AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #44-19 dated 19 November 2019

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CONTENTS

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Section III - COMMENTARY

Section IV - Obituaries, Jobs, Research Request

Obituaries

Jobs

Research Request

Section V - Events

Upcoming AFIO Events

Other Upcoming Events from Advertisers, Corporate Sponsors, and Others

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: rsy, ec, po, pj, mh, km, gh, mk, rd, fm, kc, jm, mr, jg, th, ed, 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.
CAVEATS: IMPORTANT: 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 our members, and for researchers, educators, and subscribers. You are urged to exercise your usual caution and good judgment when responding, and should verify the source independently before supplying any resume, career data, or personal information.]
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AFIO's Latest Project is Now Online:

PROJECT: When Intelligence Made a Difference - a new series by editor Peter Oleson, is available here.

Released in Spring-Summer 2019 edition of Intelligencer and now available online as PDFs are:

• Project overview and theme by Peter Oleson
• George Washington, Spymaster Extraordinaire: A Master of Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Military Deception by Gene Poteat
• Lafayette and the French Intrigue to Lead the American Revolution by Gene Poteat
• How Sweden Chose Sides by Michael Fredholm
• George Washington's Attacks on Trenton and Princeton, 1776-77 by Ken Daigler 

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Deceased AFIO Member, Senator Richard Lugar, Honored

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) announced that the U.S. Navy has agreed to name a warship in honor of Senator Richard G. Lugar. Senator Young hosted the naming ceremony for the USS RICHARD G. LUGAR (DDG 136) in Indianapolis yesterday (18 November), where he was joined by U.S. Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer and members of the Lugar family at the Indiana War Memorial.

In June, Senator Young and Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that called for the Navy's next unnamed Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer warship to be named in honor of the late Senator Lugar. Senator Lugar died Sunday, 28 April 2019.

"At a time when nuclear proliferation was civilization's greatest threat, Senator Lugar helped save the world," said Senator Young. "It is fitting that the Navy honor Senator Lugar's legacy by naming one of their warships after this dedicated statesman, and I look forward to joining Secretary Spencer and the Lugar family for this momentous occasion."

Senator Lugar volunteered for the U.S. Navy and served his country as an officer from 1957-1960, including as an intelligence briefer to then Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke. As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Lugar was a leader in reducing the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons by passing and overseeing the implementation of the bipartisan Nunn-Lugar program, which deactivated more than 7,600 nuclear warheads, millions of chemical munitions, and several thousand nuclear capable missiles, and continues to perform non-proliferation missions in more than forty countries.

It is the season of gift-giving and AFIO has NEW GIFT ITEMS AVAILABLE

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Purchase a shirt and sweatshirt for yourself and consider as gifts for colleagues, family, and friends.

Both items are available in men's sizes: Small, Medium, Large, XL, XXL, and XXXL. The long-sleeved Polo Shirts and Hooded Sweatshirts are not available in ladies' sizes.

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.

PAGE DOWN TO BOTTOM OF THESE NOTES TO SEE MORE AFIO GIFTS. Gifts appropriate for intelligence officers, colleagues, recruitments, agents, advisors, and family.

Newly Released and Forthcoming Books of the Week

The Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal
by Michael Smith
(Arcade, Jan 2020)

"A fascinating study of betrayal, the foibles and compulsions that motivated so many traitors to betray their countries and compromise classified information. Definitely an essential handbook for the layman as well as the mole hunter and counterintelligence professional." —Nigel West

"There are very few ex-intelligence officers who know their stuff better than Michael Smith. If you want to know why spies put their lives in danger, this is the book for you." —Andy McNab, author

"A forensic, enthralling, and extremely accurate analysis of what motivates spies. Bags of history. Bags of intrigue. The Anatomy of a Spy is an unprecedented and instant classic." —Matthew Dunn, former MI6 officer and author

"A lot of people will do a lot of things for money and a lot of people will do things for spite or ego. There are also people who do things for an ideal, and wouldn't take your money if you shoved it down their throats." —John le Carré

Why do people put their lives at risk to collect intelligence? How do intelligence services ensure that the agents they recruit do their bidding and don't betray them? What makes the perfect spy? Drawing on interviews with active and former British, American, Russian, European, and Asian intelligence officers and agents, Michael Smith creates a layered portrait of why spies spy, what motivates them, and what makes them effective.

Love, sex, money, patriotism, risk, adventure, revenge, compulsion, doing the right thing—focusing on the motivations, Smith presents a wealth of spy stories, some previously unknown and some famous, from the very human angle of the agents themselves. The accounts of actual spying extend from ancient history to the present, and from running agents inside the Islamic State and al-Qaeda to the recent Russian active measures campaigns and operations to influence votes in the UK, European Union, and US, possibly penetrating as far as Trump Tower if not the White House.

Book may be ordered here.

Killer High: A History of War in Six Drugs
by Peter Andreas
(Oxford University Press, Jan 2020)

Stimulants - alertness enhancers - and other mind-altering drugs have been used in war since time immemorial.

There is growing alarm over how drugs empower terrorists, insurgents, militias, and gangs. But by looking back not just years and decades but centuries, Andreas reveals that the drugs-conflict nexus is actually an old story, and that powerful states have been its biggest beneficiaries.

Andreas shows how six psychoactive drugs-ranging from old to relatively new, mild to potent, licit to illicit, natural to synthetic-have proven to be particularly important war ingredients: alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, opium, amphetamines, and cocaine. Beer- and wine-drenched ancient and medieval battlefields, and the distilling revolution lubricated the conquest and ethnic cleansing of the New World. Tobacco became globalized through soldiering, with soldiers hooked on smoking and governments hooked on taxing it. Caffeine and opium fueled imperial expansion and warfare. The commercialization of amphetamines in the twentieth century energized soldiers to fight harder, longer, and faster, while cocaine stimulated an increasingly militarized drug war that produced casualty numbers surpassing most civil wars. Andreas demonstrates armed conflict has become progressively more drugged with the introduction, mass production, and global spread of mind-altering substances. As a result, we cannot understand the history of war, or of some special operations, without including drugs, and we similarly cannot understand the history of drugs without including war.

Book may be ordered here.

The Contact Paradox: Challenging our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
by Keith Cooper
(Bloomsbury Sigma, Jan 2020)

Inside the difficult questions about humanity's search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

In 1974, a message was beamed towards the stars by the giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, a brief blast of radio waves designed to alert extraterrestrial civilizations to our existence. Of course, we don't know if such civilizations really exist. But for the past six decades a small cadre of researchers have been on a quest to find out, as part of SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. What will happen if humanity makes contact with another civilization on a different planet? Journalist Keith Cooper tackles some of the myths and assumptions that underlie SETI—the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

The silence from the stars is prompting some researchers to transmit more messages into space, in an effort to provoke a response from any civilizations out there that might otherwise be staying quiet. However, the act of transmitting raises troubling questions about the process of contact. Humans look for qualities such as altruism and intelligence in extraterrestrial life, but what do these mean to humankind? Can we learn something about our own history when we explore what happens when two civilizations come into contact? It almost NEVER is a good outcome.

Finally, do the answers tell us that it is safe to transmit, even though we know nothing about extraterrestrial life, or as Stephen Hawking argued, are we placing humanity in jeopardy by doing so? There may be many others out there and they wisely remain silent. Will we learn why at our own peril?

"The mystery of humanity's place in the universe enthrals millions. Whatever strangeness prevails out there, shouldn't we explore, at least with curious minds? Cooper surveys what science has revealed about this odd cosmos, the vastness of our ignorance and curiosity about any 'others' out there, and some of the steps we can take - even now - to prepare." —David Brin, award-winning author

Book may be ordered here.

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Russia's FSB Linked to $450M Bitcoin Disappearance. Russia's intelligence agency the Federal Security Service (FSB) could be behind the disappearance of $450 million worth of cryptocurrency from an online exchange platform, the BBC has reported.

The BBC investigation into how Wex, an online exchange for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, went out of business in 2018 has revealed fresh links between the platform's demise and Russia's security services.

One of the site's co-founders told BBC News Russian he was forced to hand over information about customer's digital wallets to individuals from the FSB in 2018. That information would enable them to seize the cryptocurrency which customers had saved on the platform - worth a total of around $450 million at the time. [Read more: MoscowTimes/15November2019]

Iran Will Seek New Fighter Jets, Tanks as 2020 Embargo Lifts. A senior U.S. intelligence official says Iran will likely buy new advanced fighter jets and tanks next year when a U.N. Security Council arms embargo is scheduled to be lifted.

The official says a new Defense Intelligence Agency assessment of Iran's military capabilities concludes Tehran is committed to becoming the dominant power in the Middle East. It also finds the Islamic Republic is making rapid progress developing attack drones and other missile systems.

The report comes amid escalating tensions between Iran in the wake of a series of attacks on commercial shipping vehicles and Saudi oil facilities this year that have been blamed on Tehran.

The intelligence official says Iran would probably buy the tanks and aircraft from Russia and China. The official spoke anonymously to discuss intelligence matters. [AP/19November2019]

Spy Swap: Five Freed in Russia-Lithuania-Norway Exchange. Russia has taken part in a carefully co-ordinated spy swap with Norway and Lithuania, in a deal that required the Lithuanians to change their laws.

It took place at Lithuania's southern border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and involved two Russians, a Norwegian and two Lithuanians.

The three countries have been working on the operation for weeks. [Read more: BBCNews/15November2019]

Spain Orders Extradition of Venezuela's Ex-Intelligence Chief to US. Spain's High Court on Monday ordered the extradition of Venezuela's former military intelligence chief to the United States, reversing an earlier decision to refuse the request.

Hugo Carvajal, an ally of Venezuela's late Socialist leader Hugo Chavez, is wanted by U.S. authorities on allegations of drug trafficking. He has previously denied accusations that he collaborated with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to help smuggle cocaine into the United States.

The High Court said in a written ruling there was "sufficient evidence to justify the extradition". [Read more: Reuters/18November2019]

Myanmar Intelligence Department to get Sweeping Powers to Carry Out Domestic and Foreign Counterintelligence. Under a draft amendment currently at the National Assembly, the department will be able to spy on all foreign countries, institutions or groups that are deemed detrimental to national security.

The government has registered an amendment bill at the National Assembly that will give sweeping powers to the National Intelligence Department to carry out counterintelligence work, including spying on foreign countries, institutions or groups that it deems "detrimental to national security".

A draft amendment to the Special Service Act-1985 was registered last week at the Upper House. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has brought the National Intelligence Department directly under the Prime Minister's Office, vowing to transform the department into a national security agency "that would not only gather and analyse information but also help set key national security policies". [Read more: KathmanduPost/15November2019]

Russian Intelligence Gathering Ship Visits Trinidad & Tobago.  Russian intelligence-gathering ship Yantar (Amber) recently entered T&T waters. Unlike three previous visits in 2018 by another Russian vessel, the Viktor Leonov, which docked in Point Lisas in March and near the Hyatt Regency Port-of-Spain, in January and February, the ship was anchored out at sea from the Port of Port-of-Spain.

The ship-tracking site MarineTraffic.com listed the Yantar arriving at the Port-of- Spain port on November 8th at 4.19 pm and anchoring six kilometers south-east of the Point Baleine lighthouse, one of the farthest points among the ships that were anchored far away from the public's eyes.

Guardian Media contacted via email, Canadian OSINT (Open-source intelligence) research consultant Steffan Watkins, who began tracking the Yantar after the US military voiced concern about Russian activity around undersea cables, raising fears they could attempt to tap into or sever the lines, to ask him what was the purpose of the vessel in T&T and it・s capabilities. [Read more: KongSoo/TTGuardian/19November2019]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

This Year's NSA Codebreaker Challenge is in Full Swing. Every year the National Security Agency conducts its Codebreaker Challenge. The exercise aims to encourage students interested in cybersecurity to apply their talents in service of national security.

Students must register for the challenge by going to the website the NSA has set up, and then after reviewing some background material about the scenario of the year's challenge, they begin working on a series of tasks that get progressively harder as they go along. "The final task is usually something that would be challenging to an existing expert in the field," said Eric Bryant, a technical director in the crypto-analysis organization at the NSA, on Agency in Focus: Intelligence Community.

Bryant and his team created the concept in 2013 as a way to communicate with academic institutions on areas the agency felt was important to include in their curriculum and as "a way to showcase some of the real world challenges the NSA was facing and be able to launch it out there nationwide for students across the spectrum to able to test their talents," said Kathy Hudson, senior strategist for academic engagement.

The agency is well into this year's challenge which revolves around a secure messaging app that runs on Android. [Read more: Moges/FederalNewsNetwork/15November2019]

Continuing the Fight: Veterans at the CIA. Veterans of the United States Armed Forces have always played an important role at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Take CIA's predecessor organization, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), for instance. Founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the outset of World War II - and in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on U.S. naval forces at Pearl Harbor - the OSS began its life as a wartime body tasked with mandates to collect and analyze strategic information and to conduct unconventional and paramilitary operations.

At its peak, OSS employed almost 13,000 people: Two-thirds of the workforce was U.S. Army and U.S. Army Air Forces personnel. Civilians made up another quarter, and the rest were from the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. At the helm of OSS was World War I hero, General William "Wild Bill" Donovan. The story of CIA begins- and continues - alongside those of the U.S. military and its Veterans.

Today, Veterans comprise nearly 15% of CIA's workforce, and we continue to serve alongside our military partners across the globe. [Read more: CIA/VAntagePoint/17November2019]

Norway has Spied on the Russian Military for 70 years. Only with Frode Berg did it go Seriously Wrong. In 1955, Ingeborg Lygren was sent to Moscow as a secretary at the Norwegian embassy.

The 42-year old woman from Sandnes, near Stavanger, had been working as an interpreter at the Norwegian Border Commissioner of the Norwegian-Russian border in Kirkenes for the past year. Her knowledge of Russian and Polish were valuable for the Norwegian state. The relationship between Norway and the Soviet Union was tense and in Kirkenes, the Norwegian armed forces were in full swing building up its eastwards looking intelligence work.

Lygen was sent to the Soviet Union to serve both the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian intelligence services as well as the CIA. Her job was to act as link between the CIA and Russians who had been recruited as agents, pretty much the same task Berg had.

Lygren was to send letters arriving in Moscow via Norwegian courier mail and was also to manage dead post drops, a demanding and difficult job. [Read more: Trellevik/HHN/19November2019]

Rockets and Intelligence: The FBI is Building a $1 Billion Campus in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville isn't just for space. The northern Alabama metro area known famously as Rocket City thanks to its aerospace and defense roots will soon become home to an expansive FBI outpost viewed internally as a second headquarters.

The FBI is investing $1 billion to build out its footprint in the area, a plan that will potentially add thousands of additional jobs to Huntsville's overall employment.

"We really look at it like a HQ2, a backup for the footprint that we have here in Washington, D.C.," says Paul Abbate, associate deputy director at the FBI, the top-ranking executive overseeing the expansion, in a rare sit-down inside the bureau's D.C. headquarters. "It's really the future of the FBI, and it's all about technology, innovation, talent and resiliency."

That HQ2 will be a state-of-the-art campus on Redstone Arsenal - the massive U.S. Army post bordering the city of Huntsville. It will focus on everything from terrorism to ballistics to explosive devices. [Read more: CNBC/14November2019]

How NGA is Tackling Interoperability Challenges. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is all about data. And the agency, which is set to break ground on a new nearly $2 billion facility in St. Louis later this month, is hoping to get more of it unclassified for better analysis and information for the warfighter.

FCW talked with Mark Munsell, NGA's CTO about some of the barriers to declassifying images and what that translates to for the digital workforce. [Read more: Williams/FCW/12November2019]

Former CIA Officer Gives Talk on China. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Operations Officer Ken Daigler, was invited by the Catholic University Intelligence Club to discuss his expertise in counterintelligence, and his overall vast career in the CIA this past Tuesday.

Counterintelligence is defined as activities that help prevent any spying, intelligence gathering, or any other foreign sabotage by a foreign entity.

"I am what they call a classically trained case officer. Part of my training included how to receive a single-engine plane on a field at night using torches, jumping out of airplanes, and agent handling," Daigler said. "I spent 33 years as a case officer recruiting foreign nationals of interest to the US government."

Daigler, who published his book Spies, Traitors, and Patriots: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War in 2014, gave the roughly 30 students a talk on intelligence, with some history of intelligence in the United States. [Read more: Perillo/TheTower/13November2019]

MI6 Spies Unwind in Their Own Secret Bar, 'C' Reveals. We expect to find him leaning casually on a bar in a tropical paradise ordering his signature dry martini, but it seems James Bond may in fact be more likely to frequent a much more exclusive watering hole a bit closer to his office.

In his first recorded interview, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) has revealed that the spies in his organisation, better known as MI6, have their own bar, accessible only to those working at the headquarters in Vauxhall, London.

Sir Alex Younger said the secret bar was an essential element in allowing his operatives to unwind, given they cannot talk to anyone outside MI6 about the pressures of their work.

The head of MI6 said: "We can't talk even to our closest friends about what we're doing and so therefore we need a culture within where we can do that with each other." [Read more: Nicholls/TheTelegraph/13November2019]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Forget the Bombs or Missiles: Iran's Intelligence Machine Is Quite Powerful. Very rarely do any of us on the outside world know with much clarity about what exactly is going on in the world of Iranian intelligence. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian military intelligence, and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security are notorious for their secrecy and efficiency. General Qassem Soleimani, the long-time director of the IRGC's Quds Force, is one of the most popular public figures in Iran today and has long been a household name (and a major irritant) for U.S. intelligence officers. For those of us who don't have access to the classified intelligence, we have often see Soleimani as the Iranian military man with the thin, white beard who travels to war zones in Syria, poses for pictures on the frontlines with his fatigues, and organizes and deploys irregular Shia militias to to bail out Tehran's strategic allies (like Syria's Bashar al-Assad) when they are dangerously close to being pushed out of power.

A remarkable collaborative project between The Intercept and the New York Times, however, has provided the general public with a little more insight into the Iranian spy-games. Composed of hundreds of reports and cables written within the 2014 and 2015 timeframe and crafted by Iranian intelligence operatives on the ground, the project is a reminder of the proficiency, ruthlessness, cunning, and stone-cold pragmatism of a country frequently described in Washington, D.C. as an emerging 21st century Persian Empire acting solely on emotion and religious fanaticism. While it's always tricky business to extrapolate from a sample, the reports leaked to the Times and The Intercept point to a nation that is more than willing to push ideology aside in favor of cold-blooded calculation - particularly in next-door Iraq. Three things stand out: [Read more: DePetris/NationalInterest/19November2019]

Section IV - Obituaries, Jobs, Research Request

Obituaries

Carlos Avery, CIA Physicist, Senior analyst, local Maryland Railroad historian
Carlos Preston Avery, 81, a CIA Physicist, Senior analyst, local Maryland Railroad historian, died 15 November 2019 in Minnesota.
Avery was born Hutchinson, MN and discovered passions for science, trains, and architecture. He attended the University of Minnesota earning a Bachelor, MS, and PhD, all in Physics, by 1967. The friendships and mentorships he built at the university remained among his most treasured for the rest of his life.
In 1967 he moved to Washington DC to accept an analyst position with the Central Intelligence Agency. From 1975 to 1986 he was chief of the agency's Directed Energy Branch, and from 1986 to 2017 he held the position of senior analyst. Over his 50-year CIA career, he worked primarily in the areas of Soviet science, technology, strategic defense weapons, Y2K, and Iraq.
His hobbies included interest in the architecture of railroad stations, a curiosity that bloomed into a passionate investigation of the Victorian railroad station architecture of Ephraim Francis Baldwin. For more than 20 years, Carlos spent free moments poring over historical documents, working with local historical society Peerless Rockville, MD, interviewing members of the Baldwin family, photographing railroad stations, cataloging his research, participating in Baltimore's Historic Architects Roundtable (aka the Dead Architects Society), lecturing and writing. His book, "E. Francis Baldwin, Architect: The B&O, Baltimore, and Beyond," was published in 2003 by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation. At the time of his death, Carlos had completed a draft of his second book, about Maryland architect Frank E. Davis.
He also enjoyed genealogy, running, photography, and math puzzles.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Sara Torvik, of Silver Spring, MD, as well two daughters, two sons, and other family.

John Beam, CIA Operations Officer
John Cooke Beam, 84, served CIA in the Africa Division, died 5 September 2019 in Winston-Salem, NC.
Born in Glasgow, MT, John earned a B.A. in History at the University of Montana before enlisting in the Army and being stationed in Germany. Returning stateside, he embarked upon a career as an Operations Officer for the CIA, serving for over a quarter century in various posts in Africa and France, and received the Agency's Career Intelligence Medal.
For the past twenty years, John lived in Davidson, NC where he perfected his gardening and cooking skills, enjoyed hiking, reading and writing, and pursued an ongoing research project on occupied France during WWII.
He is survived by wife, Carole Kruger, a son, two daughters, and other family.

John Crutcher, CIA Operations Officer
John Fulton Crutcher, a CIA Operations Officer, died 2 September 2019 in Sequim, WA.
John was born in Los Angeles, attended The Cate School, Stanford University, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he got his Master of Science in Geology.
As a geologist, he worked in Alaska and then in the outback of Australia. During his time in Australia, he fell in love with southeast Asia while on a surfing holiday. John then joined CIA as a China Specialist where he served for many decades.
He and his young family spent two years in Vietnam. John sometimes traveled into the countryside of North Vietnam to talk with villagers.
His next agency tour was in Taiwan where he learned to speak Mandarin. John and his family also spent four years in Hong Kong.
He also enjoyed sailing, and with his son sailed in the South China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Manilla, Philippines.
He served as Commodore of the Aberdeen Boat Club and was instrumental in the early phases of designing and planning the current yacht club.
In 1984, John moved to Europe where he married a second time, to Marie-Paule. The couple lived in The Hague, Netherlands for two years where they were inspired by elegant European homes. They then moved to Brussels where they fell in love with an old Belgian manor and spent twelve years restoring it.
In 1999, John and Marie-Paule relocated to Sequim, WA where they designed a home on Bell Hill and lived there for 20 years.
He is survived by Marie-Paule; their puppy, Choupette; a brother, and by a daughter and a son, and his ex-wife (the mother of his children), Carol Davis, and other family.


Jobs

FireEye Has Many Intelligence Positions Available For You - Worldwide - Contract, Full-time, Part-time, Interns

Explore the many career and contractor intelligence jobs available here. Jobs openings in Cyber Security include - Advisory, Architecture, Digital Forensics & Incident Response, Penetration Testing, Threat Research. They positions are needed here: New York, Chicago, Manila, Reston, Dallas, Atlanta, Suitland, Singapore, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Doha, Stockholm, London, Milpitas, multiple cities in Australia, Washington, Indianapolis, Tampa, Santiago, Alexandria, Seattle, Carlsbad, Houston, San Francisco, Arlington, Dubai, Amsterdam, Ft Belvoir, Minneapolis, Mexico City, San Diego, Boston, El Segundo, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Chiyoda, Ft Huachuca, Ft Gordon, Ft Meade, Ft Shafter, Kuwait City, Seoul, Sttutgart, Salt Lake City, Austin, Dublin, Bangalore, Cork, Colorado Springs... Explore the many career and contractor intelligence jobs available here.

Faculty Opportunities: Cybersecurity faculty, professionals, and Master's or PHD Graduates can find jobs for CAE designated institutions through the listings below. Listings are by University with the most recent at the top.

Research Request

Searching for U.S. Expert on Syrian Military Intelligence between 1977-82 for fee-based advice

Dear AFIO Members - I am a lawyer working in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I work in the area of immigration and refugee law, and am working on the case of an older Syrian man who is trying to be admitted to Canada.
I am looking to obtain written (paid) expertise (3-5 pages) on various subjects with respect to the Syrian Military Intelligence ('SMI'), between 1977 and 1982.
We are wondering if you or a colleague to whom you can refer this request, would be able to provide answers to a series of questions? We are willing to compensate this expert (or multiple experts). Please provide, in advance, what your fee would be.

If you would rather speak on the phone, please let me know.

Please reply to: Peter Shams, Avocat • Lawyer, peter@hadekelshams.ca or call him at (Voice) 514.439.0800; (Fax) 514.439.0798. Address:
Hadekel Shams s.e.n.c.r.l./LLP, 305, rue Bellechasse est, bureau 400A, Montréal (Québec) H2S 1W9, Canada.

Section V - Events

AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Thursday, 21 November 2019, 11:30 a.m. - Colorado Springs, CO - The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter hosts Edin Mujkic, discussing "The Balkans: A Joker in Putin's Sleeve"

Synopsis: This presentation by Edin Mujkic discusses Russian interference in Balkan politics, the American and European role in the Balkans, as well as the potential for escalation of the situation toward violence. From interference in the United States domestic politics to support of some of the most brutal regimes in the world, Russia is again the focus of attention. Whether it is media attention, or attention of intelligence and national security professionals, there is a consensus that Vladimir Putin is engaged in a campaign of undermining the post-World War II international theater and generally the Western democracies. While attention where Putin's next move will be, is usually focused on the Baltics or the Middle East, the situation in the Balkans is not generating much attention. The Balkans, always on the periphery of European politics, until it explodes, is fertile ground for Vladimir Putin to exploit its weaknesses and complicate European and world affairs. The political quagmire in Bosnia and Herzegovina that does not have a government since elections in the Fall of 2018, relations between Serbia and Kosovo, the role of Croatia, a NATO member, in internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are not only exploited, but directly influenced by Moscow.

Biography: Edin Mujkic is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Affairs for University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He is also a UCCS Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Faculty Fellow for 2017-2018. Edin received his BA from Auburn University Montgomery, majored in Political Science, with a minor in Criminal Justice. Edin followed up his Bachelor's Degree with a Master's in International Relations (2008) and was a Prince Khalid bin Sultan fellow. Upon completing his Master's degree, Edin entered the Public Administration and Policy Ph.D. program at Auburn University graduating December 2012. While earning his PhD, Edin furthered his education studying Strategic Leadership and National Security at Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. Edin is continuing his research focusing on national security, defense, homeland security and U.S. foreign policy.

For more information, please contact: steve13507@gmail.com.

Wednesday 4 December 2019, 5:30 p.m. - New York, NY - AFIO NY Metro Chapter hosts CIA Officer (Ret) Dr. John A. Gentry discussing "IC Political Activism since 2016 -- Origins and Implications."

Partisan political activism by current and former intelligence officers since mid-2016 is the largest and most significant politicization of intelligence by intelligence officers in U.S. history. This presentation will explore the causes and the wholly negative consequences of this new form of politicization for the IC and the country.

Dr. John A. Gentry was for 12 years an intelligence analyst at the CIA, where he worked mainly economic issues associated with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries; for two of those years he was senior analyst on the staff of the National Intelligence Officer for Warning. He is a retired U.S. Army Reserve officer, with most assignments in special operations and intelligence arenas. On active duty, he was executive officer of a special forces operational detachment. As a reservist, he was mobilized and spent much of 1996 as a civil affairs officer in Bosnia. Dr. Gentry also is an adjunct associate professor with the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. He formerly taught at the College of International Security Affairs, National Defense University, at the National Intelligence University, and at George Mason University. His research interests primarily are in intelligence and security studies. He publishes frequently in Intelligence and National Security and International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence. Georgetown University Press published his co-authored book, Strategic Warning Intelligence: History, Challenges and Prospects, in early 2019. He is a member of the Editorial Committee of the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence. He is adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Location: Society of Illustrators, 128 E 63rd St (between Park and Lexington), New York, NY 10065.
Timing: Registration starts at 5:30 pm, Speaker presentation starts at 6 pm. Fee: $50/person. Payment at the door only. Cash or check. Full dinner, cash bar.
RSVP: Strongly recommended that you RSVP to ensure space at event. Call or Email Chapter President Jerry Goodwin at afiometro@gmail.com or 646-717-3776.

Thursday, 5 December 2019, 12:30 - 2 pm - Los Angeles, CA - AFIO Los Angeles Chapter meeting features Dr John Gans discussing "White House Warriors: How the NSC Transformed the American Way of War."

Dr. John Gans will be the guest speaker for the Los Angeles Chapter of AFIO and discuss key topics of his newly published book White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War, which covers the people and power of the National Security Council staff.
Gans is Perry World House's Director of Communications and Research. In addition to leading Perry World House's Graduate Associates program, he teaches Penn undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to joining Perry World House, he was the chief speechwriter to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at the Pentagon. In addition to leading the writing team at the Defense Department, Gans served as senior speechwriter for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew.
In 2019, Gans published White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War, which the Wall Street Journal said was a "bottom-up history," The New Republic called "enlightening," and Lawfare concluded it was "rollicking and compellingly told." Gans earned his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.

We look forward to your attendance. Please mark your calendar and your spouse or other guests are welcomed.

Event Location: 5651 W Manchester Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Map or Directions here.
Full refreshments served
RSVP: afio_LA@yahoo.com
Questions to Vincent Autiero, President, AFIO-Los Angeles Chapter, at afio_LA@yahoo.com.

Monday, 10 February 2020, 5:30 p.m. - New York, NY - AFIO NY Metro Chapter hosts CIA Officer (Ret) and Author/Disguise Expert Jonna Mendez

Jonna Mendez (Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations That Helped Win the Cold War), share (with late husband Tony Mendez) their experiences as spies in Moscow during the height of the Cold War in the mid-1980s. The authors begin with the initial list of "the Moscow Rules" and continue to discuss briefly the current state of affairs in Russia under Vladimir Putin, and how they interfered with the 2016 U.S. election. Additional details to follow in coming months.

Location: Society of Illustrators, 128 E 63rd St (between Park and Lexington), New York, NY 10065.
Timing: Registration starts at 5:30 pm, Speaker presentation starts at 6 pm. Fee: $50/person. Payment at the door only. Cash or check. Full dinner, cash bar.
RSVP: Strongly recommended that you RSVP to ensure space at event. Call or Email Chapter President Jerry Goodwin at afiometro@gmail.com or 646-717-3776.


Other Upcoming Events from Advertisers, Corporate Sponsors, and Others

21-22 November 2019 - Phoenix, AZ - CAE in Cyber Security Annual Symposium

The CAE in Cyber Security Symposium is right around the corner! CAE is Centers of Academic Excellence. If your institution belongs to the CAE-CD, CAE-2Y, CAE-R, or CAE-CO Program, you are eligible to participate. Details to follow several months from now.
Direct your questions to info@caecommunity.org. What are CAEs? More information here.

Upcoming CAE events and the Cyber Security Symposium.

Tuesday, 26 November 2019, 7 - 8:45 pm - McLean, VA - How Terrorist Groups End - Dr Christopher Harmon at the Westminster Institute

Dr. Christopher C. Harmon is the Donald Bren Chair of Great Power Competition at Marine Corps University, where he teaches at schools such as Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Warfighting.
Some terrorist campaigns are short; some last for decades. Most terrorist campaigns do end....but how? The answers not only reveal much about a given terrorist group, they also aid us in identifying good strategies for countering such political violence. Dr. Harmon's work -- from a 2004 think tank report to lectures at the National Counter-Terrorism Center and Interpol headquarters -- has focused on five results: defeat of the terrorists by force; arrest or killing of the leader(s); terrorism's turn up a pacific political path; defeat via good grand strategy including law enforcement; and terrorist success. His lecture will address a dozen important modern groups of varied ideologies and will include Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Long ago stirred by the question of this evening's topic, Dr. Harmon created a rubric and concept of analysis, articulated in many publications from 2004 through 2010, including a book chapter for Cambridge University Press in early 2006. He is lead author or editor of six books, including A Citizen's Guide to Terrorism & Counterterrorism, Toward A Grand Strategy Against Terrorism, and The Terrorist Argument. The latter book's thesis was presented at a Westminster Institute lecture in December, 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q8U7T1vJcw).
Harmon's most recent essays are in Combating Terrorism Exchange, the geopolitical journal Orbis, and Oxford Bibliographies.
Dr. Harmon wrote his political science dissertation on terrorism in the early 1980s at the Claremont Graduate School in California, where he had also earned his M.A. He continued that work as Legislative Aide for Foreign Policy to a member of Congress and, much later, director of counterterrorism studies programs in Asia and Europe for the U.S. government. A professor at civilian and military graduate schools, including the Naval War College, Dr. Harmon has also taught courses at The Institute of World Politics on terrorism and on counterterrorism.

No fee. Register Now

Reception at 7:00 pm; Dr Harmon at 7:30.

Where: The American Legion, 1355 Balls Hill Rd, McLean, VA

Questions: Contact Robert R. Reilly, Director, The Westminster Institute, 703-288-2885 or at br@westminster-institute.org

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

In addition to the new Royal Blue long sleeve shirts, and the gray long sleeve hooded sweatshirts, the AFIO Store also has the following items ready for quick shipment:

NEW: LONG and Short-Sleeved Shirts with embroidered AFIO Logo and New Mugs with color-glazed permanent logo

Show your support for AFIO with our new Polo Shirts. Be the first to buy these new, high quality, subtle heathered grey short sleeve shirts, and dark blue long sleeved shirts, of shrink and wrinkle resistant fine cotton with a soft 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 $45 each including shipping.
Sizes of (M) men or (W) women shirts; Small, Medium, Large, XL, XXL, and XXXL. At this time all orders will arrive as Short Sleeve shirts.
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. If interested in other shirt colors or sleeve lengths, contact Annette at: annettej@afio.com.

 

 


NEW: Mug with color glazed logo. Made in America. (We left out all that lead-based glaze and hidden toxins in those mugs made in China being sold by other organizations). Also sturdy enough to sit on desk to hold pens, cards, paperclips, and candy.

This handsome large, heavy USA-made ceramic mug is dishwasher-safe with a glazed seal. $35 per mug includes shipping. Order this and other store items online here.

 

 

 

MousepadAFIO's Intelligence Community Mousepads are a great looking addition to your desk...or as a gift for others.
Made in USA. Click image for larger view.

These 2017 mousepads have full color seals of all 18 members of the US Intelligence Community on this 8" round, slick surface, nonskid, rubber-backed mouse pad with a darker navy background, brighter, updated seals. Also used, by some, as swanky coasters. Price still only $20.00 for 2 pads [includes shipping to US address. Foreign shipments - we will contact you with quote.] Order MOUSEPADS here.

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