Disguise Wizard at CIA - Jonna Mendez
Introduction
In the CIA, Jonna Mendez lived undercover and served tours of duty in Europe, the Far East, and the Subcontinent, and at CIA Headquarters. In 1970, she joined the Office of Technical Service - Technical Services Division (TSD). As a technical operations officer, Mendez prepared the CIA's most highly placed foreign assets in the use of spy cameras and the processing of the intelligence gathered by them. In this role, she also developed her photography skills. In 1982, she was one of the few selected for a year-long leadership development program. At the program's completion, she was given a choice among some assignments and became a generalist in disguise, identity transformation, and clandestine imaging in South and Southeast Asia.
She was assigned to Denied Area Operations for disguise in 1986. In 1988, she was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Disguise Division and, in 1991, Chief of Disguise. During her tenure as Chief of Disguise, she met with President George H.W. Bush in a mask disguise, which she removed in the meeting to demonstrate the effectiveness of the art of disguise. In 1993, she retired and was awarded the CIA's Commendation Medal.
Jonna met with President George H.W. Bush in a mask disguise, which she removed in the meeting to demonstrate the effectiveness of the art of disguise
https://americanwarriorradio.com/2020/03/the-moscow-rules-jonna-mendez/
Jonna Hiestand Goeser met her future second husband, Tony Mendez, also a CIA officer, while assigned to Bangkok. Following Mendez's retirement in 1990, they married in 1991. They had a son together.
Later years
After retiring from the CIA in 1993, Mendez and her husband served on the board of directors for the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. They were both involved in the museum planning and design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonna_Mendez
https://www.spymuseum.org/
Summary
Jonna was a tough undercover Agent, and she had a ton of bravery, especially then the Moscow operation went bad.
She was married to CIA Agent Tony Mendez, and they both shared a love of the Agency, disguises, and identity document forgery.
She and her husband both worked for Technical Services Division (TSD).
Books
Co-author Tony Mendez, Bruce Henderson; Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations that Helped Win the Cold War New York: Atria Books, 2003. ISBN 9780743428538, OCLC 54680464
Co-author Antonio J Mendez; The Moscow Rules: the secret CIA tactics that helped America win the Cold War, New York: PublicAffairs, 2019. ISBN 9781541762190, OCLC 1078953368
In a 2015 lecture, Jonna Mendez explained how Czechoslovakian husband and wife KGB spies Karl Koecher and Hana Koecher used sex to infiltrate the CIA and gather top-secret information. One popular Washington, D.C., “swinger’s club” frequented by the couple counted at least 10 CIA staffers and a United States Senator as members.
Articles
Videos
https://www.c-span.org/video/?324164-1/discussion-kgb-spies-1970s
Other Links
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)