James Powell

Hoping to become an intelligence officer? This list of crucial attributes for a CIA intel officer can help you get a good start.

On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Great Britain rose to give a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, a grim look on his face and an even grimmer message in his heart. His speech began with praise for his staunch ally and friend, President Harry S. Truman and the United […]

We look at a few of the spies of World War II who helped their countries win – and sometimes LOSE – battles, and ultimately, the war.

The people wanted to know how to exploit the weakness of the upper class and rulers, and military leaders were constantly searching for their enemy’s disposition, plans, and intentions. The early 19th century provided the intelligence officer and their agents with plenty of work.

The American general was desperate. The last time he had faced his enemy counterpart, who considered one the best tacticians in the world, he and his men had barely escaped with their lives and had given up crucial territory during the withdrawal. He knew that he could be engaging in a second battle at any […]

You can read part I here. Ancient China and much of Asia saw widespread use of spies and espionage during its turbulent history. In fact, the use of these agents was so common that the final chapter of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (Sunzi Bingfa) is dedicated to spies, spying, and their importance in […]

CIA. KGB. MSS. All acronyms that anyone familiar with the intelligence world would know. (For those who may not be familiar, they stand for: Central Intelligence Agency — United States, Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti — Soviet Union/Russia, and the Ministry for State Security — China). They are all well-represented in the modern media. But what about […]

It was cold. What is it that they say? “Bone chilling?” Yeah, that was about right. And it was windy as all hell, too. It was as if God had looked down and said “Ya know what, Gabriel? (one of his main angels) I haven’t messed with J for a minute…watch this…” I mean, I […]

Check out Part 1, “Room Service” here. Once I had “paper walked” — mapped — my tentative routes and filled my belly, I figured that it was time to hit the streets and do some spy sh-. OK full disclosure – “spy sh-” meant, at that point, nothing more than looking like the bumbling, lost […]

Note: The following articles in this series may have taken place during real-world events… or it may have just been a training exercise… either way, no methods, sources or secrets were or will be divulged. This is all generic stuff that you can read in any “spy” novel—so take a puff of your inhaler and […]

For many people born after about 1975, the 80’s was a time of adventure and rebirth from the gas shortages and economic downturn of the decade before. The first space shuttle, Columbia made its maiden flight in 1981; movie goers could take in everything from Terms of Endearment to Friday the 13th; and the geek […]

Something just wasn’t right. I knew that I was probably overreacting, but I also knew that my instincts had saved my ass more times than I could count, and the times that I didn’t listen were the times that said ass got kicked. I looked around at the people in the room, and it seemed […]