Member Opportunities

Could you be a spy? Now’s your chance to find out! Do you have the savvy to beat a lie-detector? The smarts to break a top-secret coded message? The wits to create secret writing? Families are invited to find out how they measure up at the Museum's annual Spy Fest! Learn tradecraft from experts in the field and participate in spy skill challenges that will give KidSpy recruits and their handlers an insider’s peek into the shadow world of spying—and who knows, there just may be a spy or two in your midst.  Program is free of charge, but advance registration is required. Tickets will be available on January 5th, 2026. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

For the entire month of February, the Spy Museum will host Member Appreciation Days where members can enjoy exclusive perks each week of the month, including an extra guest pass, a special gift, and a raffle in our retail store. Then, cap off the celebration by joining us for Member Preview Days of our brand-new exhibit Camouflage: Designed to Deceive on February 27 and 28. You can join SPY as a member online or by calling 202.654.2840. If you are a current member and have questions about Member Appreciation Month, please email membership@spymuseum.org. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)'s Center for the Study of Intelligence and Nontraditional Warfare welcomes you to a special one-day conference dedicated to unraveling the truth and implications of the Havana Syndrome.

This conference will gather medical and national security experts, investigators, and actual victims of the syndrome to examine the AHI attacks and consider what the national security community should learn from these incidents.

We will examine the critical questions:

• What happened? Defining the clinical and operational reality of Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI).

• How did it happen? Assessing the competing theories—from directed energy attacks to environmental factors.

• What are the national security implications? Analyzing the impact on personnel, trust, and U.S. operations abroad.

• What lessons should be learned? Determining the necessary changes in threat detection and personnel care.

The United States Government has not officially named a culprit nor determined the causes of AHI. The FPRI conference will delve into this issue to consider what the national security community should learn from these incidents.

FPRI welcomes you to be part of the audience. This is a unique opportunity to listen as our distinguished participants examine the Havana Syndrome attacks and to present your own questions to the experts and victims during Q&A sessions.

More information about the event.  REGISTER TO ATTEND

The best spies never get caught. Aldrich Ames, Stanislav Gusev, James Nicholson, Robert Hanssen, Earl Pitts, and Chi Mak all did. Have you ever wondered what it is like to run an espionage investigation? Or to arrest and interrogate a spy? Tonight, hear what it’s really like from the special agents who led the FBI’s historic run of espionage cases between 1994 and 2005. Alan Kohler, former FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director, and Spy Museum Advisory Council member, will lead a conversation with four noteworthy FBI counterintelligence agents: Mike Anderson, retired Supervisory Special Agent; Mike Donner, retired FBI senior executive; Rudy Guerin, retired FBI deputy assistant director; and John Hosinski, retired FBI senior executive and Chief, Counterespionage Group at CIA; about their work on these infamous cases. The retired agents will share the untold stories, discuss how the FBI ran espionage cases at that time, and even reveal a few anecdotes about mistakes made along the way. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

Members of the Spy Museum Inner Circle are invited to get a look behind the curtain of the popular podcast, SpyCast, with an invitation to watch live online as host Sasha Ingber and guest Stephen Harding are in studio recording an upcoming episode.  Members will have the unique opportunity to see how our team brings stories to life, in real time as well as the creative process, from thoughtful conversations to the moments that never make it into the final episode. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the story before anyone else hears it. Stephen Harding is a New York Times bestselling author, military historian, and defense journalist. His World War II book The Last Battle is currently being adapted into a major motion picture, and he serves as editor-in-chief of Military History magazine. He’ll be sitting down with Sasha to discuss his upcoming book release, G.I. G-Men, the explosive, untold true story of the band of patriotic FBI agents who went undercover to hunt down U.S. traitors on foreign soil during World War II and later investigated war criminals in the lead-up to the famous Nuremberg trials. Visit www.spymuseum.org. 

During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese fighter pilots flying Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s were strong competition for control of the skies. Anxious to regain their advantage, both the US Navy and the Air Force launched air combat training programs to teach pilots the lost art of dogfighting—and in the most secret of these programs they flew against an elite fighter squadron in actual Soviet aircraft! The program’s name was Constant Peg. The squadron was the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron. The pilots were simply known as Red Eagles. As a part of Constant Peg, the pilots learned to fly MiGs and replicate Soviet maneuvers in gut-wrenching simulated air-combat exercises. As a Red Eagle, Lt. Col. Rob Zettel, was one of the select few American pilots chosen to fly these top-secret fighters. In his three-year tenure with the Red Eagles, Zettel flew against some of the top pilots in the American military, preparing them for anything enemy pilots might throw at them. After his 42-year flying career, Zettel is now sharing his story in American MiG Pilot: Inside the Top-Secret USAF Red Eagles MiG Squadron. Join us to hear what it was really like in the cockpit of both the MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighters. Zettel will delve into this top-secret operation, the risks, and its impact on the final years of the Cold War. And how exactly did the US acquire the MiGs in the first place? Visit www.spymuseum.org.

Join us for an online discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, and terrorism issues in the news. Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa will lead the briefing. Costa, a former intelligence officer of 34 years with 25 of those in active duty in hot spots such as Panama, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, is also a past Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council. He will be joined by Tonya P. Wilkerson, the former Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Wilkerson served as the ninth NGA Deputy from November 2021 to November 2024, leading efforts to provide geospatial intelligence to support US national security. Her experience across the Intelligence Community included change management leadership, fluency across multiple mission areas, and deep expertise in the space sector. As the Associate Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for Science and Technology in 2021, she was responsible for the Directorate of Science and Technology strategy, resources, and talent management. She also led the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Mission Operations Directorate, where she managed the satellite operations enterprise. Wilkerson began her career as a project management engineer leading research and development efforts to identify and mature technologies for integration into NRO systems. A seasoned intelligence executive with over three decades of distinguished service and former CIA intern, Wilkerson is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of leaders. Visit www.spymuseum.org. 

Skip the candlelight and go undercover for a Valentine's night of romance and classified chuckles at the International Spy Museum.  Join us for an unforgettable date night with DC’s Don’t Tell Comedy Show. This lineup of hilarious comedians is top-secret and revealed only on the day of the show. But don’t fret, Don’t Tell has curated lineups of 4-7 different comics for an evening of covert comedy and unexpected surprises! Tickets are $27. Visit www.spymuseum.org

From protecting President Lincoln to gathering intelligence for General McClellan, the Pinkerton Agency gained an extraordinary reputation from their work during the Civil War. But who exactly was Pinkerton? Join University of Edinburgh professor emeritus Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones as he reveals the true story of the world's most famous private detective, the details of his impact, business empire, and private life. In his newest book America's Legendary Detective and the Birth of Private Security, Jeffreys-Jones drew on overlooked primary sources to create an authoritative account of the man and the Pinkerton National Detective Agency (PNDA). Jeffreys-Jones will share the story of PNDA's founder and how successive generations of heirs put it at the center of American history for decades. He’ll trace PNDA’s history into the twentieth century and analyze the legacies of Pinkertonism up to the present. From providing intelligence in the Civil War, pursuing high-profile outlaws like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and protecting scabs in the Homestead lockout learn how the PNDA earned and lives up to their slogan, “We never sleep.”  Visit www.spymuseum.org.

SPY with Me is an interactive virtual program for individuals living with dementia and their care partners. Join SPY as we use music and artifacts to explore some of our favorite spy stories. Programs last one hour and are held virtually through Zoom. To register, please email Shana Oltmans at soltmans@spymuseum.org. Free but space is limited. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

On March 1, the International Spy Museum will open its new special exhibition, Camouflage: Designed to Deceive, to the public. Before the public opening, SPY Members will have free and early access to this new immersive exhibition, a self-guided experience that examines the fascinating history of camouflage and its many secret connections to espionage. Member Preview Days for this special exhibition will take place during regular Museum hours (10AM to 6PM) on Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28. Enjoy micro-talks with SPY staff throughout the day, raffle drawings, and special giveaways. If you can’t make it to Member Preview Days, don’t worry! Members will receive free admission to the exhibition for its duration. You can join SPY as a member online or by calling 202.654.2840. If you are a current member and have questions, please email membership@spymuseum.org.  Visit www.spymuseum.org.

The Intelligence Studies Consortium (ISC) was established in 2018 by the National Intelligence University (NIU) and university partners to promote communication and cooperation among academic and government organizations. The ISC provides an organized forum for the partner universities to collaborate in exploring issues and engaging in solutions that can improve national security. The participating universities have intelligence studies academic programs and unique relationships with many government agencies, non-government organizations, and the private sector; the ISC seeks to develop these relationships and provide an integrated forum to discuss critical intelligence issues in intelligence education. 

The upcoming Spring 2026 Symposium, titled "The Intelligence Profession: Future Challenges & Opportunities," will feature a combination of keynote speakers, student and faculty panels, student and faculty poster sessions, networking opportunities, and a Career Fair. We will feature information about publication, internships, and employment opportunities in government (intelligence community and non-Title 50 jobs) and the private sector. This symposium will be conducted both in-person and virtually; all sessions will be recorded. We’ll provide morning refreshments and host an evening reception. We will recognize outstanding student presentations with awards. REGISTER

Call for Submissions

This Call for Submissions aims to solicit fresh insights from students and faculty members at the ISC universities—at the graduate, undergraduate, or post-doctoral levels—for presentation at the Spring 2026 Symposium, “The Intelligence Profession:  Future Challenges & Opportunities.”

The lines of effort for this challenge, supported by the Intelligence Studies Consortium, include Homeland Security, National Security & Great Power Competition, Business/Private Sector, Emerging Technologies, and the Concept & Future of Intelligence Studies. Individuals or teams of students should submit ideas in one of the areas below or note that their submission falls in an unidentified area (Open Topic Submission).  

This symposium is an opportunity for students and faculty members to present recent work at an academic conference in a panel format. Panelists will be selected for participation in the symposium based on their proposal, which will be judged by the ISC faculty representatives, using the criteria below. In addition, all persons (whether or not selected for a panel) will have the opportunity to present in a poster session. Please submit a 1-2 page proposal (an abstract) for a 10-minute presentation at the symposium and panel discussion. Government employees are obligated to obtain prepublication review on their own prior to submission.  SUBMIT PROPOSAL

ADDITONAL SYMPOSIUM DETAILS 

Join author, historian and lecturer Gary Powers Jr. on this exciting, 11-day tour of fascinating Cold War and espionage related sites in Germany and Denmark with overnight stays in Berlin, Kiel, Aalborg, Copenhagen and Rostock.

What's Included on this Tour: Round-trip air transportation from Washington, DC 9 nights in centrally-located, four-star hotels. Full-time, professional CHA Tour Director throughout. Valuable insight & informative commentary by Gary Powers Jr. Breakfast daily at hotels & six, three-course dinners. On-tour transportation by private touring motorcoach. Ferry crossing between Denmark and Germany. Sightseeing tours & visits/entrances to sites listed below:

Full Tour Price: $5,995 per person

Land Only Price: $5,295 per person (airfare & airport transfers not included)

Repeat Gary Powers travelers will receive a $200 discount!

Prices above are based on double occupancy in hotels. A $850 single room supplement is required for travelers without roommates.

Book by December 15, 2025 with a required deposit of $495. Final payment is due by January 15, 2026.

Berlin Airlift Memorial • Checkpoint Charlie Museum • Glienicke Bridge • Teufelsberg or "Devil's Mountain" • Soviet War Memorial • DDR Museum • German Spy Museum • Schwerin Stasi Documents Archive • Laboe Naval Memorial & Museum • Submarine U-995 • Aalborg Defense & Garrison Museum • Regan Vest Cold War Bunker • Rebild Centre • Thingbaek Mines • Odense Bunker Museum • Copenhagen Resistance Museum • Ejby Bunker • Cold War Museum Stevnsfort • Rostock Documentation & Memorial Site • Rechlin Aviation Museum (Visits subject to change based on availability)

Want more information? Ready to enroll? Visit: www.cha-tours.com/garypowers/2026

UNG will be hosting the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE) Annual Global Conference for 2026. This conference is open to all that are interested in intelligence studies, global security, cyber education, international relations, psychology, criminal justice, and history.

The conference theme will be “The Convergence of Artificial Intelligence, Cyber, and Intelligence on Global Security Interests.”

The National Intelligence History Conference (NIHC), organised by Bletchley Park and GCHQ. This academic conference is open to all who have an interest in intelligence history.  The Call for Papers is now available. Submissions should be received by 29 January 2026.  ADDITIONAL CONFERENCE INFORMATION