Espionage in Ancient Civilizations
Alexander Mosaic (detail),House of the Faun, Pompeii. Credit: The Guardian (DEA/G Nimatallah/De Agostini/Getty Images) The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy;…
Operation Tracer: Secret Stay Behind Cave of World War II
An aerial photo of Gibraltar after take-off from the Rock, looking north-west towards San Roque. Photo: Steve – Flickr: Gibraltar / CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED. Operation Tracer was a secret…
Operation Greenup: A Pivotal Mission in World War II
OSS Operation Greenup team. From left to right: Franz Weber, Hans Wijnberg, and Frederick Mayer. Photo: National Archives. Operation Greenup was a covert mission by the Office of Strategic Services…
The Thing: A Masterpiece of Cold War Espionage
Exterior of Spaso House, residence of U.S. Ambassador in Moscow. Photo: U.S. Embassy Moscow photographer Valeriy Yevseyev. U.S Embassy Moscow. “The Thing”, also known as the Great Seal bug, is…
Operation Jedburgh: The Secret Mission that Helped Change the Course of WW2
Jedburghs in front of a B-24 prior to departure at Area T, Harrington Airdrome, England. Photo: U.S. Office of Strategic Services. Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War…
Brigade 2506: CIA-Sponsored Cuban Exile Brigade
The SU-100 from which Fidel Castro reportedly shelled the freighter Houston during morning of 17 April 1961, Photo: Whoisjohngalt / CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED. “Victory has a thousand fathers; defeat…
The Bureau of Military Information: First Formal American Intelligence Agency
Col. George Henry Sharpe sits at far left with other members of his “Bureau of Military Information”, John C. Babcock, unidentified officer, and Lt. Col. John McEntee, February 1864. Photo…
The Intelligence Support Activity: America’s Most Secret Tier 1 Unit
The capture of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on 13 December 2003. The operation, codenamed Operation Red Dawn, was executed by Task Force 121—an elite and covert joint special operations…
The Evolution of Technology in Intelligence Gathering
Headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, Maryland. Photo: National Security Agency. Espionage and intelligence gathering, the art of obtaining secret information without the permission of its…
The Office of Naval Intelligence: America’s Oldest Permanent Intelligence Agency
Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), attends the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Naval Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC) in Suitland, Maryland on 14 January 2009. U.S. Navy photo…