Disguise Wizard at CIA -Tony Mendez
Tony Mendez and President Cater meeting at the White House - CIA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Introduction
Tony was hired by the CIA and became an espionage artist for the Technical Services Division (TSD), where he specialized in identity document forgery and creating disguises. He worked as an officer in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, and served in the CIA for 25 years.
In 1980, in what became known as the Canadian Caper, Mendez travelled to Iran to rescue six American diplomats who had taken refuge at the Canadian embassy, after the United States embassy was overrun in the disruption related to the overthrow of the government. Mendez was part of a strategy to exfiltrate the diplomats by passing them off as a Canadian film crew, having received passports and supporting documents from the Canadian Government to identify them as such. He was awarded the Intelligence Star on March 12, 1980, for his efforts in leading the rescue mission.
The movie Argo was written based upon the Canadian Caper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_(2012_film) starring Ben Affleck.
“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.
Tony’s wife Jonna also worked in the disguise and identity document forgery department of CIA/TSD.
Master in Disguise - Article about wife Jonna
Technical Services Division (TSD)
Summary
My father and Tony worked together in the field at least once.
Tony was a creative type that let his imagination go wild when it came to creating disguises.
He learned many tricks from Hollywood makeup artists, whom he studied.
He was married to CIA Agent Jonna Mendez and they both shared a love of the Agency, disguises, and identity document forgery.
Tony and his wife both worked for Technical Services Division (TSD).
Movies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_(2012_film)
Movie "Argo" which starred Ben Affleck.
Books
The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA
Articles
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.
Videos
Other Links
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)