Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References
Basic Information:
Author:
Tony Mendez
Edition:
ePub from Mountain View Public Library
Publisher:
William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN:
0060957913 (ISBN13: 9780060957919)
Start
Date: May 20, 2020
Read
Date: May 28, 2020
384
pages
Genre:
History, Biography, Spy
Language
Warning: Low
Rated
Overall: 3 ½ out of 5
History:
3 out of 5
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
Mendez
takes the reader through his development till finally being the go-to
person when a person needed to be removed from a dangerous situation.
He starts with his life in Nevada and Colorado. He graduates and
works as a designer/artist. But when he sees an opening with the CIA,
he applies and is surprised that he is accepted. Once in, he shows
ambition, talent, and drive, he progressively gets additional
responsibilities, such as forging money in China. He works in Laos
making fake documents. He eventually reaches the big time-Moscow
where he figures out how to evade the KGB. When the American embassy
is overrun in Iran, he gets called in to find a way to bring home six
Americans who were not captured. He gets the highest award CIA
employee can get.
Cast of Characters:
Tony
Mendez-author, CIA master of disguise
Jacob
Jordan-An alias. First Mendez’ mentor, then friend and co-spy.
First met him in Hong Kong.
Franco-first
CIA supervisor in the graphics area
Rick-Franco’s
subordinate
Dave-document
amn. Worked with him in Indian
Simon-a
Southeast Asain station chief.
Bull
Monahan=foreigh operative who was a master at getting his ideas and
budget approved.
Jerome-Hollywood
makeup artist
Jacques-Moscow
station chief
Expectations:
- Date Became Aware of Book: January 20, 2019
- How come do I want to read this book: I became aware of this book when NPR published an obit on Tony Mendez
- What do I think I will get out of it? Sounds like a different spy book. Mendez went to Tehran and helped six US diplomats escape after the embassy was captured.
Thoughts:
Reading
Mendez’ books, he does talk some about the CIA’s failures. But he
concentrates on the mission successes. But by coincidence, I am
reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking
with Strangers
where Gladwell notes that many agents in Cuba and Eastern Germany
were double agents, against the US.
Throughout
the book, I was impressed with how good of a memory for detail an
agent needed to have. Remembering phone numbers, remembering codes,
being able to be in character 100% of the time.
Many
of the disguises with Tony & Jonna Mendez created are now in the
International Spy Museum.
Interesting
all of the call signs they used. Also confusing. But I suppose they
are just names. Sort of metadata for spys.
Also
one of the more interesting things was the type of communications and
the urgency they expressed.
Preface
Mendez
says the reason why he wrote this book was to talk about the
operations which he was involved with, and want to make known the
things the CIA does.
Secrecy
is the lifeblood of spying. His goal is not so much to reveal secret
operations. But what can be shared, he wants others to know. He is
not a renegade.
A
Letter Slipped in the Door
Starts
the chapter out with a dream of having to exfiltrate a Russian
spy-master defector. He will go into this in a later chapter.
He
is selected as a CIA Trailblazer. An award which only a few of the
tens of thousands of people who have worked at the CIA has obtained.
Mendez
talks about his background. Born in Eureka, Nevada to a copper mining
dad who died when he was young. He came from a pioneering family.
Then moved to Sparks as things did not work out.
Mendez’
first bit of deception was when they found some bat caves up in the
hills. Other boys wanted a piece of the action, but Mendez wanted to
keep them private. So he would lead the boys into box canyons and
figure out ways out of them.
Early
lesson: Keep
your options open; always have a fallback when you are working in
hostile territory.
In
eighth grade, he moved to Denver. Here he went on his first covert
operation: to get into a couples only high school dance. He became a
girl to go on a date with his friend. He was able to carry it off.
Here he learned that a good cover story along with a good disguise
could be used to transform a person. The lesson learned is that you
had to live the deception.
You have to turn yourself into the person whom you want to become.
He
worked for Martin Marettia as an artist/illustrator. Got laid off and
then got called back. But this was not a fulfilling job. Then he
answered an ad for the US Navy to work overseas.
Border
Crossings
He
is hired by the CIA and reports to Langley, Virginia. He seems to be
a bit of a backwaters boy.
He
meets his superiors and they try to set expectations-mostly boring
stuff than highly interesting. At least at the start.
A
polygraph test depends as much on the skill of the examiner as it
does the actual machine. He felt the examiner would have been heard
to deceive. He also decided that the people at the CIA had a sense of
professionalism and thoughtfulness about them.
There
was a sense that Mendez was picking the traditions and values of
those who came before him.
Mendez
goes over levels of foreign government election propaganda which the
CIA was involved with. He categorizes it on three levels:
- White. Promoting and packaging Western propaganda such as through the VOice of America.
- Gray. Helping friendly candidates or parties write and produce election materials. Or planting stories or editorials favorable to the candidate.
- Black. Running derogatory information about those who the CIA/USA opposed in their elections.
After
reading this little piece, I wonder about the Russian 2016 efforts to
influence the election. We are not clean. Yet we scold the Russians.
Mendez goes on and points out that both sides have done this even as
far back as the 1930’s.
Everybody
in the TSD/Graphics was expected to be a master of some specialty.
James
Jesus Angleton.
I believe he was talked about in a book about Kim Philby.
There
are lessons learnt through the Cold War. Going into Nazi Germany was
easier than getting behind the Iron Curtain.
Onto
the Shadowy Battlefield
As
Mendez worked on forging documents, he learned that even the simplest
thing, like a rubber stamp could be considered a security tool.
Certain ways the stamp was used could mean one thing or another. This
early part of his CIA work was training to detail which he never
regretted.
As
he began to socialize, one question is, where do you work. You are
bound to know people sometime who can blow your cover story. He notes
that humility
is a powerful tool in the spy business.
I suspect it is powerful wherever you go.
Mendez
wants to go overseas. But this is done according to rank and
longevity. But first intensive schooling. Explains one-time pads.
Also this included surveillance. The main thing he learnt was focus
on the person, not on superficial appearances.
Colonel
Oleg Penkovesky.
I think I read a book about him right after graduating from college.
It was he who tipped off the Americans about the missiles going into
Cuba in 1962.
One
test was to open letters undetected and then get them resealed. Some
of them were impossible to open without being detected or using
methods which would allow for knowledge of infiltration. It was OK to
let these go by. Mendez decided to use an illicit method. He was
discovered. But the worst part was lying to a fellow CIA person. The
CIA works off of trust with its fellow CIA officers. Otherwise you
get into a Hall of Mirrors situation where you can trust no one
.
Murky
Waters, Southeast Asia
First
overseas assignment landed Mendez in Hong Hong, 1968. Upon entry, he
was to look through and learn as much about their entry controls as
possible. He soon realized that it was not so much what was said but
how he acted which conveyed the impression on the entry officer.
Tradecraft
is all in the details. If we can’t accomplish the simple tasks, how
can we take on the impossible mission?
Next
stop Laos, 1968.
Then
South Vietnam, 1969.
Successful
deception involving disguise was as much a matter of planning,
demeanor, and attitude as of visual appearance.
Mendez
comments that in hindsight, North Vietnam would never have been able
to take over all of SouthEast Asia. That the United States’ policy
was based upon preconceptions.
Kipling’s
Beat
India
in the 1970.. Mendez is in charge of bringing out a Soviet
intelligence defector.
Leaving
intelligence on one side does not just mean that you are changing
sides, but you are leaving all which you have loved: family lands,
culture, home.
Committee
effect-where a group decision is not made because no one can either
advance a sound option or nobody wants theirs to go down in flames or
no one wants to take responsibility.
Running
a successful exfiltration shows that you are an accomplished agent.
Mendez
notes that When
some minor aspect in the security procedures is uncertain or cannot
be included in the document package, always err on the side of
omission; act innocent, ignorant, and indignant.
Mendez
talks about how the reality of the job has transformed him from
looking for the glamour of being a spy to understanding that mistakes
kill people. He also saw the people who he worked with and realized
the professionalism they had and the quality of people.
Honor
and Gambit
To
subdue an enemy without fighting is the acme of skill
SunTzu, Art of War
Chapter
3, ATTACK BY STRATAGEM
In
1974, he came back to the United States and settled down near
Washington. Watergate left a bad taste in America’s mouth about
what the CIA did-the planning of a covert action against another
political party. There was house cleaning done by various Directors.
Mendez survived.
He
talked about a 1973 Southeast Asia mission. His task was to provide
an efficient and credible disguise to a person who was giving key
information about the Middle east. He used a kit called the GAMBIT.
Through this contact, the US learned about the Soviet’s planned use
of nuclear weapons to thwart the Israeli’s military during the 1973
war.
Pinball
August
1974, back in Washington DC. He talks again about how the Agency had
been dragged through the mud because of Watergate. The morale was low
and the employees were losing its esprit-de-corp.
During
this time, there was a movement away from human intelligence and more
to technology. The thinking was the technology did not have an agenda
and would not have the same issues as what the Agency faced in
Watergate. From 45 years later we know this is a fallacy.
Focus
on the task at hand, be of good cheer, and things will sort
themselves out.
The
newer disguises were not accepted right off-the old has been
working.. But as they were shown how easy and effective they were,
attitudes changed. Mendez started working with the trainees to adopt
the new techniques in disguises.
The
disguise kit was called GAMBIT.
Before
you use any tradecraft tool, you have to set up the opposition for
the deception.
Reason
for the chapter title? Mendez was taught that grabbing a piece of the
budget was a game of pinball. The idea was to get the ball/idea on
the table and keep it in play for as long as you could.
Moscow
Rules
This
is the major part of the book. How to work in Moscow where the KGB
will physically attack you if they think you are messing with them.
The Mendez’ have also written a book by this name.
When
Vietnam fell, Mendez’ real position and name was made known to the
KGB.
He
and Jacob came into the Soviet Union as lowly temporary clerical
workers. Their assignment was to assess how the KGB determined who to
do surveillance on and how to elude them.
Jasquez,
one of the main CIA people in the American embassy in Moscow, noted
that By
their nature, Russians are distrustful.
The Russians have a long history of surveillance, particularly of
their own people. The KGB has nots of people rotating their coverage
to disguise who is tailing the person.
Mendez
and Jacob spent two weeks surveying how surveillance was done. Then
returned to Washington to figure out a Silver Bullet to avoid
surveillance. They then returned to Moscow.
Silver
Bullet-the technique used to break an agent free from surveillance
unnoticed by the KGB. Basically deploy more people in a vehicle than
expected. When one leaves, make it look like the original amount.
He
references a site: http://www.intelligence.ru/english/public/n00001
But this is now a deadlink. The information is said to be about how
a CIA agent had been
Raptor
in the Dark
This
chapter is what Mendez is most famous for-the extraction of six
American’s trapped outside of the American embassy after the fall
of the Shah. The American embassy had been overrun in 1979 by
“students”, trapping most of the embassy staff. But there were
six people who were outside of the embassy when this happened. They
took refuge in the Canadian embassy. This situation could not last
forever. Once it was found out that the six were there, the Canadian
embassy would be attacked. So how to retrieve these six without
damaging the Canadians.
First,
they bring out a highly placed person whom the CIA had used during
Shah’s time.
Mendez
notes that well before there is a need, even when a person signs up
as an agent, the CIA creates a plan to get the agent out of the
country, if need be. They create a cover story which matches the
agents demeanor and personality.
Actually
some Canadian news organization figured out early on that there were
missing American’s and that they were probably being hid by the
Canadians. They were asked to hold off on the story until the
Americans could get out of Iran.
The
cover which was going to be used was an advance group to scout
locations for a movie production. The name Argo was the cover
company. Even though nervous, the six Americans were able to leave
Tehran in disguise with Mendez’ help.
Mendez’
protralal is that President Carter was one for details, but also
confused by them. Such as he mistook Mendez for another agent. Sort
of the undertone that Mendez did not think much of Carter.
Usually
awards, while not public, would include family. Because the rescue of
the six Americans was still confidential, his family was not able to
attend, even though they knew about the mission. Part of the reason
why families are usually included is that it is a form of recognition
that the families have sacrificed. To make this happen.
Endgame
It
is now 1982 and Mendez is training new agents in the art of disguise.
For
Mendez, agents had to display an unwavering loyalty to their County
and the colleagues, in that order. I wonder where religion plays in
his life?
An
evaluation of a new agent boiled down to Would
I trust my life to this person? A
person who does OK, but plays by the rules and can be trusted is
better than a person who is very good, but does not play within the
rules of the game and lies to his colleagues. On the other hand, a
person who makes a mistake and then comes back and admits it learns a
valuable lesson.
1986-his
wife died.
He
talks about the traitor Rick Ames who revealed secrets to the KGB
which killed agents. Ames became the mole which James Angleton had
hunted for.
At
the beginning of the 80’s, there was resistance to the change which
digitalization and technology could bring. But the ability to do jobs
better made it imperative, particularly as foreign agencies were
putting in new security measures. Mendez said that he did not have a
concrete plan, so he would not ask for money, yet. But he would be
back soon. Casey then got tangled up in the Iran-Contra affair. But
Mendez still got what he needed.
The
more personal computers proliferate in the world, … the more porous
have become.
1988.
Mendez had been asked back to Moscow by Jasquez to figure out how to
do business in Moscow after the ways the CIA operated there was
exposed. This was in the time of uncertainty. It appeared that
Perestroika had caused surveillance to loosen up.
A
good operations officer will possess two things: practical
flexibility and neutral perspective.
Mendez
noted that the disintegration of the Soviet blog was happening faster
than many in the Agency could comprehend.
With
the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was celebration. But the fall also
would cause other problems. Now ex-KGB agents would be out on the
market, selling their skills and information to the highest bidder.
This would make the CIA’s ability to fastly analysis and comprehend
the change imperative.
Mendez
has a new wife, Jonna.
Epilogue
Mendez
notes that communism had not only deprived people of wealth, but had
crushed their spirits. Even after liberation from the Soviet Union,
there was a feeling of being downtrodden in East Germany.
His
ending line is vigilance
is the price of liberty.
Evaluation:
Master
of Disguise
is one of many books by Tony Medez about his life in the CIA. This
one tries to summarize his entire time with the CIA. It is a fun book
to read as Mendez goes through his evolution to being a master at his
craft. You realize that being a spy is not just fun and games, but is
deadly serious. The reason for the deception is to be kept alive.
These people and you assume the United States as well, played for
keeps.
Mendez
writes this book to record some of the successes of the CIA which he
participated in. He says it is not self-glorification, but he is the
central character. So do not expect a CIA expose. Enjoy the read and
enjoy the talents which Mendez shows.
Notes from my book group:
Mendez’
goal in writing this book was to make know what the CIA does and how
well they do it. Does he succeed?
After
reading this book, do you think you would have the capability to be a
spy in disguise?
When
you read about the CIA’s black and gray modes, did you think of the
Russians trying to influence the 2016 and 2020 elections? Are the
Russians within their rights to influence the US elections? Was the
CIA in the wrong trying to influence foreign elections? How can the
United States help others who favor the United States without being
immoral or at least hypocritical?
How
is humility
being a powerful thing in the spy business?
Does this have applications elsewhere?
In
an agency which specializes in deceit, why was it important not to
lie to your co-workers? How did this get ingrained in Mendez? How
does Mendez point out the effects of lying?
Acting
in character was much more important than what was said? How is this
true in other areas of life?
Many
of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
- Why the title of Master of Disguise?
- Does this story work as an autobiography?
- Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?
- Which character was the most convincing? Least?
- Which character did you identify with?
- Which one did you dislike?
- Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
- In what context was religion talked about in this book?
- Was there anybody you would consider religious?
- How did they show it?
- Or was religion not discussed? Why?
- Why do you think the author wrote this book?
- What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
- What “take aways” did you have from this book?
- What central ideas does the author present?
- Are they personal, sociological, global, political, economic,?
- What evidence does the author use to support the book's ideas?
- Is the evidence convincing...definitive or...speculative?
- Does the author depend on personal opinion, observation, and assessment? Or is the evidence factual—based on science, statistics, historical documents, or quotations from (credible) experts?
- What implications for you, our nation or the world do these ideas have? Or is this a yesterday story?
- Are these idea’s controversial?
- To whom and why?
- Are there solutions which the author presents?
- Do they seem workable? Practicable?
- How would you implement them?
- Describe the culture talked about in the book.
- How is the culture described in this book different than where we live?
- What economic or political situations are described?
- Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
- How did this book affect your view of the world?
- Of how God is viewed?
- What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
- Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
- What was memorable?
New Words:
- Smit (Kipling’s Beat): combination of heat, smoke and smog
- Honorable Men by Willian Colby
- The Canadian Caper by Jean Pelletier, Claude Adams
Good Quotes:
- First Line: I decided to write this memoir in September 1997, when the Central Intelligence Agency publicly celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.
- Last Line: Vigilance is, indeed, the price of liberty.
- Keep your options open; always have a fallback when you are working in hostile territory. Chp A Letter Slipped in the Door
- Preface
- A Letter Slipped in the Door
- Border Crossings
- Onto the Shadowy Battlefield
- Murky Waters, Southeast Asia
- Kipling’s Beat
- Honor and Gambit
- Pinball
- Moscow Rules
- Raptor in the Dark
- Endgame
- Epilogue
References:
- Author's Web Site
- Wikipedia-Author
- Amazon-Book
- Amazon-Author
- GoodReads-Book
- GoodReads-Author
- PBS Obituary
- CSPAN Interview
- YouTube interview on PBS with Jonna Mendez
- Politico obituary
- Kirkus Review
- Star Tribune obituary
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