Dr. Ralph Bunche was a man of many firsts. He was the first African-American to:

• Be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize
• Serve as a desk officer at the State Department

In addition, Bunche was a part of America’s most important intelligence first: The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) — the predecessor of today’s CIA. During World War II, Bunche worked with the OSS to provide intelligence about developments in African territories.

The Best and the Brightest

Bunche was born on August 7, 1903, in Detroit, Michigan. His father, Fred, was a barber, and his mother, Olive, was an amateur musician. Both of his parents were in poor health, and when Bunche was 12 years old, they passed away. Following their deaths, Bunche’s grandmother moved him, along with his two sisters, to Los Angeles, Calif., to live with her.

Bunche was a very intelligent child and a gifted athlete, winning prizes and awards throughout his educational career. He was the valedictorian of his graduating class at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles. Bunche went on to study international relations on an athletic scholarship at the University of California at Los Angeles. He played varsity basketball on championship teams, and graduated at the top of his class in 1927.

He continued on to Harvard, earning his master’s degree in political science in 1928. During the next several years, he taught at Howard University while also working toward a doctorate.

At the beginning of his career, Bunche was active in education and the civil rights movement. He chaired the department of political science at Howard University and went on to teach at Harvard. In 1936, Bunche wrote A World View of Race, based on his experience working with the Institute of Race Relations at Swarthmore College and previous research. Bunche was also a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet,” which was consulted on minority issues by the administration. While Bunche is revered as an educator and civil rights activist, he is perhaps best known for his contributions to the United States Government.

Joining the War Effort

In September 1941 — with the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II looming in the future — Bunche was recruited by the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), a fledgling intelligence organization. He joined the COI as a senior analyst specializing in African affairs. In 1942, the COI became the Office of Strategic Services. Bunche moved to the OSS Research and Analysis Branch in 1943 to serve as an analyst and chief of the Africa division. Bunche was responsible for following developments on British territories in Africa, including what later became Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, and Namibia.

Bunche became a well-known authority on this African issues. In fact, he was often called upon by policymakers to answer questions about Africa’s stability and possible Axis plotting. Bunche also authored manuals about the political and economic conditions in African territories so U.S. troops stationed in the region could properly plan and take precautions.

As World War II began to draw to a close, Bunche realized that he could use his knowledge of Africa to make a difference elsewhere. In 1944, he transferred to the State Department, becoming its first African-American desk officer. In 1945, he became the head of the Division of Dependent Affairs and helped draft the United Nations Charter in San Francisco.

Negotiating Peace for the United Nations

Bunche is probably best known for his role as the U.N. mediator during the Arab-Israeli conflict in the late 1940s. Originally, the United Nations chose Sweden’s Count Folke Bernadotte to mediate the conflict with Bunche as his chief aide. In 1948, Bernadotte and Bunche traveled to the Middle East and settled on the island of Rhodes to begin negotiations; however, Bernadotte was assassinated in September and Bunche took over.

Bunche negotiated the armistice while playing pool with the Israeli and Arab representatives. During the next several months, Bunche convinced the Israelis and Arabs to accept the 1949 Armistice Agreements. In 1950, Bunche was the first African-American to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for the United Nation’s success in containing the Arab-Israeli war. President John F. Kennedy also recognized Bunche’s efforts in the Middle East by awarding him the Medal of Freedom in 1963.

Over the next few decades, Bunche continued his work with the United Nations, directing operations in Suez, the Congo, and Cyprus. Throughout his career, Bunche remained an active supporter of the civil rights movement. He participated in the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

In 1971, Bunche retired from the State Department because of health reasons and on December 9, 1971 at the age of 68, he passed away. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, N.Y.

Related Stories and Links:

• A Look Back … The Black Dispatches: Intelligence During the Civil War
• Black Dispatches: Black American Contributions to Union Intelligence During the Civil War

From President Truman on, each President has written a note of thanks to the men and women of the CIA. These notes are displayed with the President’s official photograph in the Presidential Gallery of the New Headquarters Building. This story is the first in a series about the relationship each president has had with the CIA. This article will focus on President Harry S. Truman.

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With the fall of the Axis powers and the end of World War II in 1945, President Harry S. Truman and Congress demobilized wartime agencies, like the Office of Strategic Services (OSS ) — the forerunner of the CIA.

However, President Truman began to have second thoughts when he realized how much information regarding intelligence and national security was being withheld from him. Truman also noticed that he was receiving redundant and confusing intelligence reports from several different agencies. He recognized the need for an organization that would correlate reports and give him a regular and consistent intelligence product.

Establishing an Intelligence Organization

For this reason, Truman decided to establish the Central Intelligence Group (CIG) in January 1946. The main purpose of CIG was to provide the president with regular updates on matters concerning national security in a timely manner. This led to the launching of two publications: the Daily Summary and the Weekly Summary. Both of these publications were intended for the president and were continued after CIG became CIA.

In September 1947, President Truman recognized the need for a permanent, civilian intelligence organization. The Central Intelligence Agency was established with the signing of the National Security Act of 1947, which charged the fledgling intelligence office with coordinating the nation’s intelligence activities and correlating, evaluating and disseminating intelligence affecting national security.

During President Truman’s time in office (1945 – 53), he discovered just how invaluable the Central Intelligence Agency was to national security. At a CIA orientation, President Truman acknowledged the contribution the CIA makes to national security:

“Those of you who are deep in the Central Intelligence Agency know what goes on around the world — know what is necessary for the President to know every morning. I am briefed every day on all the world, on everything that takes place from one end of the world to the other, all the way around — by both the poles and the other way. It is necessary that you make that contribution for the welfare and benefit of your government.”

It was President Truman who began the tradition of writing a note thanking the men and women of the CIA for their service to the United States. On June 9, 1964, he penned the first note that appears in the Presidents’ Gallery:

“To the Central Intelligence Agency, a necessity to the President of the United States, from one who knows.”

Related Stories and Links:

• A Look Back … The President’s First Daily Brief
• A Look Back … Truman Appoints First DCI, 1946
• Truman on CIA
• Our First Line of Defense: Presidential Reflections on U.S. Intelligence
  
• CIA Headquarters Tour

February 19, 2010

Today Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates visited CIA Headquarters, where he met with CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, addressed the Agency’s workforce, and received briefings on important national security matters.

Director Panetta and Secretary Gates discussed the vital cooperation between the CIA and the United States military—especially in the war zones—and ways to make that partnership even stronger.

“At every level—from strategic analysis to targeting support—CIA officers have never worked more closely with our DoD colleagues,” said Director Panetta. “Ever since our Jawbreaker team set foot in Afghanistan in September 2001, CIA has become a more agile and mobilized intelligence agency, with more of our officers serving alongside our partners in uniform.”

Secretary Gates told Agency employees that “there has never been a better fusion of military operations and intelligence in the history of warfare.”

Director Panetta noted the Secretary’s long and distinguished government career, which includes 27 years of outstanding service with the CIA. He started as an intelligence analyst and rose to a number of senior positions, culminating in his tenure as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 to 1993.

“Bob Gates is not only a friend of this Agency,” said Director Panetta. “He’s part of our history and a member of our family. He remains as committed as ever to the course he set for himself when he joined the CIA back in 1966: dedicating his exceptional talent and skills to keeping America safe and its people secure.”

Director Panetta presented Secretary Gates the CIA Director’s Award, which recognizes superior contributions in the fields of intelligence and national security. The Secretary’s “consummate understanding of intelligence and its application to policy,” the citation reads, “has enhanced the effectiveness of U.S. forces, advanced our nation’s interests worldwide, and strengthened the bond between CIA officers and their military colleagues in conducting their shared and essential mission.”

Statement to Employees by Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon E. Panetta on Black History Month

February 24, 2010

As intelligence officers, the men and women of CIA serve without expectation of public praise. The nature of our mission makes open recognition of our successes difficult, even as our setbacks often make the headlines. We take quiet satisfaction in knowing—even if few others do—that our hard work has helped protect the country we love.

But imagine if your country pretended that you didn’t exist and ignored your efforts and sacrifices on its behalf—and that your treatment had nothing to do with operational necessity and everything to do with social injustice. Black History Month has been a time for all of us to reflect on a powerful American story: Together, we remember the soldiers, doctors, farmers, teachers, laborers, lawyers—men and women from the countless professions that built a nation. Despite oppression that was virtually constant and often intense, they kept faith with America. They held to its core principles of equality, fairness, dignity, and opportunity, even when many of their countrymen did not.

It also has been a time to take account of how far we have come as a nation—and to celebrate it as a triumph for all Americans. One measure of that progress is how victories, large and small, are so common that they are almost taken for granted. We hear of people like Air Force Major Merryl Tengesdal, the first African-American woman to pilot the U-2. Or our very own Jeanette Epps, who last year left the DS&T to become one of NASA’s astronauts. With barriers broken, they can concentrate on speed and altitude.

Because of the sacrifice and dedication of African Americans throughout our country’s history, we owe it to them and to all Americans to ensure that our Agency reflects both the nation we serve and the world we engage. We are committed to a more diverse CIA.

As this month draws to a close, we should carry with us its lessons of courage, inspiration, and determination. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.”

Leon E. Panetta

The CIA Museum is home to many interesting artifacts associated with the Central Intelligence Agency’s predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services; foreign intelligence organizations; and the CIA itself. The following article is the fourth in a series that will explore the Agency’s amazing history through the artifacts in the CIA Museum. This article focuses on the U-2 pilots protective assembly.

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In the mid-1950s, the creation of the U-2 aircraft signaled the CIA’s entry into the world of overhead reconnaissance. The U-2 flew at an astonishing altitude of 70,000 feet at subsonic speed. With all the amazing innovations of the U-2, it’s easy to overlook another important invention that keeps a U-2 pilot alive at such high altitudes: the pilots protective assembly. It looks like a flight suit, but is actually a six-layer apparatus designed to protect the pilot whether he is flying, ejecting, parachuting, floating in water, or surviving in a harsh land environment. These suits were so effective in protecting pilots during flight that they have become the basis for modern day space suits used by astronauts.

Danger at 70,000 Feet

Cruising at an altitude of 70,000 feet can be physically dangerous to the pilot. The pressure suits must be worn by the pilot at all times as protection against the harsh conditions at such a high altitude. Pilots face many hazards, including:

• Hypoxia
• Decompression sickness
• Armstrong’s limit
• Extreme cold

The pilots protective assembly helps prevent hypoxia — which occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen — by providing a steady flow of pure oxygen during the flight. This also helps decrease the likeliness of getting decompression sickness or the “bends.”

Armstrong’s limit is another hazard U-2 pilots face. According to this limit, the boiling point of liquids diminishes as pressure is reduced, and above 63,000 feet altitude human blood and other fluids will boil at 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Without the pilots protective assembly, any liquids outside the human body, such as saliva and tears, will boil.

As well as providing adequate pressure to prevent Armstrong’s limit, pressure suits need to protect aircrew from the low temperatures at high altitudes, since they will free fall for two to three minutes after ejecting before their parachutes open, and for 15 minutes after that. The temperature at U-2 mission altitudes is about 70 degrees below zero.

The suit also provides flotation for a water landing and protection for surviving in a harsh land environment.

Parts of the Pilots Protective Assembly

The pilots protective assembly was developed specifically for the U-2 in the mid-1960s to minimize pilot stress and fatigue during the nine-hour flights. It consists of the following layers:

1. The exterior cover (Figure 1) is the outermost layer. It is made of high-temperature, fire-retardant material, and provides open flame, wind blast, wear and abrasion protection.
2. The retainer assembly (Figure 2) is a torso harness (Figure 3) integrated with a flotation system (Figure 4). The harness emerges through the exterior cover on the right and left of the chest, where large silver disconnect buckles can be seen, and on the back. The flotation garment is like a pair of water wings, open in front, extending under either arm and going across the back. It can be inflated by pulling a red tab to open CO2 cartridges, or by manually blowing into a tube which is coiled into a pocket on the chest just under the left disconnect buckle.
3. The next layer down is the restraint layer, consisting of nomex tape and link net, and limits the outward expansion of the gas container/exposure garment.
4. The gas container/exposure garment (Figure 5) is an inflatable bladder that puts pressure on the pilot’s torso, arms and legs.
5. The vent duct assembly (Figure 6) consists of a network of channels leading from the ventilation inlet to the neck, hands, and down the legs to approximately two inches below the top of each restraint bladder boot.
6. The sixth layer down is the liner.

Slide fasteners (zippers) in the restraint layer and gas container/exposure garment extending from the crotch to the back just below shoulder level are closed after the pilot has entered the suit. The fasteners create an airtight seal. If the pilot must get out of the suit by himself, he fastens a lanyard to the double fastener slider that he passes between his legs and over his shoulder, to allow him to pull the slider to its full open position at the top of the middle of his back. The lanyard is stowed until use in a pocket on the left side of the chest.

The air within the helmet (Figure 7) is divided into two regions by the face barrier, made of coated fabric. One region contains the eyes, nose, mouth and chin; the other contains the rest of the head and communicates with the interior of the suit. A face seal fits smoothly to the skin across the forehead, down the face in front of the ears, and under the chin to make an airtight seal between the two regions. The pilot’s exhaust breath passes from one region to the other by means of a one-way exhalation valve near the right cheek. The visor is rotated by the lever down into position in front of the face and then pressed tightly against a gasket on the shell to make an airtight seal. The visor contains a transparent resistive heater to keep the visor clear of condensation. With the visor closed, liquid and paste food can be ingested by the pilot through the feeding port. A lever on the bottom of this part opens and closes the port.

The U-2 pilots protective assembly on display in the CIA Museum’s Directorate of Science and Technology Exhibit dates from 1967.

Related Stories and Links:

• The CIA Museum: Looking Back to See the Future
• The CIA Museum: The People Behind the Magic
• The CIA Museum … Artifacts: Fairbairn-Sykes OSS Stiletto
• A Look Back … U-2 Monitors Suez Crisis
• Remembering CIA’s Heroes: Agency Pilots in the U-2 Program
• CIA Museum Tour

On the afternoon of October 22, 1962, a nondescript man was suddenly seized off the streets of Moscow by the KGB. He had been under surveillance on suspicion of treason. Thus ended Oleg Penkovsky’s career of spying for the United States and Great Britain. Penkovsky is considered one of the most valuable assets in Agency history.

Penkovsky the Spy

Penkovsky was a colonel in the GRU — Soviet military intelligence — and the highest level Soviet officer to spy for the United States or Great Britain up to that time. During his time in the military, Penkovsky grew disillusioned with the Soviet regime. He felt that Nikita Krushchev was leading the Soviet Union down the path to destruction with his relentless pursuit of spreading Communist throughout the world. Penkovsky wanted to help prevent a nuclear war between the superpowers, so he volunteered to spy for the United States and the United Kingdom.

In April 1961, Penkovsky established contact with Greville Wynne — a British businessman. A few days later, Penkovsky met with two British and two American intelligence officers to pass information about the Soviet Union during a trip to London. Penkovsky traveled frequently to Britain and France as a representative of a Soviet scientific research delegation and continued to meet his CIA and MI-6 handlers there for extensive debriefing sessions. In Moscow he delivered documentary material in meetings with the wife of an officer posted to the British embassy.

During the period that Penkovsky passed information to the United States and Great Britain, he:

• Spoke to debriefers for around 140 hours,
• Delivered numerous rolls of film, and
• Passed photographs of a significant number of secret papers to CIA and MI-6.

Penkovsky’s debriefing sessions produced about 1,200 pages of transcripts, which CIA and MI-6 had around 30 translators and analysts working on. The Colonel's information was immensely valuable, helping dispel concerns about Soviet strategic superiority, and showing that the United States had the advantage in missile systems.

Preventing a Nuclear War

In the summer of 1962, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles to Cuba. The Soviets believed that the United States would not detect the missiles until it was too late to take action. Penkovsky provided detailed plans and descriptions of the launch sites in Cuba. Without this information, it would have been very difficult to identify which missiles were at the launch sites and track their operational readiness.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Penkovsky’s information gave the Kennedy Administration technical insights about the Soviet nuclear missiles deployed to Cuba that assisted in the pursuit of an eventual diplomatic solution. Because of Penkovksy, Kennedy knew that he had three days before the Soviet missiles were fully functional to negotiate a diplomatic solution. For this reason, Penkovsky is credited with altering the course of the Cold War.

In addition to information about the missile launch sites on Cuba, Penkovsky passed along information about Soviet plans for Berlin to CIA and MI-6. This information was used by analysts well into the 1980s.

Capture, Trial, and Execution

To this day, it is unclear who or what implicated Penkovsky. Some believe that George Blake informed the KGB about Penkovksy’s work for the United States and Great Britain. At that point, the KGB began to keep a close watch on Penkovsky. KGB officers were stationed in apartments above and across the river from Penkovksy’s home. After an extended period of surveillance, the KGB arrested Penkovsky and put him on trial for treason and espionage.

After a public trial in May 1963, Penkovsky was sentenced to death. He was executed in Lubyanka Prison in Moscow on May 16, 1963. Penkovsky’s ashes allegedly were dumped into a mass grave at Donskoi Monastery cemetery in Moscow.

Related Links and Stories:

• A Look Back … The Execution of a “Great Spy”: Adolf Tolkachev
• A Look Back … Remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis

The ability to speak multiple languages is a very valuable talent in the Intelligence Community. During World War II especially, interpreters were very important. Twenty-three-year-old Maria Gulovich was recruited to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) — the predecessor of today’s CIA — because she could speak five languages fluently.

Gulovich was a brave guide and interpreter working for the OSS who led a group of two OSS agents and two British agents out of the clutches of the Germans and to safety over the Russian lines during a blizzard in the Slovak mountains. Gulovich and her group were part of Team DAWES, which involved a mission assisting with the Slovak uprising against the Germans and rescuing downed U.S. airmen.

Maria Gulovich

Gulovich was born on October 19, 1921, in Jakubany, Slovakia. Her father was a Greek Orthodox Catholic priest and her mother was an elementary school teacher.

When Slovakia fell under German control in 1939, Gulovich was attending the Greek Catholic Institute for Teachers in Prešov. In 1940, she became a teacher and taught in Jarabina and later in Hrinová.

In 1944, Gulovich’s uneventful life as a school teacher changed forever.

Assisting the Resistance

One day, Gulovich’s sister, Marta, and a Jewish family friend named Julius Goldberger paid her a visit at the school in Hrinová. Goldberger operated a nearby lumber mill, and because the Germans considered him and his mill useful, he was not sent to a concentration camp. He had been hiding his sister and nephew from the Germans for some time until he came under suspicion. Marta and Goldberger pleaded with Gulovich to hide his relatives.

Gulovich reluctantly agreed, realizing that if she were caught, it could mean imprisonment or worse.

It wasn’t long before the Slovakian authorities began to suspect Gulovich of harboring Jews. A Slovak Army captain showed up at the school to question Gulovich. Fortunately for her, the captain was part of the anti-fascist resistance. The captain offered to hide the Jewish woman and her son if Gulovich would join the resistance as a courier.

Gulovich agreed and was ordered to move to Banská Bystrica where she would work as a dressmaker for an underground sympathizer. On her first mission, Gulovich was sent to a town 65 miles away to retrieve a suitcase. Gulovich didn’t find out until 1989 that the suitcase contained a radio. If she had been caught, the consequences would have been severe. She had a few close calls with the Gestapo on the return trip, but quick thinking and a little flirting got her out of trouble.

In addition to her talents as a courier, Gulovich was fluent in five languages — Russian, Slovak, Hungarian, German, and English. Once this was discovered, Gulovich was assigned to translate messages from Slovak into Russian for a Russian military intelligence group.

During her time working for the Russians, Gulovich met some American OSS agents who were to assist with the resistance and rescue some downed American airmen. By October 1944, the Germans crushed the uprising and Gulovich and the Russians fled to the mountains to escape. There, Gulovich ran into her American friends again. They, too, had headed to the mountains to evade the Germans.

Gulovich and the Americans became friendly, and it wasn’t long before they asked her to join their group as a guide and interpreter. She wasn’t completely comfortable working for the Russians, so she eagerly accepted.

Working with the OSS

Gulovich’s work for the OSS agents included scouting for food and intelligence and scoping out their surroundings. She would pose as a peasant girl and go down into the towns to talk to the villagers. Often times, Gulovich’s job led her right into danger in the form of German soldiers patrolling the roads. Her quick wit and skill with the German language got her out of many a scrape.

One of the greatest dangers in the Slovak mountains was the weather, and the elements struck mercilessly during a blizzard in November 1944. The wind blew so hard that it knocked people off their feet. The weary group didn’t dare sit down to rest. They passed 83 souls who tried to rest and froze to death.

The group finally reached the mountain resort where they were to meet other British and American members of the team. It was almost Christmas and the group was waiting for provisions and supplies to be air dropped. The day after Christmas, Gulovich, two OSS agents, and two British airmen set out on a reconnaissance and food-gathering mission. After the small group left, the Germans attacked the mountain resort and burned it to the ground.

Gulovich and her companions escaped into the mountains toward the Russian front in Romania as quickly as they could. It took them several weeks of hiking through the bitter cold to reach safety. Once Gulovich reached Bucharest, Romania, in early March, she was transferred to the OSS branch in Italy so she could continue to be paid for her work.

Years after their escape, Gulovich’s companions remember her with fondness. During an interview, an Army sergeant who escaped with Gulovich called her “our little sweetheart … for whom I am and will be grateful forever. To her, it is no doubt that I owe my safety and perhaps my life.”

After the war, Gulovich met Allen Dulles who was the OSS chief in Switzerland and later became the Director of Central Intelligence. Dulles informed OSS head Gen. William Donovan of Maria’s courageous feats, and Donovan arranged for Gulovich to migrate to the United States with a scholarship to Vassar College.

In May 1946 Donovan presented Gulovich with the Bronze Star for her service with the OSS during World War II. She was the first woman to receive a medal on the Plain of West Point in front of the Corps of Cadets.

In 1952 Gulovich became a U.S. citizen and settled in Oxnard, California. She established an excellent reputation as a real estate agent in Ventura County, California.

Maria Gulovich died on September 25, 2009 at the age of 87.

Related Stories and Links:

• A Look Back … Barbara Lauwers: Deceiving the Enemy
• A Look Back … The Office of Strategic Services: Training in the Forest
• The Office of Strategic Services: The Forerunner of Today’s CIA

March 17, 2010

In a ceremony held last week at CIA Headquarters, Director Leon E. Panetta presented the Foreign Language Excellence Award to an undercover officer whose superior foreign language skills contributed significantly to the Agency’s intelligence mission over the past year. Her proficiency led directly to the recruiting of assets from a country of priority interest to the United States.

“Strengthening the CIA’s language capability is one of my top priorities,” said Director Panetta. “Language is a window into other cultures. We can’t succeed without it.”

Ten Agency officers from across the CIA’s four directorates were nominated for the annual award. Seven of the ten joined the Agency between 2003 and 2005. As a group, they speak eight mission-critical languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Dari, Farsi, Korean, and Pushto. Some are native speakers while others earned their proficiency in college or after joining the CIA.

In 2009, Director Panetta launched a five-year initiative to double the number of analysts and collectors with foreign language proficiency and to transform the Agency’s language training. In January, Director Panetta made foreign language aptitude a stricter requirement for promotion to the Senior Intelligence Service.

Last year, the number of CIA officers capable in foreign languages rose nine percent. “The key is to keep that momentum going,” said Director Panetta. “The more officers we have who can speak the languages of our foreign partners, our agents, and our adversaries, the more likely we are to acquire the information we need. It’s that simple.”

Bonjour! Guten Tag! Buon giorno! Buenos días! Shalom! ????????????! These are just a few of the ways people greet one another around the world.

“Language skills are the keys to accessing foreign societies, understanding their governments, and decoding their secrets. Stronger language skills will give our officers enhanced access to the information our policymakers need to protect our nation.”
—Director Leon E. Panetta

Foreign language capabilities have always been and will continue to be a critical part of the success of the Central Intelligence Agency’s mission. Agency officers use their command of language to perform research, translate materials, help with analysis or work overseas. The CIA values its employees who bring these valuable language skills to the table and seeks to reward them through achievement-based incentives.

The CIA has two language incentive programs:

• Language Hiring Bonus Program
• Language Incentive Payments

Language Hiring Bonus Program

Are you fluent in a foreign language? The CIA might have a job for you. The Language Hiring Bonus Program rewards new employees with superior language skills who have been hired into designated occupations. New employees can qualify for a hiring bonus in more than one language, but the maximum amount is $35,000 per individual. Bonuses are paid in a one-time, lump sum payment.

Language Incentive Payments

CIA values its employees with superior language skills and encourages them to maintain and use their proficiency in support of CIA’s mission. The Language Incentive Payments reward Agency employees who test at the required proficiency in one or more of the almost 100 languages CIA needs. Employees who use their language skills in their jobs may qualify for even higher incentives. In addition, those who are able to improve their language test scores may qualify for language achievement awards.

Mission-Critical Languages

In May 2009 Director Panetta announced a new plan to build the multilingual workforce that the CIA needs. Within five years the Agency aims to double the number of employees who are proficient in languages, with a special focus on those that are mission critical. The mission-critical languages include:

• Arabic
• Dari
• Chinese
• Indonesian
• Kurdish
• Korean
• Pushto (Pashtu)
• Persian (Farsi)
• Russian
• Turkish
• Urdu

To learn more about language positions at the CIA, visit CIA Careers.

Related Links:

• Message from the Director: Strengthening Our Foreign Language Capability

Unclassified extracts from Studies in Intelligence Volume 54, Number 1 (March 2010)

Intelligence Today and Tomorrow

The Post 9/11 Intelligence Community
Intelligence Reform, 2001–2009: Requiescat in Pace? [PDF 858.2KB*]
Patrick C. Neary

Historical Perspective

The INT for Cross-National Academic Research
The Scope of FBIS and BBC Open Source Media Coverage, 1979–2008 [PDF 2.3MB*]
Kalev Leetaru

Intelligence in Public Literature

Spinning Intelligence: Why Intelligence Needs the Media, Why the Media Needs Intelligence [PDF 36.0KB*]
Mark Mansfield

U.S. Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy: Truman, Secret Warfare, and the CIA, 1945-53 [PDF 39.3KB*]
Nicholas Dujmovic

Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 [PDF 37.9KB*]
John Ehrman

Japanese Intelligence in World War II and
Nihongun no Interijensu: Naze Joho ga Ikasarenai no ka
[Japanese Military Intelligence: Why Is Intelligence Not Used?] [PDF 33.5KB*]
Stephen C. Mercado

The Intelligence Officer’s Bookshelf [PDF 120.7KB*]
Compiled and Reviewed by Hayden B. Peake

*Adobe® Reader® is needed to view Adobe PDF files. If you don't already have Adobe Reader installed, you may download the current version at www.adobe.com (opens in a new window). [external link disclaimer]

Contributors

Nicholas Dujmovic is a CIA historian, author of The Literary Spy and numerous articles for Studies in Intelligence.

John Ehrman is CIA Directorate of Intelligence officer who specializes in counterintelligence. He is a frequent contributor.

Kalev Leetaru is Coordinator of Information Technology and Research at the University of Illinois Cline Center for Democracy and Chief Technology Advisor to the Illinois Center for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science.

Mark Mansfield has served as CIA’s Director of Public Affairs. He is currently officer in residence at the University of Miami.

Stephen C. Mercado is an analyst in the Open Source Center. He is a frequent contributor to Studies in Intelligence and is the author of The Shadow Warriors of Nakano.

Hayden Peake is curator of the CIA Historical Intelligence Collection. He served in the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology and the Directorate of Operations.

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in this article are those of the author. Nothing in the article should be construed as asserting or implying US government endorsement of an article’s factual statements and interpretations.

The Intelligence Community today draws wisdom and inspiration from the past. The following article is the first in a series showcasing exceptional intelligence stories from history. This article focuses on Paul Revere and the secret group known as the Mechanics.

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The first Patriot intelligence network on record was a secret group in Boston known as the "Mechanics." Their activities in the 10 years before the outbreak of the Revolution in April 1775 included some of the earliest uses in America of warning, surveillance, and intelligence collection. One of the Mechanics was Boston silversmith Paul Revere.

The Mechanics

The Mechanics apparently grew out of the old Sons of Liberty organization that successfully opposed the hated Stamp Act, passed by Britain's Parliament as a revenue generating measure on March 22, 1765. Although the Stamp Act was repealed following Colonial protests in 1766, some Mechanics, mainly skilled laborers and artisans, continued to organize resistance to Crown authority and gather intelligence on British activities and movements.

In the words of Paul Revere, "in the fall of 1774 and winter of 1775, I was one of upwards of thirty, chiefly mechanics, who formed ourselves into a committee for the purpose of watching British soldiers and gaining every intelligence on the movements of the Tories." According to Revere, "We frequently took turns, two and two, to watch the (British) soldiers by patrolling the streets all night."

In addition to their surveillance activities, the Mechanics, also known as the Liberty Boys, sabotaged and stole British military equipment in the Boston area.

Their security practices, however, were amateurish. They met regularly in the same place (the Green Dragon Tavern), and one of their leaders (Dr. Benjamin Church) was a British agent.

Nonetheless, they had good sources of their own, and saw through the cover story the British had devised to mask the march of 700 Redcoats on Concord to seize Patriot stores of munitions and arms.

The Midnight Ride

On April 19, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren, chairman of the Boston Committee of Safety, charged Revere with the task of warning Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock (then at Lexington) that they were also probable targets of the British operation.

Revere arranged for warning lanterns to be hung in the Old North Church, to alert Patriot forces across the river at Charleston, as to the means and route of the British advance. One lantern to indicate that British troops were advancing by land, two to indicate that the choice of route was across the Charles River.

After two lanterns were hung in the church steeple, Paul Revere set off on his famous ride. He notified Adams and Hancock, joined Dr. Samuel Prescott and William Dawes, and rode on toward Concord, only to be apprehended by a British patrol en route. Dawes got away, and Dr. Prescott managed to escape soon afterward to alert the Patriots at Concord, 21 miles west of Boston. Revere was questioned and soon released, after which he returned to Lexington to keep Hancock and Adams apprised of the proximity of British forces.

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

Following a skirmish with 70 American "minutemen" at Lexington, the British column proceeded to Concord, where they burned some gun carriages, entrenching tools, flour, and a liberty pole. The caches of munitions and arms the British expected to find had long since been removed by the alerted Patriots. With the countryside aroused, the British force soon came under sustained attack on its way back to Boston, suffering 73 dead and 174 wounded. Over 4,000 "minutemen" were alleged to have engaged the British at one point on 19 April at Lexington and Concord, or along the route back to Boston.

One of them had fired "the shot heard 'round the world," celebrated decades later in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem. That shot might never have been heard if not for good intelligence work of the Mechanics and the timely warning of Paul Revere and his companions.

Related Stories and Links:

• Intelligence in the War of Independence
• A Look Back … George Washington: America’s First Military Intelligence Director

When Sarah’s father passed away in the early 1990s, she realized that it was time to leave her childhood home and experience life. In October 1992, Sarah decided to serve her country by joining the Marines. After basic training, she was assigned to work in security at Quantico. Sarah found that she enjoyed the field. Thus began a journey that eventually took her where she is today: a captain in the Security Protective Services at the Central Intelligence Agency.

The Sky is the Limit

After leaving the Marine Corps, Sarah was in search of new opportunities. On the advice of a colleague from the Marines she applied for a job as a Security Protective Officer (SPO) at the Central Intelligence Agency.

“It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. I never even thought the CIA was an option for me,” she said. “I didn’t know they had a police force.”

In September 1997, Sarah began her job as a SPO at the Agency. She described her transition from the Marines to the Agency as “easy.”

Over the next 12 years, Sarah gained a deep knowledge of the CIA and the complete security system in place to defend the Agency and its personnel.

Sarah was recently promoted to the rank of Captain within the Security Protective Services, a level few women have reached.

“I know I earned it,” she said. “I’ve accomplished a lot over the past 12 years and I think they picked the right person for the job. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.”

A “Guardian Angel”

During her professional journey, Sarah had a little help from someone she calls a “guardian angel”: her first supervisor at the CIA. As Sarah moved throughout Security Protective Services, she stayed in touch with her unofficial mentor, a fellow Marine.

“He’s my guardian angel. He’s always been there for me. Anytime I’ve ever needed anything, he’s the person I went to,” she said. “I trusted that he would guide me in the right direction. I think he always looked out for me. I really look up to him.”

Sarah has done her best to follow in her mentor’s footsteps and help new SPOs when she can.

“I want to share what I know and help people get to wherever they want to go,” she said. “I want to encourage them move up into a management track or the K-9 Corps or whatever they aspire to do.”

Goals Ahead

After all she’s achieved, Sarah still plans to push forward.

“I’m not done,” she said. “I’m going to continue to seek those positions above me. My next step would be a major’s position.”

Sarah knows it won’t be easy.

“It’s going to be a challenge getting my new workforce to trust me,” she said. “They don’t know me. They don’t know where I’ve been and what I’ve done.”

Sarah began the process of earning the trust of her new colleagues by sending them a note introducing herself and describing her career so far. It is only the first step.

“My goal is just to build up the trust and a great team,” she said.

Helping Build CIA’s Future

Sarah’s own great experience at the Agency led her to become a hiring advisor. Her advice to those who want to apply to work at the CIA?

“Put your best foot forward,” she said. “You should always present a positive polished image when you’re applying at a place like the Agency.”

Sarah also encourages those who think the CIA is out of their reach to apply.

“I never thought I’d be here,” she said. “I’d never considered working at the Agency because it is so prestigious. It just goes to show that there is no limit to what you can do if you put your mind to it. If you want something bad enough, you’ll get it.”

Related Stories and Links:

• The People of the CIA … Women in Leadership: Stephanie O’Sullivan
• The People of the CIA … Women in Leadership: Cindy Bower
• CIA Careers

The CIA Museum is home to many interesting artifacts associated with the Central Intelligence Agency’s predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services; foreign intelligence organizations; and the CIA itself. The following article is the fourth in a series that will explore the Agency’s amazing history through the artifacts in the CIA Museum. This article focuses on the E Street CIA complex sign.

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Before the famous CIA Headquarters portrayed in the movies existed, the civilian intelligence organization was housed in downtown Washington, D.C. Major elements of it were located in the city’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood at 2430 E St. NW in the complex that had been used by the CIA’s predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), during World War II. The complex consisted of four buildings, including the East Building in which William Donovan, the OSS chief, had his office, and the South Building, which would become home to CIA's Office of National Estimates. The buildings were situated directly across from the U.S. State Department.

A Sign for CIA Headquarters

For several years there was no sign at the entrance of the original CIA Headquarters Buildings and the lack of signage caused problems for Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) Allen Dulles. In the early 1950s, President Dwight Eisenhower wished to drop his brother Milton off at CIA Headquarters for a meeting with DCI Allen Dulles. Milton was the former associate director of the Office of War Information during World War II and served as presidential adviser to his brother.

Because there was no sign, the White House driver had great difficulty finding the entrance, much to the annoyance of the President. The following day President Eisenhower called Mr. Dulles and ordered an identifying sign placed at the entrance. It was the President’s opinion that the E Street address was well known as CIA Headquarters and that the absence of a sign fooled no one.

The immediate result was that a sign bearing the Agency name and seal was hung on the fence at the entrance to 2430 E Street NW. When the fence and the North Building adjacent to the entrance were demolished to make room for the present freeway, the sign was preserved and ultimately installed in the CIA Museum at Headquarters.

The CIA Museum currently has the sign on display in the Directorate of Intelligence Gallery.

To view a picture of the sign and see other artifacts, visit the CIA Museum Virtual Tour.

Related Stories and Links:

• The CIA Museum: Looking Back to See the Future
• The CIA Museum: The People Behind the Magic
• The CIA Museum … Artifacts: U-2 Pilots Protective Assembly