Blog
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Apr 03, 2019 Women in Intel: Elizabeth Sudmeier
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Apr 01, 2019 The Art of Simple Sabotage
The rascally spies of OSS knew a thing or two about mischief making, especially when it came to undermining America’s enemies in World War II. One of their more imaginative ideas was to train everyday citizens in the art of simple sabotage.
Thus, the “Simple Sabotage Field Manual” was born: [PDF 2.5 MB].
This previously classified booklet describes ways to train normal people to be purposely annoying telephone operators, dysfunctional train conductors, befuddling middle managers, blundering factory workers, unruly movie theater patrons, and so on.
In other words, teaching people to do their jobs badly.
OSS Director William “Wild Bill” Donovan had select parts of the manual declassified and disseminated to citizens of enemy states through pamphlets, targeted radio broadcasts, and in person.
While the guidebook does contain ideas for serious, hardcore sabotage you’d expect during wartime, there are many timeless (and dare we say all-too-familiar) tactics that could drive even the most sane person batty.
Here’s a list of five particularly timeless tips from the “Simple Sabotage Field Manual”:
- Telephone: At the office, hotel, or local telephone switchboards, delay putting calls through, give out wrong numbers, cut people off “accidentally,” or forget to disconnect them so that the line cannot be used again.
- Movie Theater Patrons: To ruin everyone’s time at the movies (without a cell phone, that is) bring in a paper bag filled with two or three dozen large moths. Open the bag and set it in an empty section of the theater. “The moths will fly out and climb into the projector beam, so that the film will be obscured by fluttering shadows.”
- Managers and Supervisors: To lower morale and production, think of the worst boss you’ve had and act like that. Be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work. When possible, refer all matters to committees for "further study and consideration." Attempt to make the committees as large and bureaucratic as possible.
- Employees: Be forgetful. Clumsy. Work slowly. Think of ways to increase the number of movements needed to do your job: use a light hammer instead of a heavy one; try to make a small wrench do instead of a big one.
- Transportation: Make train or air travel as inconvenient as possible. One particularly effective trick: issue two tickets for the same seat on a train in order to set up an “interesting” argument.
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Mar 26, 2019 Women in Intel: Betty Ann Lussier
The Intrepid Woman
“After months of interviewing, conniving, scheming, here I was on the threshold of departure for the war. Was I frightened? After my hazardous childhood on the farm, dealing with runaway mule teams, overturned wagons, raging bulls, and machinery that collapsed on top of my body, no, I was not frightened, but yes, I was curious, elated, and open to a new adventure.”
~ Betty Ann Lussier from her autobiography, “Intrepid Woman: Betty Ann Lussier’s Secret War, 1942-1945”
Betty Ann Lussier was a fiercely independent, hard working, adventurous woman with a craving for excitement and a compassion for humanitarian issues. She grew up on a dairy farm and learned to fly a plane at the young age of 16. When she was 20, she boarded a ship to England to fight the Nazis. She became a successful counterintelligence agent with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and married one of the wealthiest men in Spain. She socialized with Ernest Hemingway and Ava Gardner and later worked for the United Nations. She also authored several books.Betty personified the ideal OSS agent. She was strong-willed, intelligent, self-motivated, brave, dedicated, and driven.
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Mar 25, 2019 Michael Collins at CSIS
CIA Headlines Schieffer Panel on “China’s Rise” at CSIS
On Wednesday, March 20th, Deputy Assistant Director of CIA for the East Asia and Pacific Mission Center, Michael Collins, participated in a panel discussion on the rise of China, moderated by former CBS’ Face the Nation anchor Bob Schieffer at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.
Collins, and fellow panelists, held a robust conversation on a broad range of issues impacting US-China relations and the international community, including how China’s domestic governance model has changed under President Xi Jinping’s leadership and how China leverages its economic growth and military strength to influence the international order. Collins was very clear about what the challenge is not. “The challenge is not necessarily coming from China’s rise alone, China’s economy alone, our relationship with China, Chinese people, and certainly [not] the Chinese diaspora around the world. To the contrary, those are all very positive forces for moderation, cooperation, and change, “he said.
Collins was joined on stage by Margaret Brennan, Moderator of “Face the Nation” and CBS News senior foreign correspondent; Victor Cha, CSIS Senior Adviser and Korea Chair; and Christopher K. Johnson, CSIS Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies.
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Mar 22, 2019 Ask Molly: March 22, 2019
Dear Molly,
How many CIA women have died in the line of duty?
~ Fallen Stars
Dear Fallen Stars,
We have an ivory-white marble wall in our lobby at CIA Headquarters that stands as a silent, simple memorial to honor the women and men who have given their lives in service to our country. Currently, there are 129 stars carved into the marble of the CIA Memorial Wall: 91 are unclassified. Of those, 11 represent women.
Officially, the first female CIA officer to die in the line of duty and receive a star on the Memorial Wall was Barbara Robbins. She was killed only two years after joining the Agency – in March 1965 – when terrorists bombed the US Embassy in South Vietnam. She remains the youngest CIA officer to receive a star, at just 21-years old.
However, what many Agency history buffs don’t know is that the first ever CIA officer to die while working for the Agency was also a woman: her name was Jane Wallis Burrell.
At a time when most women in US intelligence worked in clerical roles, Jane was a CIA counterintelligence officer who served in all of CIA’s predecessor agencies: the Office of Strategic Services, the Strategic Services Unit, and the Central Intelligence Group.
On January 6, 1948, an Air France flight from Brussels crashed on its way to Paris, killing all five crew members and 10 of the 11 passengers. Among the dead was a young woman who the press said was either a clerk or a courier. She was neither. Jane was a CIA officer, and her death—only 110 days after CIA was officially established the previous September—makes her the first CIA officer to die while employed by the Agency.
We know don’t know much about Jane’s activity at the time of her death. She was returning from a trip to Brussels, but there are no records to indicate whether or not she was on vacation or an official operation.
Jane was not a candidate for a star on the Memorial Wall because the wall commemorates Agency employees who died in specific circumstances: deaths from accidental crashes of commercial aircraft have generally not qualified. Still, her service with CIA and its predecessor organizations was honorable and she deserves to be remembered.
When any CIA officer (male or female) dies in the line of duty, their names frequently must be kept secret. Sometimes, the first time that families hear that their loved one worked for the Agency is when that officer has died. However, with the passage of time, we’ve been able to unveil many of the fallen, and share their heroic stories with the public. If you’re interested in reading more about the lives of our fallen officers, see our “Feature Story” section on CIA.gov and look for articles from our “Remembering CIA's Heroes” series.
~ Molly
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Mar 21, 2019 Women in Intel: Virginia Hall
The Courage and Daring of "The Limping Lady"
“Miss Hall displayed rare courage, perseverance and ingenuity; her efforts contributed materially to the successful operations of the Resistance Forces in support of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in the liberation of France.”
~ President Harry Truman, Citation for Distinguished Service Cross awarded to Virginia Hall, 1945.
Her life reads like a spy novel. From overcoming the loss of her leg to working clandestinely behind enemy lines for the OSS, she’s a true American hero.Who is this brave woman? Some knew her as "Marie Monin," "Germaine," "Diane," "Camille," and even "Nicolas," but we know her as Virginia Hall.
During WWII, Virginia organized agent networks, assisted escaped prisoners of war, and recruited French men and women to run safe houses—staying one step ahead of the Gestapo, who wanted desperately to apprehend “The Limping Lady.”
For her courage and ingenuity, she was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross—the only civilian woman to be so honored.
Virginia then went on to become one of only a handful of senior women in CIA’s clandestine service until her mandatory retirement in 1966 at the age of 60. And she did it all despite having a prosthetic leg, which she named Cuthbert.
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Mar 19, 2019 Women in Intel: “Spy Girl” Betty McIntosh
McIntosh's Morale Operations
“They taught us how to utilize material tailored for specific targets in the Far East. We had to learn to disseminate the material, a mix of truth and fantasy; we were taught how to get rumors started.”
~ Betty McIntosh on her time in OSS’s Morale Operations branch.
Elizabeth “Betty” McIntosh lived a storied, adventurous life. During WWII, she was one of the few women hired into the OSS Morale Operations (MO) branch, charged with creating rumors that our foreign adversaries would believe. In other words, so-called “black propaganda.”
Betty helped create false news reports, postcards, documents, and radio messages designed to spread disinformation to undermine Japanese troop morale. In one truly inexplicable incident, she created a script for a popular Chinese fortune teller to read on a radio station secretly run by the Allies that predicted “something awful” was about to happen in Japan. Her team had no inkling something bad was actually going to happen, but later that day, the US dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima.
When OSS was disbanded, Betty tried on a few different careers but eventually was convinced to return to a life in intelligence at CIA. She worked for the Agency until her retirement in 1973. As the author of several books, including “Sisterhood of Spies,” Betty made sure that the stories of the women of OSS and their daring adventures would never be forgotten.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that Women’s History Month begins each year on March 1st, the birthday of “Spy Girl” Betty McIntosh.
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Mar 18, 2019 Ask Molly: March 18, 2019
Q: Dear Molly,
What’s the upper age limit for employment at the CIA? Thanks!
~ Ageless
A: Dear Ageless,
We recently presented at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas and this was the most frequently asked question.
Some federal agencies do have an upper age limit for employment for certain positions; however, CIA does not. There's no strict age limit for employment; hiring decisions are made based on a review of the whole person.
You can join the CIA right out of high school, since 18 is the minimum age for employment here, but most of our positions require at least a bachelor’s degree. We have several year-round opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
Our primary requirements for employment are that you must be a US citizen and a high school graduate. As stated earlier, most occupations require an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university. Military experience is highly valued, as are advanced degrees, and life experiences are always taken into consideration. Integrity, character, and patriotism are a must. Fluency in a foreign language is a plus.
Our personnel requirements change from month-to-month as positions are filled and others become available, so if you don’t see the right job for you now, check back again soon.
Good luck!
~ Molly
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Mar 15, 2019 Women in Intel: Marion Frieswyk
The First Female Intelligence Cartographer
Marion Frieswyk embodies the diligence, determination, and innovative spirit that we value at CIA. Looking back over her career, Marion was a true pioneer.
She was the first woman in the Map Division’s Cartography Section, helped to develop a unique system of map production, and produced customized maps and 3D topographic models during WWII.
After OSS dissolved in 1945, she remained as part of the core group of cartographers who stayed with the unit, working in CIA’s Cartography Division until 1958.
Marion recognized early on that geography is deeply relevant to intelligence work, enhancing the Agency’s ability to visualize and tell stories that resonate with those we serve.
Her passion and spirit represent timeless qualities that define the Cartography Center to this day.
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Mar 13, 2019 CIA’s Secrets to Creative Problem Solving at the SXSW Conference and Festivals
What do a wombat, wolf, wood duck, and otter have in common?
They each represent some of the creativity techniques and tools presented by our creative thinking instructors, Jacob and Nyssa, at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 8 in Austin, Texas.
Problem-solving requires two types of thinking?
Yes! All problem-solving requires two types of thinking: divergent and convergent. Under the constraints of stress, deadlines, or routine thinking, our natural tendency is to rely on the latter and creativity becomes a luxury. Jacob and Nyssa introduced the concept of divergent thinking, and provided real-world examples and exercises that anyone can use to strengthen their own creative problem-solving.
Hint, think WoMBAT: “What Might Be All The…” and reframe the problem by asking questions that make your brain think of all the possibilities, not just right and wrong answers.
Click here to listen to a recording of CIA’s live presentation at SXSW or download the full presentation.Do you have a story on creative problem-solving that you would like to share with CIA? You can tweet us @CIA using #CIAWombat.
From Typist to Ops Officer
“She was a real pistol… The fact that she accomplished so much is incredible given the general antagonism to women functioning as ops officers. This was a general view among male ops officers… Liz certainly paved the way for female ops officers.”
~ Friend and colleague of Elizabeth Sudmeier
Elizabeth worked as a field operations officer, serving overseas in places like the Middle East and South Asia for almost nine years, and helped usher in a new era of woman’s equality at the Agency.
Because of her historic contributions, Elizabeth was selected as one of the 2013 CIA Trailblazers, those “whose leadership, achievements, and dedication to mission had a significant and lasting impact on the Agency's history.”
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