Cables

Nineteen years ago today, 7 CIA officers entered Afghanistan as the first US response to Osama Bin Laden’s attack on America on Sept 11, 2001. Their mission was to lay the groundwork for what would officially become Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and the Global War On Terror (GWOT) campaigns.  Led by Gary Schroen and with Phil Reilly as his deputy, the CIA team’s mission would become known as Operation Jawbreaker. 

Sarah’s story is an intensely personal story. Within appropriate boundaries to protect identities, she opens up her life in Libya including her fears and uncertainties, finding burgeoning love in a war zone, frustrations with bureaucracy and the importance of her deep-rooted Christian faith. She tells her stories in chapters alternating back and forth between the evacuation story, and flashbacks leading up to it.

The Jedburgh project was a combined Allied initiative consisting of members from the Office of Strategic Services Special Operations, the British Special Operations Executive, and the French Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (BCRA). A typical Jedburgh Team consisted of a commander, an executive officer, and a non-commissioned radio operator. One officer was British or American, while another was from the country the team was deploying to. 

The Operational Collection includes intelligence-themed paintings and sculptures that record the experiences of intelligence officers in both peace and wartime. The Agency uses these artworks to strengthen and communicate its identity and corporate culture, providing a link for incoming officers to connect to the history of the organization.

Art at the Agency wasn’t really anything I thought about when I wandered its hallways. For the record, like most Ops Officers, I tried to avoid Headquarters (HQS) as much as possible. But that wasn’t always possible. Additionally, I was 23 years old, and too excited about working for the CIA to pay any attention to art.

The amazing thing about DST is that it’s full of some of the smartest and most creative nerds you could imagine. At the same time, there are officers throughout its history that have touched every major event the Agency has been involved in since its inception.

Since we cannot identify our current Veterans serving the IC, here are some of those we remember today, from a recent trip to Arlington National Cemetery.

William F Buckley

Section 59 Site 346

Michael M. Deuel

Section 35 Site 156

Lawrence N Freedman

Section 8 Site 10177

Johnny Micheal Spann

Section 34 Site 2359

Douglas A Zembiec

Section 60 Site 8621

The next time you are near our nation's capitol and can stop in, stop by and spend some time walking Arlington National Cemetery. Its quite a place to take in. 

Thank you all for your service.

The reason I keep Virginia Hall in mind when raising my daughter is that I, for one, want my daughter to become a strong independent woman that, like Virginia, decided she wanted to do something and she did it as good as, if not better, than her male counterparts.  She wasn’t arrogant, definitely confident, but not arrogant.

An ongoing goal here at the Inglorious Amateurs will always be to honor the memory of those who have given their lives in the performance of their duties serving the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This month, we remember and honor the 7 Americans who were killed at Camp Chapman 5 years ago on December 30th: Jennifer Lynne Matthews, CIA Officer Scott Michael Roberson, CIA Officer Darren LaBonte, CIA Officer Elizabeth Hanson, CIA Officer Harold Brown, CIA Officer Dane Clark Paresi, CIA security contractor Jeremy Wise, CIA security contractor

33 lives lost, for a civilian agency is quite significant. I know I’ve read plenty of news stories about a risk adverse Agency culture. Its either that or they are gung ho cowboys. When I was in I remember having an easier time letting those jabs glance off than I do now that I have the luxury of actually getting upset and trying to respond to them. After all, I was usually reading them in the internal news and could only comment to friends via SameTime.

ou can help to by sending your comments by email to potomachill@gsa.gov ( Subect: NEPA Scoping Comments) or mail to: Jill Springer, NEPA Specialist  U.S. General Services Administration, NCR  301 7th St. SW, Room 4004  Washington, DC 20407 Please also consider writing your congressional representative and both your senators to ask for their help in securing both a prompt hearing before the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office and appropriate historical recognition for OSS headquarters.  To avoid confusion, your letter or email should mention that the D.C. Historic Preservation Office lists the headquarters site under its current official name, the “E Street Complex.” Join us in helping honor the sacrifice of so many of our OSS and CIA predecessors by preserving this important piece of our nation’s intelligence history.

Across the lobby, on the north wall, is another memorial, and Book of Honor. This one is flanked by both the American flag and the Agency flag. Above the cased book is another inscription, "IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY ,"