Human Intelligence

This assignment is an examination of HUMINT cases as described in “CIA SpyMaster,” by Clarence Ashley. Clarence Ashley was a CIA officer who decided to write a biography of one of the most effective case officers in the history of the CIA: George Kisevalter.

Your assignment is to develop a series of HUMINT lessons from the experiences of George Kisevalter. Kisevalter was the case officer for both Oleg Penkovsky and Pyotr Popov. He was also involved to a lesser extent in the Nosenko and Golitsyn problem, with Cherepanov.

You are to choose either Popov OR Penkovsky OR the Nosenko/Golitsyn problem and write a “Lesson Learned” paper on HUMINT operations. You are expected to read these sections in total, identify and enumerate the lessons, AND provide the facts/evidence that backs up each lesson. You should have at least 5 lessons detailed and described. Treat your paper as a training tool for new case officers who are expected to read your case and take-away key lessons for current and on-going operations.

You are encouraged to research beyond the Ashley book, but Ashley must form the core of your work.

For additional research on Penkovsky there is a lot of open material but the finest book was written shortly after Penkovsky’s execution, “The Penkovsky Papers.” William Hood wrote a book on Popov, “Mole” that is worthy of picking up. Tennet Bagley has written a review of the Golitsyn-Nosenko affair.