My Dad’s Unusual Journey to Success
This memoir is a tribute to my father and My CIA Mother's dedication to preserving our way of life through their service in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Law School
My father went to law school and got his degree.
USMC Marines
My father then joined the Marines (USMC).
Stationed at Cherry Point, North Carolina, our family froze while living in a Quonset Hut, a lightly insulated metal shed.
My dad specialized in Radio Communication.
ATF
My father then joined the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) as a United States Treasury Federal Agent chasing bootleggers and conducting surveillance of mobsters.
The bootlegger chases happened in North Carolina, and dealing with the mobsters was in Philadelphia.
CIA
Then he joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during a very turbulent time of our history when Soviet and Chinese threats were all about. Because of his previous training from ATF and interest in electronics and lock picking, he was assigned to CIA Technical Services Division (TSD) or Technical Services Division, which did most of the stuff like “Q” did in the James Bond™ movies. This included providing espionage equipment and tradecraft services that were required for CIA Stations all over the world.
Our family had to move often and usually within two years, (a standard military / government rotation)
We lived in Fairfax Virginia, Frankfurt Germany, Vientiane Laos, and Rome Italy during my father’s CIA career. My father traveled to five continents, applying his expertise, and when he retired he wrote a fictional book about two CIA agents.
Part of his CIA training was learning the basic tradecraft at the "Farm" near Williamsburg, Virginia, and then took almost two years more training to become a TOPS (Technical Operations Officer Generalist). He specialized in many of the electronic tradecraft that the CIA uses.
“I see you’re working on spacecraft electronics, have practical experience in construction, and have even run your own fabrication and design business,” he said, checking off items on my sixteen-page application. “There might be a TOPS assignment for you in a few years.” I later realized that Glenn was assessing my potential for what was known as a more exciting “singleton” assignment overseas—the forward deployment of tech ops (technical operations) officers as TSD firemen. They were expected to fly in on short notice and provide the technical support that case officers might need in a fast-breaking operation, perhaps in a remote area.
Mendez, Antonio J.. The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA (p. 30). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
TOPS officers were stationed at key locations around the world, and they would build special devices ordered from the field and then travel to that location and train the local case officer on how to use the device and/or install it. Special devices could include listening devices (bugs), video or camera devices, surveillance devices, disguises, and forged documents.
I would soon learn more about the TOPS program, which assigned certain qualified TSD officers overseas to work side-by-side with their case officer colleagues. For example, a case officer might be skilled or lucky enough to recruit an agent willing to plant a listening device in the desk drawer of a sensitive department of a foreign government. Building the device and training the agent in its use were the TSD officer’s jobs. TOPS officers could handle most urgent jobs, but they knew when to ask for help.
Mendez, Antonio J.. The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA (p. 30). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
In addition to his other skills, my father was trained in "black bag jobs", surreptitious entry into a forbidden or restricted area. This kind of assignment only went to officers with a lot of nerve and guts. Some of his assignments were to travel to a foreign country and at night "break" into a consulate or embassy. Once inside the building they would, for example, open locked crypto safes and take pictures of documents, drill small holes and place a listening device, covering the hole, and do other clandestine tasks.
CIA Technical Services Division (TSD)
Objective one was not to get caught, and the second was to not leave any trace behind that your team was there.
Antonio Mendez (Tony) was a TOPS officer also around the time my father was active. Tony's expertise was disguises and the creation of alias identities and forged documents.
Tony has written two books, and he was the true life hero of the movie "Argo"
The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA
Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
Tony wrote this article for the CIA and his involvement in the making of the CIA fake movie "Argo" which starred Ben Affleck.
Tony’s wife Jonna also worked in the disguise and documents department of CIA/TSD.
Technical Services Division (TSD)
Disclaimer: All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or any other U.S. government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government authentication of information or CIA endorsement of the author’s views. I have never been an employee or contractor of the CIA and never signed a secrecy agreement. This material has not been reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information. The author has removed any names, locations, techniques, tactics, or operations that are not public domain. This does not constitute an official release of CIA information.
Hyperlink Disclaimer: The author has included many hyperlinks to external stories, documents, and reference materials that cannot be authenticated as to the veracity of any statements made, especially between Wikipedia, the CIA / Pentagon / DOD, ex Intelligence officers and the media.
Each source has its own internal biases, and therefore you should use your own critical thinking skills and do addition research to form an informed opinion.
Even the author struggles with confirmation bias, which is defined as the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.
Dusty please contact me, I'm pretty sure my Dad taught your Dad how to fly.
bruce_stockwell@yahoo.com
Your dad's career sounds a lot like my great-uncle's (Marine, CIA, lock picking, safe cracking, bugging, world travel). If you are interested in connecting feel free to reach out to me at melissa.b.h.ortiz@gmail.com