| The November 2000 issue of GQ Magazine features an article entitled Spy on a Tightrope, written by David Wise. Based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Wise is widely recognized as the foremost American author on the subject of espionage. Thomas E. Hayden, then a U. S. Command Master Chief assigned to a top secret communications facility in Naples, Italy is the subject of the article. Mr. Hayden was recruited by the Naval Investigative Service (NIS), now known as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), to pose as a traitor to his country. He was targeted against the Soviet KGB. The double-agent operation in which Mr. Hayden participated resulted in the defection of Vitaly Yurchenko the highest ranking KGB officer ever to defect to the United States Government. More importantly, Yurchenko provided names of several American Intelligence Officers who were spying for the Soviet Union, including Edward Lee Howard, a CIA employee; and Ronald Pelton, an employee of the National Security Agency. He then re-defected to the Soviet Union after escaping his CIA handlers. Mr. Hayden will tell the true story of his career as an American spy and double agent. He will talk about his past, and why he was recruited. He will explain the motivation behind volunteering and accepting an assignment that he knew would place him in an extremely hostile and high-risk environment. He will discuss his training, his fears, and how his Views changed, as he became more deeply involved in a world of smoke, shadows, and mirrors - the world of a double agent. He will talk about how his life was affected, particularly about the impact this assignment had upon his family. And as strange as it may seem, he will tell how he came to feel his KGB enemy becoming his KGB friend. Finally, Mr. Hayden will talk about how the constant stress created a nightmare that would not go away until the operation ended, and he was safely out of Italy. This lecture does not address the moral issues surrounding espionage activities. It is a factual lecture dealing with the dark side of international affairs, revealing how countries throughout the world target each other, and how they attempt to counter those threats. This is reality. This is about what happens every day in various parts of the world, unnoticed by the citizens at large. |
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| ...as strange as it may seem, he will tell how he came to feel his KGB enemy becoming his KGB friend. |
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| If you are Interested in Scheduling a Presentation Contact: Thomas E. Hayden |