGroot, Jack Finarelli, Stuart H., Chris Hsu, Charles Janak, d.i.c.k Kessler, Andre Kesteloot, Ed Levitt, Ron Looney, the late Bob Ruhle, Sue Ruhle, Marti Shogi, Scotty Skotzko, Bob Stevens, Bob Swadell, Tom Twetten, Pat Wartell, Charlie Schuilla, Bob Swadell, Elisabeth Wilton, Judy Wonus, and Jon.
For information on more recent decades, Don Bailey, Dave Banks, Harlene Barton, Dan Bradley, Jack C., Roy Combs, Jim Cotsana, Ivan Danzig, Janet Donahue, Forrest Fleming, Bill Geary, Connie Geary, Thomas E. Gebbie, Bob Hart, Diane James, Leo Labaj, Lois Lees, Ellen Martin, Randy Mays, and Iris Stansfield all offered fresh insights and personal experiences.
Many others deserve mention but cannot be named due to current duties, cover, or other considerations. They know of their contribution and with justifiable pride can say to their families, "You know, I had a hand in this as well."
We owe special recognition to three career OTS officers whose deaths preceded Spycraft Spycraft"s publication. Each of these officers, in spite of serious health conditions and pain, made themselves available for extended interviews, relating with honesty and pride their years of service to America through the CIA.
Arthur "Mick" Donahue supported CIA"s covert action programs for forty years, from the Vietnam War to the war against terrorism. Although Mick had been retired for several years when 9/11 occurred, OTS management recognized immediately that his skills and experience were again required. So did Mick. Before night fell on September 11, 2001, Mick had contacted OTS offering to help rebuild our covert action capabilities, as he had done in the 1960s and the 1980s. "When a war is over, we always shut down covert action," Mick correctly observed, "and a few years later it"s needed again. Good thing there are still a few of us around who know how to do it." Mick was engaged the next day and continued until his health prevented him from working.
Paul Howe, one of fifty CIA officers recognized in 1997 as Agency Trailblazers, thrived on working "under the radar." Paul"s modesty was exceeded only by the remarkable engineering achievements for which he is rightly credited. Among the most significant were the T-100 subminiature camera and its subsequent models that became, arguably, the CIA"s most effective Cold War intelligence-collection devices. Over his career, Paul combined his technical expertise with a unique skill of harnessing the capabilities of private contractors to produce generations of covert communications equipment that consistently outpaced our adversaries" technical counterintelligence capabilities. When we concluded our final interview, Paul summed up his career with characteristic modesty: "Well, I did what I could. I think it helped."
Sol Kurtzman lived in Washington nearly fifty years and never lost his New York accent or demeanor. Sol was among the early professional engineers in the Technical Services Staff and remained with the office until the end of the Cold War. Sol told of the TSS"s determined struggle to establish a reputation as "the place" in CIA where technical solutions to operational requirements would be found no matter how "impossible" the problem. Sol"s reputation for cajoling and prodding engineers to create smaller, more reliable, less power-hungry clandestine devices matched his personal uncompromising standard for technical excellence. I was unaware of the seriousness of Sol"s declining health when he asked in late 2006 if he could read a draft of Spycraft. Spycraft. After several days, Sol returned the ma.n.u.script pages with critical, positive, and invariably insightful annotations. His admonishment that OTS "engineers deserve as much ink as the ops guys" resulted in Chapter 15, which we dedicate to Sol"s memory. After several days, Sol returned the ma.n.u.script pages with critical, positive, and invariably insightful annotations. His admonishment that OTS "engineers deserve as much ink as the ops guys" resulted in Chapter 15, which we dedicate to Sol"s memory.
Without the contributions of Mick, Paul, and Sol, three OTS giants and American patriots, Spycraft Spycraft could not have been written. could not have been written.
Several friends a.s.sisted us in obtaining artifacts, providing photographs, or validating information regarding operations of other intelligence services. These included Michael Hasco; Dan Mulvenna, retired RCMP Security Service officer; Gerald "Jerry" Richards, retired FBI Special Agent and Soviet tradecraft specialist; and Peter Earnest, Executive Director, International Spy Museum. Additional valuable contributions were made by Pete Burns, Chase Brandon, Brian Kelley, Jim LeCroy, Bill Mosby, Jonna Mendez, Tony Mendez, Pat Merriweather, Harry Price, and the history preservationists Nick Benigsen, Lyle Hunger, and Mr. "X" and friends. The CIA curator Toni Hiley and her a.s.sistant Carolyn Reams facilitated our access to images from the CIA"s museum collection. Through the generosity of Richard Lovell, we acquired papers of his father, the late Stanley Lovell, who directed research and development for the Office of Strategic Services.
Hayden Peake, author, historian, and curator of the CIA"s Historical Intelligence Collection, is the dean of intelligence bibliophiles. His wise counsel, literary criticism, and encouragement proved invaluable. Former CIA Chief Historian Ben Fischer has been a friend and contributor to this project from its inception. Danny Biederman, Dr. David Crown, Jack Downing, and Bill Mulligan urged us to persevere when it seemed the project might not succeed. Critiques by Jim Gosler, Richard Lawrence, and Lou Mehrer on early drafts provided helpful commentary on the text from perspectives outside the OTS family. As demands to devote more time to Spycraft Spycraft increased, Paul Johnson, former Director of the CIA"s Center for the Study of Intelligence, and Nick Dujmovic, head of the CIA"s oral history program, graciously offered schedule flexibility that allowed me to complete this ma.n.u.script while concurrently fulfilling my CSI a.s.signments. increased, Paul Johnson, former Director of the CIA"s Center for the Study of Intelligence, and Nick Dujmovic, head of the CIA"s oral history program, graciously offered schedule flexibility that allowed me to complete this ma.n.u.script while concurrently fulfilling my CSI a.s.signments.
The CIA"s publication review staff, particularly Paul B. and Kate M., information review officer Suzanne Fleischauer, and Publication Review Board member Larry Boteler worked professionally with the authors to resolve potential issues of cla.s.sification. Herb Briick a.s.sisted us in obtaining, under the Freedom of Information Act, several historical doc.u.ments and images seen for the first time in Spycraft. Spycraft. Michael Morell, the CIA"s a.s.sociate Deputy Director, encouraged our efforts through prompt and considered adjudication of policy questions that arose during the prepublication process. Michael Morell, the CIA"s a.s.sociate Deputy Director, encouraged our efforts through prompt and considered adjudication of policy questions that arose during the prepublication process.
We are indebted to Brian Tart, president of Dutton Books, and Mitch Hoffman, our initial editor, for tolerance during the two-year CIA review process and their confidence that this work would eventually receive publication approval. The Spycraft Spycraft story is better told due to the editorial counsel of Dutton editor Stephen Morrow and his a.s.sistant, Erika Imranyi. The cover, photos, and images reflect the creative talents of the Dutton art department. Dan Mandel, our literary agent from Sanford Greenberger, directed us through the necessary business processes required for a work of this magnitude. Mark Zaid"s legal perspective provided constructive options for dealing with the CIA"s official review bureaucracy. Randy Bookout and Al c.u.mming, from the staff of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, took a welcome and special interest in the progress of the project. story is better told due to the editorial counsel of Dutton editor Stephen Morrow and his a.s.sistant, Erika Imranyi. The cover, photos, and images reflect the creative talents of the Dutton art department. Dan Mandel, our literary agent from Sanford Greenberger, directed us through the necessary business processes required for a work of this magnitude. Mark Zaid"s legal perspective provided constructive options for dealing with the CIA"s official review bureaucracy. Randy Bookout and Al c.u.mming, from the staff of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, took a welcome and special interest in the progress of the project.
The enduring patience of our families over the past five years is matched only by their loyal, unflagging support. Their uncompensated a.s.sistance cannot be calculated in dollars. We simply offer "thank you" a million times over to Mary Margaret Wallace, Kristen Melton, and Melissa Suzanne for the hours spent reading and rereading dozens of drafts, fact checking, telling us when we were boring, making us explain government acronyms, running errands, typing transcripts, and the hundred other tasks we took for granted. They must have done it for love.
Finally, to every reader, we are grateful for your interest in Spycraft Spycraft and hope the story of OTS will renew your confidence in America"s intelligence inst.i.tutions and in the men and women who devote their careers to this service. and hope the story of OTS will renew your confidence in America"s intelligence inst.i.tutions and in the men and women who devote their careers to this service.Index