Spies and The Intelligence Community

On Saturday, November 19th, AHTC teachers gathered at Urbana Middle School to learn about Spies and The Intelligence Community from 3 former spies!

Tony and Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chiefs of Disguise, began the day with a keynote titled, Espionage 101. Not only did they share personal stories and tricks of the trade, but they also brought in gadgets and artifacts used during their past CIA experiences. Some of my favorites were a lipstick camera, a fake nose, and a dead rat with a hidden compartment (okay, they didn't actually bring the rat to the workshop, but it was something they once used to relay messages to other spies)! Tony also shared the story of how he orchestrated a plan that resulted in the rescuing of six US diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis. Ben Affleck is staring as Tony Mendez in the upcoming 2012 film about this event titled, Argo. Very cool!

During breakout sessions, Tony and Jonna were able to show AHTC teachers how to wear disguises (and even dressed up some participants), as well as describe how illusion and magic influenced their careers.

Dr. H. Keith Melton, an intelligence historian and specialist in clandestine technology and espionage technology, began our afternoon with a keynote titled, Covert Technology and the Attack on Mumbai, which provided our teachers with an in-depth look at how the events of November 26, 2008 unfolded. Dr. Melton described how the terrorists used integrated tactics, superior weaponry, covert communications, and everyday technologies to carry out their attack. One of our AHTC teachers commented, "I felt like I was at a real CIA briefing!"

During breakout sessions, Dr. Melton discussed the 12 most recent US spy cases of American traitors and revealed how they were caught by the CIA, as well as presented a history of espionage over the past 100 years.

What an awesome workshop!

For more information related to this topic, visit the Web Resources page on the AHTC website.