AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #16-17 dated 18 April 2017

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CONTENTS

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Section III - COMMENTARY

Section IV - Obituaries

Obituaries

Section V - Events

Upcoming AFIO Events

Other Upcoming Events

For Additional AFIO and other Events two+ months or more... Calendar of Events 

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

The WIN editors attempt to include a wide range of articles and commentary in the Weekly Notes to inform and educate our readers. However, the views expressed in the articles are purely those of the authors, and in no way reflect support or endorsement from the WIN editors or the AFIO officers and staff. We welcome comments from the WIN readers on any and all articles and commentary.
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Recently released - AFIO's 2017 edition of...

Intelligence as a Career BookletIntelligence 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 US intelligence agencies.

AFIO's popular 56-page booklet reaches high school and college students considering careers in the US Intelligence Community. This is the fourth 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 at no cost as a public service - online and in print - from the generosity of AFIO board, donors, and members. 20,000 printed copies of each edition are distributed. Many more are accessed online.
We thank all members and donors for their support which has made this possible.

2017 edition of Careers Booklet in PDF Format available here.

Also now online as a public service from the generosity of our members and donors is the entire 788-page AFIO's Guide to the Study of Intelligence, Peter Oleson, Editor, with a foreword by Dr. Robert M. Gates.
It can be accessed here.
If you wish, instead, to own a printed, bound copy, those are available here (AFIO) and here (Amazon).

     

AFIO National Spring Luncheon
Friday, 12 May 2017
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Register here while space remains.

Author Eva Dillon on
"Living Life Undercover in a CIA Family"
and join AFIO as we welcome and thank Marina, the granddaughter of Gen Polyakov
present with us at this special event.
- and -

New York Times Washington Correspondent
David Sanger on
"Terrorism, Secret Wars, Nuclear Proliferation, and the Use of American Power"

The 11 a.m. speaker is Eva Dillon, author and magazine publisher, on Spies in the Family: An American Spymaster, His Russian Crown Jewel, and the Friendship That Helped End the Cold War. It is an engaging true-life memoir, of her CIA father, Paul Dillon, and the GRU officer who became a CIA agent whom her father handled - the highest ranking, longest serving asset the US had during the Cold War. It is also a memoir about both families growing up unknowingly as the children of spies.

David E. Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, speaks on "Terrorism, Secret Wars, Nuclear Proliferation, and the Use of American Power." His address starts at 1 p.m.

"A beautifully written, profoundly moving account of one of the most important US Intelligence sources ever run inside the Soviet Union. A cliff-hanger from beginning to end, Dillon's account is filled with espionage tradecraft and family drama - essential reading for intelligence professionals, memoir enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by how spying really works." -- Peter Earnest, Executive Director, International Spy Museum

Event location is the Crowne Plaza (soon to be renamed DoubleTree-Hilton), Tysons Corner, VA,
at 1960 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22102.

Registration is here. Do so quickly to assure seating.

"Codebreaking and the Battle of Midway" with Author/Historian Elliot Carlson
National Cryptologic Museum's Schorreck Lecture
Thursday, 25 May 2017 10 am - 11:30 am
Fort Meade, MD

2017 Henry F. Schorreck Lecture Speaker Series features Elliot Carlson, author of the celebrated biography of CMDR Joseph Rochefort (cryptologic hero of the Battle of Midway) - Joe Rochefort's War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway. Carlson's talk will be "Codebreaking and the Battle of Midway: When Cryptanalysis Came of Age." More about Carlson's book here.

On 3-7 June 1942, the US defeated Japan in the Battle of Midway, one of the most decisive battles in world history. The battle regained the initiative in the Pacific for the US after its setback at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 while placing Japan on the strategic defensive from which it never fully recovered. On the 75th Anniversary of this US naval victory, Carlson discusses the pivotal role that intelligence played in it. In particular, the breaking of JN-25, the Japanese Imperial Fleet's operational code, by codebreakers at Station Hypo in Hawaii led by CMDR Joseph Rochefort USN.
Carlson holds degrees from Stanford University (MA) and the University of Oregon (BS).
He lives with his wife in Silver Spring, MD.

RSVP: Advanced registration required since this popular NCM Schorreck Lecture Series always has a full house. To not lose a spot, email history@nsa.gov and/or gjnedve@nsa.gov and provide the number of seats you will need. They will confirm your reservations and answer any questions.
Event location: National Cryptologic Museum: 9900 Colony Seven Rd, Fort Meade, MD. Directions here.
Plenty of convenient, free parking.

HOLD THE DATE: AFIO's 2017 National Intelligence Symposium

"Succeeding in the Open ' The Future of GEOINT "

will be at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
and elsewhere (TBA),
Thursday & Friday, 28 to 29 September 2017.
Hotel: DoubleTree-Hilton, Tysons Corner, VA

Tentative Agenda: ' Opening Remarks by AFIO President; ' NGA Overview and Q&A; ' Video Presentation; ' NGA Leadership Remarks (D/NGA or DD) - Includes GEOINT Strategy and Functional Management; ' Lunch (with museum tours, NGA store, and group photo). Presentations/Panels on: ' KH 8 Declassification; ' Pathfinder (unclassified research to solve intel problems); ' Commercial GEOINT Activity; and ' the Small Satellite Revolution.

Arrive Wednesday evening, 27 September to overnight at the hotel to be ready early Thursday, 28 September, for coach service to NGA for all day conference including visit to their new museum. Welcome by NGA Director Robert Cardillo. Friday activities TBA. Friday evening is our "Spies in Black Ties" banquet.
Hotel: DoubleTree-Hilton, Tysons Corner, VA [formerly the Crowne Plaza], at 1960 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22102. Details, event registration and hotel room registration links to be sent to all current members in coming weeks. Early phone-only room registrations can be made at 1-877-865-1877 at $119/nite.

Book of the Week

Maximum Harm: The Tsarnaev Brothers, the FBI, and the Road to the Marathon Bombing
by Michele R. McPhee
(ForeEdge, April 2017)

Order here.

An examination of the Tsarnaev brothers' movements in the days leading up to the Boston Marathon bombing on 15 April 2013, the subsequent investigation, the Tsarnaevs' murder of MIT police officer Sean Collier, the high-speed chase and shootout that fatally wounded Tamerlan, and the manhunt in which the authorities finally captured Dzhokhar, hiding in a Watertown backyard. McPhee untangles many threads of circumstance, coincidence, possible collusion, motive, and opportunity that resulted in the deadliest attack on the city of Boston to date.

"While the government quietly closed their case against the lone terrorist brought to trial in the Boston Marathon bombing, Michele McPhee continued to work behind the scenes developing investigative leads through her cadre of sources. Maximum Harm is the latest example of McPhee's investigative excellence and exposes many of the details kept secret from the public, leaving the reader questioning if justice was truly served." -- Thomas Pasquarello, former Somerville, MA, police chief and special agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (retired).

The book may be ordered here.

American War: A Novel
by Omar El Akkad
(Knopf, Apr 2017)

Order here.

Set in in 2075, Omar El Akkad's American War presents a fractured and frightening America, where the sun burns hot and the country has turned into war zones and refugee camps. Over the course of two decades, Akkad traces the fate of the Chestnut family, who flee their home in the south and spend the better part of their lives in a sprawling, impoverished encampment. Written with precise care for the fictional truth -- news articles, press releases, and oral histories emerge throughout -- the book sounds a warning blast. A disquieting novel. An Amazon Best Book of April 2017

"Whether read as a cautionary tale of partisanship run amok, an allegory of past conflicts or a study of the psychology of war, American War is a deeply unsettling novel. The only comfort the story offers is that it's a work of fiction. For the time being, anyway." -- Justin Cronin, The New York Times Book Review

The book may be ordered here.

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Turkey Investigating 17, Some Americans, Accused in Failed Coup.  A Turkish prosecutor has opened an investigation into 17 people accused of fomenting last year's failed coup, including many prominent American officials, academics and politicians, state news media reported on Saturday.

Among those placed under investigation by the chief prosecutor in Istanbul are John O. Brennan, the former CIA chief; Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York; Preet Bharara, the former United States attorney for the Southern District of New York; and David Cohen, who at the time of the coup was the deputy director of the CIA, according to the Anadolu Agency, a state-run news wire.

The investigation was announced just a day before a national referendum to expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leading to speculation that the two events were linked.

Throughout the campaign, Mr. Erdogan and his allies have frequently manufactured diplomatic spats with European countries, in what some analysts described as a bid to persuade nationalist voters to vote "yes" to his proposed reforms to secure Turkey's place in the world.  [Read More:  Kingsley/nytimes/15April2017]

Women's Intelligence Conference Provides Connections for Women in Intelligence Analysis.  An intrigued audience listened closely as women from careers within intelligence analysis shared their personal stories and advice. Sparks flew as JMU students were impressed by the stories of women who work in a field dominated by men.

Professional women from all over came to speak on how to be professionals in the intelligence analysis field at the Women's Intelligence Analysis Conference.

This year was the first year for the conference, which drew over 80 students.

Molly Wolpert, a senior intelligence analysis and religion studies double major and Ariana Tutko, a junior intelligence analysis and psychology double major, planned the conference.  [Read More:  Merriman/breezejmu/15April2017]

Mike Conaway Emerges From Relative Obscurity to Lead House Russia Inquiry.  President Trump does not know Mike Conaway.

A Republican congressman from a long brush stroke of West Texas, Mr. Conaway recalled meeting with him at the White House with other House Republicans. And he has shaken hands with Mr. Trump, a "standard, 500-people-on-a-rope-line, shaken-hand kind of thing."

"He wouldn't know me from third base," Mr. Conaway said.

Whether he has exchanged pleasantries with the president may not have mattered before, but it does now. Mr. Conaway is taking over the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election. He is replacing Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican whose suspiciously cozy relationship with Mr. Trump derailed the inquiry before he was ultimately forced to step aside.  [Read More:  Huetteman/nytimes/16April2017]

US Intelligence Intercepted Communications Between Syrian Military and Chemical Experts.  The US military and intelligence community has intercepted communications featuring Syrian military and chemical experts talking about preparations for the sarin attack in Idlib last week, a senior US official tells CNN.

The intercepts were part of an immediate review of all intelligence in the hours after the attack to confirm responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in an attack in northwestern Syria, which killed at least 89 people. US officials have said that there is "no doubt" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for the attack.

The US did not know prior to the attack it was going to happen, the official emphasized. The US scoops up such a large volume of communications intercepts in areas like Syria and Iraq, the material often is not processed unless there is a particular event that requires analysts to go back and look for supporting intelligence material.

So far there are no intelligence intercepts that have been found directly confirming that Russian military or intelligence officials communicated about the attack. The official said the likelihood is the Russians are more careful in their communications to avoid being intercepted.  [Read More:  Starr/cnn/13April2017]

Nigeria's National Intelligence Agency DG Reportedly Claims $50m Cash Found in a Lagos Apartment Belonged to His Agency.  Three days after operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission discovered a huge hoard of cash in a Lagos apartment, SaharaReporters has learned that the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke, is now claiming that the funds belonged to his agency.
 
Mr. Oke's claim is a bizarre twist in the unfolding drama. Late yesterday, when SaharaReporters called the DG to verify the authenticity of an online publisher's report that the NIA had claimed ownership of the funds, Mr. Oke said he had not read any report linking the agency to the $50 million in cash the EFCC seized in a raid on an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos. Mr. Oke told our reporter that he would speak on the matter today saying it was too late in the night and that he had a headache. However, all day today, the DG has not picked up calls from SaharaReporters nor responded to text messages.

EFCC sources said they were now aware that the Director General of the NIA claimed ownership to the huge amount of cash - most of it in US dollars - because the NIA was going to use it for "covert operations." The EFCC sources said they would not immediately respond to the claim from the NIA since their investigations are still ongoing, adding that a court in Lagos had given them an order to confiscate the funds.

Some EFCC operatives involved in the investigation said they are alarmed by the NIA's claims because the apartment where they seized the funds had no NIA paraphernalia and that some of the currencies found in the apartment were scattered in the wardrobe. They said the only "covert operation" they could think of would be an honesty test to determine if the EFCC operatives would tamper with the funds.  [Read More:  saharareporters/14April2017]

North Korea's Embarrassing Missile Failure May Have Been Due to US Cyber Sabotage.  North Korea attempted to fire a missile Sunday, but it blew up within seconds.

It happened one day after the anniversary of the country's founding.

While North Korea's missile program may be the shadowiest on earth, it's possible that US cyber warriors were the reason for the failed launch.

A recent New York Times report uncovered a secret operation to derail North Korea's nuclear-missile program that has been raging for at least three years.  [Read More:  Lockie/businessinsider/17April2017]

Canada's Intelligence Agency Signed Secret Deal With Bank That Compromised Obligations.  The director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) made the admission on Tuesday as he elaborated on a confidential agreement that FINTRAC struck with Manulife after fining the bank $1.15 million for violating Canada's money laundering rules over 1,200 times.

Canada's access to information legislation is an accountability tool that allows Canadians to gain access to public records within 30 days after paying a $5 fee. The legislation allows the government to request extensions or censor information if it can provide valid reasons for doing so.

"The issues were very different than what we face normally (after receiving a formal request for access to information)," said the agency's director, G'rald Cosette at the House of Commons access to information committee. "Normally, of course, we redact according to the legislation. In this case there were several factors which explain why it took so long, and there's the confidential agreement that we had with Manulife that explain others."

Under the existing Canadian law, anyone who conceals a record or who directs, counsels, causes or proposes to conceal a record can be found guilty of an indictable offence and face up to two years in prison.  [Read More:  Meyer/nationalobserver/13April2017]

Estonia Snags First Spy Linked to Russian Military Intelligence.  Estonia's security service arrested a Russian in January on suspicion of spying, the Baltic country's first case involving an alleged recruit of the GRU military intelligence service.

The person may face a jail term of up to 10 years if found guilty, Arnold Sinisalu, head of Estonia's Internal Security Service, was cited as saying by Baltic News Service. Sinisalu declined to say whether the person was a permanent resident of Estonia.

Estonian authorities last year caught two people with dual Estonian and Russian citizenship recruited by Russia's domestic intelligence service, the FSB, for spying on military and law-enforcement activities, the Baltic nation's service said in an annual report released on Wednesday. Both were found guilty and received jail sentences of 2 1/2 and 3 years. Similarly, two other people recruited by the FSB were caught in 2015.

Estonia's first spying case since regaining independence in 1991 broke in September 2008, when a former high-ranking defense official was detained and later jailed for 12 1/2 years for treason for passing NATO secrets to Russian intelligence. Since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's reinforcement of its eastern flank following the conflict in Ukraine, Russian intelligence agencies have increasingly probed Estonia's defenses, the service said.  [Read More:  Ummelas/bloomberg/12April2017]

Comey Announces FBI Cooperation in New Documentary Series.  FBI Director James Comey announced Thursday that he allowed producers Dick Wolf and Marc Levin to have access to the bureau's New York offices for a year to film a new TV series.

"We have to care what people think about us," Comey explained during an interview at the Newseum in Washington, DC. "The faith and confidence of the American people is the bedrock."

The series will be called Inside the FBI: New York and is produced by Dick Wolf, the creator of Law and Order, along with documentarian Marc Levin.

He hopes that the new documentary series will boost the FBI's image, an understandable wish following a campaign season in which the FBI played an unusually public - and scrutinized - role.  [Read More:  Cartwright/cbsnews/13April2017]


Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Pine Gap 'on Standby' As Tensions Rise Between the US and North Korea.  IF Kim Jong-un is planning to launch a missile at Australia or US interests there's one strategic intelligence facility that should know all about it.

And it's right in the centre of our own country.

The secretive Pine Gap spy base has a vast array of signals intelligence capabilities and you can bet it will be monitoring Kim Jong-un's every word.

Run by both Australia and the United States, the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap is located about 20km from Alice Springs.  [Read More:  Killalea/news/13April2017]

Ezra Cohen-Watnick: Inside the Rise of Trump's Invisible Man in the White House.  The well-manicured Washington, DC, suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, is probably what President Donald Trump's supporters imagine when they whoop about draining the capital's "swamp." A high-income enclave of Volvo-driving, wine-sipping, NPR-listening lawyers, lobbyists, journalists and government bureaucrats, Chevy Chase is such a liberal stronghold that local Republicans said last year they were afraid to plant Trump campaign posters on their lawns.

All of which makes the town an unlikely launch pad for Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the suddenly prominent White House National Security Council official at the center of a bizarre backdoor maneuver to provide House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes with top-secret documents on government surveillance. Cohen-Watnick reportedly retrieved the documents from a classified CIA terminal in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House and gave them to Nunes, a California Republican who had been a member of Trump's transition team. They were intended to prove that former President Barack Obama was "wire tapping" Trump during the 2016 campaign. The documents did no such thing, other members of the panel concluded after studying them. What they actually showed is that US intelligence agencies did have Trump's associates on their radar - but only because they were tracking Russian agents.

The incident triggered a House Ethics Committee probe into Nunes and forced him to recuse himself from his own panel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. But it also prompted questions from longtime intelligence officials about how Cohen-Watnick, a 30-year-old with apparently only a single, allegedly trouble-filled, junior-level tour of duty with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Afghanistan on his r'sum', managed to secure one of the most consequential jobs in the White House: coordinating all of the US intelligence community's operations with the Oval Office and Congress. In less than a year, Cohen-Watnick had been raised from the equivalent rank of an army captain to a three-star general.

"He makes sure they carry out the president's agenda," says a former White House National Security Council official, who, like every intelligence source consulted by Newsweek, declined to be identified discussing such sensitive issues. And that agenda, the president and his men have made clear, is to whittle down the power of the CIA.  [Read More:  Stein/newsweek/13April2017]

FBI Documents Detail How the Russians Try to Recruit Spies.  It is a scene ripped from Hollywood spy thrillers: Russian agents living and working among everyday, American citizens as cover for their true mission of stealing state secrets.

In the real world, it is highly unlikely that your neighbor, coworker or mailman is actually a clandestine Russian operative working under a false identity. But that certainly does not mean the art of espionage has gone out of style in the world of international intelligence gathering, particularly between the United States and its former Cold War foe.

Amid all of the accusations and speculation pouring out of the investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, the notion that foreign spies are using old-school tactics and personally recruiting agents to divulge sensitive information is actually widely accepted among intelligence officials.

There is no doubt that the rise of information warfare and cyberespionage has changed the spy game in the years since the Cold War. But the playbook on how to target, recruit and manipulate sources has generally stayed the same.  [Read More:  Cohen/cnn/17April2017]

FBI Agent Takes Down Genius Pot-Smoking Vet Who Gave Nuclear Secrets to KGB in Three Minutes to Doomsday.  The year was 1988, and Florida cabbie Roderick Ramsay - after peddling nuclear secrets to the KGB and bringing the US to the brink of Cold War defeat - couldn't get arrested.

FBI Agent Joe Navarro knew that for a fact.

The law enforcer was fighting with all he had to bring the traitorous Ramsay to justice, only to find himself thwarted at every turn by the FBI's so-called experts in espionage.

Over the course of a yearlong investigation, Navarro determined that Ramsay, a former US Army sergeant with a genius-level IQ, played a key role in selling NATO's war plans to the Soviets.  [Read More:  Connelly/nydailynews/15April2017]

How the FBI Relies on Dark Web Intel Firms As Frontline Investigators.  A cadre of former intelligence officers is lurking on the dark recesses of the internet on behalf of government and a shortlist of wealthy clients.

US law enforcement officials regularly rely on a complex network of relationships they've formed with a select group of private intelligence firms to monitor the vast, opaque expanses of the dark web, former FBI officials, company executives and defense contractors tell CyberScoop.

Insiders say the relationships are especially distinct because the companies operate in a hazardous legal environment where they must constantly balance operational risks and client interests while maintaining law enforcement's trust.

"Generally, private sector companies want to help law enforcement catch bad guys, but they don't want to be dragged into diverting time and other resources to assist in the prosecution process," said Levi Gundert, vice president of intelligence and strategy for threat-intel firm Recorded Future. "The business needs to focus on serving customers, not [just] supporting law enforcement, so it's a delicate balance."  [Read More:  Bing/cyberscoop/13April2017]

A Retired CIA Officer Talks Russia, the 2016 Presidential Election and More.  He arrived at the outdoor caf' on an early morning, wearing a long shirt, a baseball hat and sunglasses, signaling, perhaps, how little he planned to reveal himself. He had worked for many years for the Central Intelligence Agency, including near the highest level, and is now retired and living in Sarasota.

Sarasota is a haven for retirees, including those from the nation's intelligence services. So many live here that, until recently, they had a regular CIA luncheon group. But while they may socialize among themselves, they are famously guarded, even in retirement, about inviting attention into a world they long kept secret.

As we sat down, he abruptly put me on the spot. He did not give interviews and had no interest in seeing his name in print. What was I looking for?

I replied that with President Trump's relationship with the CIA and other intelligence agencies generating so much attention, he could shed insight from the perspective of someone who has been there. He took a long sip of coffee and whisked his hand at my recorder. "Put that thing away," he said.  [Read More:  Hackett/sarasotamagazine/17April2017]


Section III - COMMENTARY

Dear China, I Am a White Guy and Not a Spy.  When I take the elevator in my 100 per cent Chinese working-class housing estate, I often end up being grilled by my extremely kind neighbours. As is so common in Beijing, they ask me all kinds of questions about my life. Are you married? You live on the eighth floor, right? Are you American? Ah no, Italian? How much is your rent? What do you do?

But it can get a lot more personal. An elderly neighbour recently stroked my beard, smiled and said approvingly: "Nice". Reminded me of my granddad, I was deeply moved.

But I would be deeply suspicious next time. What if the man is trying to find out if it's a false beard? What if he is trying to find out if I am a spy? What if he is a bounty hunter?

Once in a Beijing subway, I told a woman that I am a journalist. "You mean you are a spy," she joked. Today, I wouldn't find it that funny. Nor would a complete stranger say that anymore. She would rather head straight for the Municipal Bureau of State Security office.  [Read More:  Battaglia/scmp/16April2017]

Distinguished Persons of the Week: Mike Pompeo.  "I am today surrounded by talented and committed patriots. These are men and women who signed up for a life of discretion and impact - for a career in service to their country," said CIA Director Mike Pompeo at his first public speech. He was speaking of the professionals throughout the intelligence community who work just as soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen do to protect their fellow Americans.

Pompeo's remarks were accurate and critically important. Among the worst actions of this president has been to defame the intelligence community, accuse its men and women of criminal misconduct ("wiretapping" him), undermine their findings and suggest they are reckless partisans. Nothing could be further from the truth. He's celebrated their nemesis WikiLeaks and encouraged a foreign power to engage in hacking. He has been an unworthy commander in chief.

Americans owe the intelligence community a debt of gratitude for the hard work its professionals engage in day in and day out. To them we can say, thank you and well done.  [Read More:  Rubin/washingtonpost/16April2017]

Trump's New Respect for the Intelligence Community.  Not long after scores of US Navy cruise missiles streaked toward Syria's Shayrat Air Base last Thursday, I received a call from Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. He told me about the US strike on the airfield and aircraft used in the chemical attack by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad against his own people, and the military and legal issues involved.

When the director, as the head of the intelligence community, stated that the targeted airfield had been involved in the chemical weapons attack, he would have been providing the best assessment of all our intelligence agencies. That view undoubtedly informed the president's judgment that Assad was responsible, and that his regime - and the Russians - were lying about the attack having been the result of an errant strike on a rebel chemical weapons cache.

This was among the first times the new president relied on the intelligence community's assessment to make a life-or-death decision. The intelligence agencies could not tell him whether to use force - that's not their role - but they could, and undoubtedly did, convey information about Assad's culpability, the likelihood of casualties (including Russian casualties), and the potential reactions of the regime, the Russians, the Iranians, the Turks, the Saudis, Hezbollah and others.

One thing is certain: Before he gave the order, the president had to both trust and respect the work of the professionals who informed his decision. The US intelligence community for years has devoted significant resources to understanding the horrific multisided civil war in Syria and the humanitarian disaster that it has unleashed.  [Read More:  Schiff/sfchronicle/12April2017]

America's Intelligence Community Serves a Vital Function - They Need to Be Treated That Way: John M. Weaver.  In recent weeks the intelligence community (IC) has been disparagingly implicated when President Donald Trump tweeted that the Obama administration had wire tapped him.

The other week, House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., made news when he said that he received communications intercepts while visiting the White House that potentially could have included President Trump and / or those associated with him.

Underscoring this was what has surfaced in recent months when President Trump questioned the validity of the products coming out of the IC.

Still, these consummate professionals "soldier on" to keep the nation safe. One probably would simply ask, why?  [Read More:  Weaver/pennlive/13April2017]

Ideology Can Kill a Country's Intelligence Apparatus.  My entry into the world of intelligence-gathering began in 1996 when I joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Before my retirement in 2014, most of my career was spent overseas as an operations officer in countries comprising the former Soviet Union.

Serving abroad in the CIA was a great way to increase my understanding of the world. As an operations officer, I was trained and charged to identify, develop, and recruit foreign nationals to provide information to me - which in turn was passed to the US intelligence community (IC). The IC uses HUMINT (human intelligence gathered from live sources),  in conjunction with SIGINT (signals intelligence) and other forms to aid United States policymakers in making clear-eyed decisions about matters of foreign policy.

This is the purpose of the IC. Regarding HUMINT, people's reasons for spying against their own country are numerous. The motivations of money, ego, or ideology have been behind history's most damaging spies. Compromise or coercion have also been important factors (most often used as tools against the West by hostile intelligence services).

Recruitment of foreign assets (agents, in CIA parlance) was and is the raison d'etre of my profession. In order to recruit effectively, a good working knowledge of human psychology was essential; understanding how emotions such as pride, jealousy, hatred, and shame can motivate individuals. This knowledge was the most important item in my "toolbox." A good intelligence officer always views situations, actions, and people in this fashion. It is an excellent technique with which to understand why things are the way they are. For decades now, it is automatic for me to view much of the world and its interactions through this "operational lens." Looking at history and current events is continually fascinating to me. An ops officer can (or should) divine the personal, institutional, and national motivations that are behind every event that occurs on the world stage.  [Read More:  Uehlinger/sofrep/12April2017]


Section IV - Obituaries

Obituaries

Walter "Walt" "Scottie" M. Berwick, 76, a retired CIA SIS Operations Officer, died 15 April 2017 in Miami, FL from complications of liver disease. He graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in the early 1960s and was Class President and Captain of the Basketball Team. In 2009, he was invited back to FDU to receive an honorary Doctorate. After several years as a Submarine Officer in the US Navy, he joined CIA in 1965 and served in various overseas and domestic assignments until his retirement in 1990. Walt served in Latin America and the Caribbean (three times as COS) and also in East Asia. His SIS Headquarters assignments included EUR/Nordic Branch Chief; CTC as D/C for Ops and Analysis; CIC as C/Ops and finally DC, EA Division. He received a number of performance awards, decorations and citations during his CIA career. After retirement in 1990, Walt lived and worked overseas mainly in Latin America as a private Investigator involved in international kidnapping and ransom cases. In 2000, he returned on contract with CIA as an Ops Officer and also as an Instructor/Mentor in both domestic and overseas assignments until his final retirement in 2012. Walt lived in Key Largo, FL and is survived by his spouse, C.J., and six adult children, and numerous grandchildren. [In absence of formal obituary, read more about Walt here: Fairleigh Dickinson Alumni Profile, Spring 2000] (TY MK)

David Allen Wilkinson, 70, a retired Civilian NSA Intelligence Analyst, died 1 April 2017 in Severna Park, MD, of cardiac arrest.
David's college studies in Fine Arts and Philosophy were interrupted when he joined the army, where his aptitude for languages was discovered. Intensive study of Arabic led to assignments in Africa and the Middle East, initially as an analyst. When he transferred to Army Special Operations later on, his duties took on a more active nature. His last military deployment was as a Tier-1 operator, deployed with and at the request of the Commander of Seal Team 6. After 18 years in the army, David pursued a civilian career with NSA where he distinguished himself as a gifted intelligence analyst with sharp intuition. His decorations from his military and civilian service include 4 Meritorious Service Medals, 5 Intelligence Community Awards, 3 Unit Citations, a Joint Meritorious Service Award, and, as he often put it, "the other usual doodads." Following service to his country, David retired and returned to his first love: art. He rediscovered his passion for sculpture, especially stone and metal. His work has been featured in local shows and, through digital technology, internationally. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Lynda "Latifa" Wilkinson.

Werner Stiller, East German Spy and Defector, Dies at 69.  On a snowy night in January 1979, Werner Stiller stepped into his office in Berlin, pried open a safe and grabbed the transit papers that would allow him to travel safely from the city's communist eastern half to freedom in the west.

He had already sent his wife a goodbye letter stuffed with 10,000 German marks, explaining that she and the children would be safer in East Germany, but acknowledging, "I don't understand a lot of this myself."

He had a gun inside his jacket, and inside his luggage was a stack of microfiche film four inches thick - the bulk of a secret document cache that made Mr. Stiller, a case officer with the East German police and intelligence agency known as the Stasi, one of the most notable defectors of the Cold War.

A trained physicist, he worked for seven years with the Ministry for State Security's foreign intelligence service before turning to the West. He later transformed himself from an idealistic champion of communism to a freewheeling avatar of global capitalism.  [Read More:  Smith/washingtonpost/3April2017]

Section V - Events

AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Thursday, 20 April 2017, 6:30 PM - Michigan - The AFIO Michigan Chapter hosts SSA David A. Fluitt, FBI, discussing counterintelligence and counterproliferation issues.

The AFIO "Johnny Micheal Spann" Memorial Chapter hosts David A. Fluitt Counterintelligence Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) with the Detroit FBI and also serves as the counterintelligence and counterproliferation Program Coordinator within the state of Michigan. Speaker: David Fluitt, Counterintelligence Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) with the Detroit FBI Location: Contact us for information on meeting location Send inquiries to afio.secretary@afiomichigan.org or visit their website at www.afiomichigan.org.

22 April 2017, 2 pm - Kennebunk, ME - The AFIO Maine Chapter hosts CIA Operations Officer/COS - Gerry Gossens - on "Peace in the Middle East?"

The next meeting of AFIO's Maine Chapter features Gerry Gossens, a veteran CIA clandestine operative, who will review chances of peace in the Middle East. He is a former CIA station chief in six different countries, and will discuss current geopolitical landscapes from Iraq to the Congo. Gerry Gossens graduated from the US Naval Academy and was commissioned by the US Air Force. He went on to become a pilot and intelligence officer in the Strategic Air Command. Next he was recruited by the CIA for clandestine service and served in Beirut, the Congo, Tunisia, Guinea, South Africa, Zambia, and Paris. Later in civilian life he was involved in politics and served two terms each in the Senate and House of Representatives in Vermont.
No registration required. The chapter meeting is open to the public and begins at 2 p.m. at the Program Center of the Brick Store Museum, 4 Dane St. in Kennebunk. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.

Monday, 1 May 2017, 6 pm - New York, NY - The NY Metro Chapter Meeting features Dr. Robert Jervis on "Can We Do Intelligence Analysis Better? A View From A Complex Systems and 'Black Swan' Expert."

Robert Jervis, PhD is Stevenson Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University, and was the recipient of the 1990 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for "Ideas Improving World Order." He is an expert on the complexities of systems, politics, intelligence, and human nature and competing values. The ideal speaker for the chapter (and the country) at this time. So you will not want to miss this presentation.
Jervis held appointments at the University of California at Los Angeles and Harvard University. In 2000-2001, he served as President of the American Political Science Association. Professor Jervis is co-editor of the "Cornell Studies in Security Affairs," a series published by Cornell University Press, and a member of numerous editorial review boards for scholarly journals. His publications include Perception and Misperception in International Politics, The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution, System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social Life, American Foreign Policy in a New Era, and Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Fall of the Shah and Iraqi WMD, and several edited volumes and numerous articles in scholarly journals.
Location: Society of Illustrators, 128 E 63rd St, New York, NY 10065.
COST: $50/person. Payment at the door only. Cash or check. Full dinner, cash bar.
REGISTRATION strongly suggested, not required. Phone Jerry Goodwin 646-717-3776 or Email afiometro@gmail.com.

Saturday, 6 May 2017, 11 am - 3 pm - Orange Park, FL - The North Florida AFIO Chapter hosts former CIA Officer Dr. Edward Mickolus on "Coercive Intelligence, including EIT."

On May 6 our presenter will be one of our own. Compatriot Edward F. Mickolus, PhD who will be speaking on "Coercive Intelligence, including EIT (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques)."
Mickolus received his A.B. at Georgetown University, and Ph.D. at Yale. He served 33 years at the CIA in analysis, operations, management, recruiting and public affairs. His 31 books include a series of multi-volume chronologies and biographies on international terrorism; including many articles and reviews in journals and newspapers. He served as editor of CIA's internal publication, "What's New at CIA" from 1994-2005. For the last seven years, he has been a senior instructor for SAIC and its spinoff Leidos. Inc. He currently serves teaches at the University of North Florida.
AGENDA: 11-noon Social Hour; noon-12:05 Call to Order, Pledge, Invocation; 12:05-12:15 Intro of guests & new members; 12:15-1 Lunch; 1:00-1:15 break; 1:15-2 presentation by Dr. Edward F. Mickolus, CIA (Ret.); 2-3 Chapter business.
RSVP to Ken Meyer kemeyer123@att.net or call at 904-777-2050. Cost: $24 per person; pay Club at the luncheon. Family and guests, especially potential members, are all cordially invited.

Friday, 12 May 2017 - Tysons Corner, VA - AFIO National Spring Luncheon features NYTimes Washington Correspondent David Sanger on "Terrorism, Secret Wars, Nuclear Proliferation, and the Use of American Power," and Author Eva Dillon on "Living Life Undercover in a CIA Family"

David E. Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, speaks on "Terrorism, Secret Wars, Nuclear Proliferation, and the Use of American Power." His address starts at 1 p.m.
The 11 a.m. speaker is Eva Dillon, author and magazine publisher, on Spies in the Family: An American Spymaster, His Russian Crown Jewel, and the Friendship That Helped End the Cold War and join AFIO as we welcome and thank Marina, the granddaughter of Gen Polyakov present with us at this special event. Dillon's book is an engaging true-life memoir, of her CIA father and the Soviet double agent he handled - the highest ranking, longest serving asset the US had during the Cold War. It is also a memoir about both families growing up unknowingly as the children of spies.
"A beautifully written, profoundly moving account of one of the most important U.S Intelligence sources ever run inside the Soviet Union. A cliff-hanger from beginning to end, Dillon's account is filled with espionage tradecraft and family drama - essential reading for intelligence professionals, memoir enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by how spying really works." -- Peter Earnest, Executive Director, International Spy Museum
Event location the Crowne Plaza (soon to be renamed DoubleTree-Hilton), Tysons Corner, VA, at 1960 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22102.
Registration is here. Do so now to assure seating.

13 May 2017, 11:30 am - Patrick AFB, FL - The AFIO Florida Satellite Chapter hosts Alexander Penalta, J.D. on "Civilian Drone Operations: The Threat Over the Horizon."

The guest speaker at this Florida Satellite Chapter meeting will be Alexander Penalta, Esquire (Juris Doctor), on "Civilian Drone Operations: The Threat Over the Horizon in the Age of Counterterrorism."
Attorney Penalta is an American Business Litigation and Aviation Lawyer, fluent in English and Spanish, licensed to practice in Florida and Washington, DC, with offices throughout North and South Florida. He currently serves as Chief Counsel at the The Penalta Law Firm (www.penaltalaw.com) and is a partner member of FBI Infragard.
Penalta's presentation will be followed by Q&A by Dr. Joseph Finley Ph.D., a former FBI Special Agent, on "ISIS Terror Tactics."
Location: The Tides, 1001 N. Hwy A1A, Bldg #967, Patrick AFB, FL 32925
Times: 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM Social Hour, greet old, new members and guests (limited cash bar – honor system); 12:15 PM: Sit-Down lunch To Attend: Prepaid reservations are required which must be received by 5 May 2017. To reserve, send check ($25 member; $28 guests) and meal choice (Marinated Beef Flank Steak (B); Twin Seared Chicken Breast w/Artichoke and Caper Sauce (C) Vegetarian/vegan available) by first contacting FSC Chapter President at afiofsc@afio.com..

Thursday, 18 May 2017, 11:30 AM - Colorado Springs, CO - The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter hosts Dr. William E. Berry, discussing "North Korea's Nuclear Weapons and Missile Program."

Dr. William E. Berry, Jr. is currently an independent consultant specializing in East Asian security issues after retiring from the Air Force as a colonel in 1997. During his military career, he served in Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea, and Malaysia where he was the air attaché from 1990-1993. He also taught at the Air Force Academy, the National War College, and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and was the senior military professor and chair of the Academy's Department of Political Science toward the end of his career. Dr. Berry completed his most recent book entitled Global Security Watch-Korea, published by Praeger/Greenwood Press in March 2008.
The presentation will begin with a review of how the Kim dynasty in North Korea has endured from 1948 to the present, passing from father (Kim Il Sung 1948-1994) to son (Kim Jong Il (1994-2011) to grandson (Kim Jong Un 2011-present) despite widespread famine, malnutrition, and other inhumane sufferings of the North Korean people. It will then proceed to detail the North Korean nuclear weapons programs and the development of missile delivery systems.
The nuclear program started in the 1980s with a graphite reactor provided by the Soviets with a demand that NK join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In the early 2000s the US accused NK of developing a covert highly enriched uranium program. NK withdrew from the NPT and probably produced about 50 warheads. Some 5 underground tests were conducted with increasing yields. Three tests occurred under the regime of the current Kim Jong Un.
A missile delivery system has also been developed, resulting in more than 20 intermediate range missile tests in 2016. There are plans for Intercontinental ballistic missiles. There are still technological issues with miniaturization and hardening, fitting warhead to missile and surviving reentry into the atmosphere, guidance systems etc. But the regime is extremely serious in further development.
The presentation will conclude with an examination of possible rationales for the decision of the Kims to expend scarce economic resources to develop nuclear weapons and delivery systems.
For details, please RSVP to Tom VanWormer at robsmom@pcisys.net.

HOLD THE DATE - 28 - 29 September 2017 - Tysons Corner, VA - AFIO's 2017 National Intelligence Symposium

Tentative Agenda: ' Opening Remarks by AFIO President; ' NGA Overview and Q&A; ' Video Presentation; ' NGA Leadership Remarks (D/NGA or DD) - Includes GEOINT Strategy and Functional Management; ' Lunch (with museum tours, NGA store, and group photo). Presentations/Panels on: ' KH 8 Declassification; ' Pathfinder (unclassified research to solve intel problems); ' Commercial GEOINT Activity; and ' the Small Satellite Revolution.
Arrive Wednesday evening, 27 September to overnight at the hotel to be ready early Thursday, 28 September, for coach service to NGA for all day conference including visit to their new museum. Welcome by NGA Director Robert Cardillo. Friday activities TBA. Friday evening is our "Spies in Black Ties" banquet.
Hotel: DoubleTree-Hilton, Tysons Corner, VA [formerly the Crowne Plaza], at 1960 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22102. Details, event registration and hotel room registration links to be sent to all current members in coming weeks. Early phone-only room registrations can be made at 1-877-865-1877 at $119/nite.

Other Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 19 April 2017, 6:30pm - Washington, DC - "Three Minutes to Doomsday" - at the International Spy Museum

Imagine tangling with a spy who eventually succeeded in making the US defenseless against a nuclear attack. When former FBI agent Joe Navarro, an expert in analyzing body language, embarked on a routine assignment in August 1988 to interview "person of interest" Roderick James Ramsay regarding his association with a known traitor, he couldn't know that it would be the beginning of an all-consuming battle of wits at the highest level. In connection with his new book, Three Minutes to Doomsday, Navarro will share his personal memories of being pitted against Ramsay, an ex-soldier who possessed the second highest IQ ever recorded by the US Army. And Navarro had to contend with Ramsay's photographic memory, which allowed him to vacuum up vast amounts of top-secret information to be sold to the Soviet Union. The book will be available for sale and signing at the event. Tickets: $10. Register at www.spymuseum.org.

Saturday, 22 April 2017, 1-4pm - Washington, DC - Allan Topol: "The Italian Divide" - at the International Spy Museum

The Spy Museum's Spy Store is hosting a signing of the novel, The Italian Divide, by Allan Topol. The book follows former CIA Director Craig Page in his investigation into a murder of friend and sponsor, prominent Italian banker Frederico Castiglione. He suspects foul play. With the help of Elizabeth Crowder, CIA director Betty Richards, and director of EU Counter Terrorism Giuseppe, Craig discovers a complicated web of mysterious political and financial takeovers across Italy, all linked back to Craig's sworn enemy, Zhou Yun, and Roberto Parelli. Allan is the author of ten novels of international intrigue. Two of them, Spy Dance and Enemy of My Enemy, were bestsellers, and many of his works appear in Japanese, Portuguese, and Hebrew editions. Event is free. More info at www.spymuseum.org.

Thursday, 4 May 2017, noon - 2 pm - CWO(4) James Stejskal USA Rtd., discusses Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956'1990 at the Australian Embassy

The Washington Sub-Branch of the Returned & Services League of Australia luncheon at the Australian Embassy features CWO (4) James Stejskal USA Rtd., discussing his new book: Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956'1990.
James Stejskal hails from the Great Plains of Nebraska. After a short stint at the University of Nebraska he enlisted in the US Army. First training as an airborne infantryman and serving with the 82nd Airborne, he then qualified for Special Forces and successfully completed the arduous "Q" Course to win his "Green Beret." He served with US Army Special Forces in many "interesting places" worldwide, including Germany, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa before retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CWO4) after 23 years. But the adventure was only just starting... He then worked as a security consultant for a US NGO in central Africa during the Rwandan insurgency and second Congo War. In the last century, he was recruited by CIS and served as a senior case officer in Africa, Europe, and the Far East before retiring again. He is now a military historian
Where 'Amenities Room, Embassy of Australia, 1601 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
Charge - $15, including buffet lunch and sodas. Alcoholic beverages- $2 each. Attire: Business casual.
RSVP by noon on Wednesday, 26 April 2017 to David Ward at 202-352-8550 or via e-mail to dmward1973@gmail.com NOTE: Valid photo ID required. Parking: While there is no parking at the Embassy, paid, off street parking is available behind and under the Airline Pilots Association- 17th and Mass, and, at 15th and Mass (1240 15th St). On street two hour metered parking also available.

Thursday, 4 May 2017, 7 pm - Washington, DC - 2017 Night of Heroes Gala - PenFed Foundation

You are cordially invited to join the PenFed Foundation, our partners and friends, Thursday, 4 May 2017, as we honor those who lead the way in supporting our military and veterans. All proceeds benefit the PenFed Foundation, helping members of the military secure the financial future they deserve.
Location: Trump' International Hotel, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC
VIP Sponsor Reception - 5:30 pm; General Reception - 6:00 pm; Dinner - 7:00 pm Black Tie
Please respond by 21 April 2017.
For more information and to RSVP online, do so here.

Thursday, 25 May 2017 10 am - 11:30 am - Fort Meade, MD - National Cryptologic Museum's Schorreck Lecture: "Codebreaking and the Battle of Midway" with Author/Historian Elliot Carlson

2017 Henry F. Schorreck Lecture Speaker Series features Elliot Carlson, author of the celebrated biography of CMDR Joseph Rochefort (cryptologic hero of the Battle of Midway) - Joe Rochefort's War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway. Carlson's talk will be "Codebreaking and the Battle of Midway: When Cryptanalysis Came of Age." More about Carlson's book is here.

On 3-7 June 1942, the US defeated Japan in the Battle of Midway, one of the most decisive battles in world history. The battle regained the initiative in the Pacific for the US after its setback at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 while placing Japan on the strategic defensive from which it never fully recovered. On the 75th Anniversary of this US naval victory, Carlson discusses the pivotal role that intelligence played in it. In particular, the breaking of JN-25, the Japanese Imperial Fleet's operational code, by codebreakers at Station Hypo in Hawaii led by CMDR Joseph Rochefort USN.
Carlson holds degrees from Stanford University (MA) and the University of Oregon (BS); he lives with his wife in Silver Spring, MD.

RSVP: Advanced registration required since this popular NCM Schorreck Lecture Series always has a full house. So, to not lose a spot, email history@nsa.gov and/or gjnedve@nsa.gov and provide the number of seats you will need. They will confirm your reservations and answer any questions.
Event location: National Cryptologic Museum: 9900 Colony Seven Rd, Fort Meade, MD. Directions here.

4 - 7 June 2017 - San Antonio, TX - USGIF GEOINT 2017 Symposium theme is: "Advancing Capabilities to Meet Emerging Threats"

The always impressive US Geospatial-Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) is offering more than 25 training and professional development sessions at their GEOINT 2017 Symposium on "Advancing Capabilities to Meet Emerging Threats" being held in beautiful San Antonio, TX. Monday, June 5 through Wednesday, June 7 are a variety of training sessions running two hours each. Attendees receive 0.2 Continuing Education Units per qualified session. Expand your knowledge on a familiar topic or learn a new one in one of the hottest, most promising and useful fields in the Intelligence Community. Sessions include: Hacking for Defense: Solving National Security Problems; 3D Terrain Modeling; Analytics for Small Sat Systems; Recent Advances in Deep Learning Cognitive Social Media Analytics Framework; Open Geospatial Machine Learning; Cyber Attack and Defense Wargame with IT, Industrial, and GEOINT Context; And much more.
Location: Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, TX.
RSVP ASAP: Agenda and other information here.

18 October 2017, 9 am - 3 pm - Laurel, MD - NCMF General Meeting & Symposium: "How Cyber has Changed the World Around Us."

SAVE THE DATE. Information coming in July. Details will be at www.cryptologicfoundation.org.
Event location: The Kossiakoff Center, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory.

19 - 20 October 2017 - Laurel, MD - 16th NSA/CSS Center for Cryptologic History Symposium: "Milestones, Memories, and Momentum."

SAVE THE DATE. Information forthcoming. This symposium will be followed on 21 October 2017 with tours and workshops at the National Cryptologic Museum.
Location: Kossiakoff Conference Center, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland.
For more about the program, visit www.nsa.gov

PAPERS for this event: The theme for the 2017 Symposium will be "Milestones, Memories, and Momentum." There are many milestones to mark in 2017: the 160th anniversary of the first attempt to span the Atlantic with a telegraph cable, 100 years since both the entry of the United States into World War I and the Russian October Revolution, and 75 years after the World War II battles of Coral Sea and Midway. The Symposium will take place just a few months before the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, and during the 25th year after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Papers looking at these milestone events in cryptology and considering how we remember their significance are particularly encouraged, as are those examining how cryptologic advances from these times provided momentum to create the systems of today and the future. Your proposal package should include an abstract of no more than ONE page, a complete CV, a short biographical sketch (not to exceed 150 words) to be used in the program, the amount of time you require for your paper, and full contact details. Panel proposals should include the above for each presenter and a short explanation of the panel's theme. Please submit your proposal by noon on Monday, February 6, 2017, to Program Chair Betsy Rohaly Smoot at history@nsa.gov or to her care at The Center for Cryptologic History, Suite 6886, 9800 Savage Road, Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755. Please note that correspondence that does not include the suite number may not be delivered in a timely manner. Proposals received after noon on February 6 will be considered on a space-available basis. The program committee will notify you about the final status of your proposal by June 9, 2017, but may engage you in discussions before that date. See details here.

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