Spies, Lies, and Intelligence

We’ve been doing some traveling this autumn.  Our first trip was to the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. The theme of the Road Scholar program we attended was “Spies, Lies, and Intelligence: the Shadowy World of International Espionage.”  This was our twentieth program with the Road Scholar organization (formerly known as Elderhostel) and we haven’t had a bad one yet!  This latest program was no exception, except that it was exceptional.

An engaged group of 38 people began their experience with a viewing of the movie “Breach,” a dramatic account of FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen, a convicted traitor who fed American secrets to the KGB (Soviet military intelligence) and the SVR (Russian intelligence service). The lively discussion that followed the movie was facilitated by a retired CIA counterintelligence officer and Russian/Soviet specialist. The methodology and rationale of Hanssen was examined and the damage his treason caused explained in some detail.  Our extremely knowledgeable speaker set the stage for the ensuing days’ programs and excursions.

The next morning a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and Vietnam veteran introduced the topic of espionage in the D.C. area. Jonathan Pollard, an American traitor, convicted of giving secrets to Israel for ideological purposes and the damage done by Navy spy John Walker, who traitorous motive was profit, were discussed. Our presenter, now a Certified Master Tour Guide,  led the group on a guided tour featuring notable foreign and domestic espionage sites, focusing in the Georgetown area.  The evening program was an amazing lecture by a retired CIA polygraph expert.  The lie detector has its detractors, but most people don’t realize that the final product, those squiggly lines on a sheet of paper, is more or less anti-climactic.  The real work takes place before the actual test when the polygraph operator and his subject spend hours discussing the test questions during the most important pre-test interview.  Some of the presenter’s most challenging cases were described.  The audience was ready with many questions, each answered with completeness and honesty.

The program just got better and better.  The group was on the move the next day, heading for a morning long visit to Ft. Meade where the National Security Agency is based.  Our objective was not the NSA but the National Cryptology Museum located at the Fort.  The photos above were taken at the museum. I was thrilled when I was chosen to send a short message on one of the museum’s Enigma machines.  There I was, back in 1941 at Bletchley Park, attempting to crack a Nazi coded message!  The museum’s director was our guide and a very far ranging tour include not only their Enigmas, but the only-one-in-existence Cryptanalytic Bombe, the advantage of PURPLE- the program that broke the Japanese cipher, an introduction to SIGSALY (Secure Digital Voice Communications in World War II), the Navaho—and other Native American—Code talkers, the Soviet’s version of the Trojan Horse in the guise of an American Eagle wall plaque, intelligence satellites, and a great deal more.  Everyone agreed that we could have spent a few more hours at the Ft. Meade facility.

There were other activities and trips but the best was left for last.  The attendees were enthralled with the case stories the former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service officer (somewhat like the FBI intelligence services) and current NSA guest lecturer described.  This gentleman spent much of his career in the Soviet Russia espionage scene.  The entire group was stunned when he introduced the guest he had brought to the program, a former KGB colonel who, amongst many other activities, had turned a NY Jesuit into a Soviet spy.  Both gentlemen regaled the group with stories of their experiences, describing some of the “assets” they had turned and managed.  Again the questions were fast and furious; the answers amazing.  The final two hours passed too quickly and the program was at an end with flights to catch. What a fabulous memory!

Road Scholar no longer limits its programs to those 55 and older.  If you have any interest in broadening your horizons check them out on the web:  roadscholar.org