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Secrets of the Cold War: US Army Europe's Intelligence and Counterintelligence Activities Against the Soviets During the Cold War
Secrets of the Cold War focuses on a dark period of a silent war and offers a new perspective on the struggle between the superpowers of the world told in the words of those who were there. The author, formerly an expert in counterintelligence in US Army Europe, weaves together exciting true accounts of allies collecting enemy information in the East and fighting spies and terrorists in the West.
Amassing Soviet military information by Allied agents in the East is at the forefront! Learn the bizarre method a British agent uses to obtain the muzzle size of a Russian tank as he risks his life jumping on a moving train in East Germany. A French officer drives into a Soviet tank column and escapes undiscovered by cunning methods. In West Germany, terrorist attacks and spies are rampant. Communists shoot a rocket propelled grenade into a General's occupied limo and terrorists kidnap another General. From the espionage files, an American soldier is nearly recruited in a downtown bar to be a spy and a First Sergeant is lured by sex to be an unknowing participant in spying.
Behind-the-lines images are historic and intriguing. See photographs of a French officer and a Soviet officer relaxing in the East German woods in a temporary unofficial peace; 'James Bond' type cars with their light tricks and their ability to leave their Stasi shadows 'wheel spinning' in the snow will amaze readers.
A Russian translator for the presidential hotline recounts a story about having to lock his doors in the Pentagon, separating himself and his sergeant from the Pentagon Generals when a message comes in from the Soviets. When he called the White House to relay the message to the President and stood by for a possible reply to the Soviet Chairman, he stopped working for the Generals and started working solely for the President.
In another riveting account, a US Berlin tank unit goes on red alert when the Soviets stop a US convoy on the autobahn between West Germany and Berlin. The Berlin Command orders the tanks to rescue them, "If anything gets in your way, either run over it or blow it away!" Young US Berlin train commanders recount their encounters with their Soviet counterparts aboard the Berlin Duty Train. In an unusual train incident, one male Soviet Officer places a love note in a young US female Train Commander's pocket, touching her leg. The note is in the book.
Containing a host of first-person accounts that lift the lid on previously untold clandestine activities, this is a major contribution to Cold War history, and exciting reading for all those who have an interest in the real-life world of military intelligence, counterintelligence and espionage.
Francis Gary Powers, Jr: "Well written and informative, the book is a magnificent assessment of the Cold War history."
Retired four Star General Kroesen, of US Army Europe: "Given the criticism, bad news and alleged malfeasances associated with our intelligence services during the past decade, it is most refreshing to find a book relating a far different story."
Amassing Soviet military information by Allied agents in the East is at the forefront! Learn the bizarre method a British agent uses to obtain the muzzle size of a Russian tank as he risks his life jumping on a moving train in East Germany. A French officer drives into a Soviet tank column and escapes undiscovered by cunning methods. In West Germany, terrorist attacks and spies are rampant. Communists shoot a rocket propelled grenade into a General's occupied limo and terrorists kidnap another General. From the espionage files, an American soldier is nearly recruited in a downtown bar to be a spy and a First Sergeant is lured by sex to be an unknowing participant in spying.
Behind-the-lines images are historic and intriguing. See photographs of a French officer and a Soviet officer relaxing in the East German woods in a temporary unofficial peace; 'James Bond' type cars with their light tricks and their ability to leave their Stasi shadows 'wheel spinning' in the snow will amaze readers.
A Russian translator for the presidential hotline recounts a story about having to lock his doors in the Pentagon, separating himself and his sergeant from the Pentagon Generals when a message comes in from the Soviets. When he called the White House to relay the message to the President and stood by for a possible reply to the Soviet Chairman, he stopped working for the Generals and started working solely for the President.
In another riveting account, a US Berlin tank unit goes on red alert when the Soviets stop a US convoy on the autobahn between West Germany and Berlin. The Berlin Command orders the tanks to rescue them, "If anything gets in your way, either run over it or blow it away!" Young US Berlin train commanders recount their encounters with their Soviet counterparts aboard the Berlin Duty Train. In an unusual train incident, one male Soviet Officer places a love note in a young US female Train Commander's pocket, touching her leg. The note is in the book.
Containing a host of first-person accounts that lift the lid on previously untold clandestine activities, this is a major contribution to Cold War history, and exciting reading for all those who have an interest in the real-life world of military intelligence, counterintelligence and espionage.
Francis Gary Powers, Jr: "Well written and informative, the book is a magnificent assessment of the Cold War history."
Retired four Star General Kroesen, of US Army Europe: "Given the criticism, bad news and alleged malfeasances associated with our intelligence services during the past decade, it is most refreshing to find a book relating a far different story."
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
248 pages, Hardcover
First published August 28, 2010
14 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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October 22, 2012
This was kind of a strange book. Thankfully it isn't very long, but had I known what it's like I would have read something else. McCaslin apparently interviewed a bunch of people or asked for short excerpts and then assembled them into a book. Some people are good writers. Most are not. As a result, you end up slogging through lots of incredibly uninteresting stuff to get to a few nuggets that are cool.
Several things I learned:
1) I knew little about how East / West Germany worked politically, militarily and legally. The book introduced me to some of the dynamics and gave me a brief sense of what it was like.
2) This book gave me a sense of how much paperwork and formalities plague the inter-workings of the military. Incredible. Not sure how people maintain their sanity.
3) I got really frustrated with the alphabet soup they used throughout, but I think that is also a military reality.
4) You don't have to be a good writer to sell an Amazon book. You don't even have to be a good writer to get 3 stars on Amazon books. You just have to include some cool stories. A good title also helps.
Random notes:
No tail. This happened more often lately after we learned to “blow” the radiators of the Stasi’s old model Mercedes cars by alternately speeding and then slowing to a crawl on the autobahn. After three or four times the old Mercedes’ radiator would boil over and we could take off alone in our 57 Chevrolet.
This happened more often lately after we learned to “blow” the radiators of the Stasi’s old model Mercedes cars by alternately speeding and then slowing to a crawl on the autobahn. After three or four times the old Mercedes’ radiator would boil over and we could take off alone in our 57 Chevrolet.
During USMLM’s history, many detentions, shootings, rammings and assaults occurred. For the most part, however, only a few of these incidents reached the press.
Financial cases posed the greatest challenge and came under great scrutiny as poor finances often trumped politics, ideology and other issues when it came to reasons for betraying your country.
Toward the end of the Cold War, the political pressure to channel information up to USAREUR Headquarters and even back to the Pentagon became huge. Commanders up and down the chain were under pressure to appear that they were doing something regardless if it had any useful effect.
a junior officer placed his briefcase full of COMSEC material on the roof of his car while he unlocked the door and promptly forgot it was there and drove off. A few miles later, he realized what he’d done and quickly returned to the scene. The briefcase was gone and never recovered. Like a good soldier, he immediately reported the loss, which resulted in the required—and expensive—replacement of a series of keycards. It also led to the quick end of his career.
Another military-only chore was the monthly alert. These were designed to exercise our ability to gather and commence operations quickly in case of attack by Russian hordes. Alerts occurred at various times of day – usually at night – and required all military personnel assigned to the staff to gather at their office, branch or division and simply do nothing. We always just sat around until someone in authority decided we were adequately prepared to go to war on a minute’s notice and let us go back home.
the Allies knew about the upcoming German bombing mission against the English city of Coventry ahead of time but could not say anything to anyone about it for fear of Germany finding out that we could take messages direct from Hitler and decrypt them simultaneously.
It was during the Persian Gulf War that the U.S. military truly realized the benefits of computers – and also the weaknesses. In fact, Desert Shield is often called the “first computer war.”
Desert Shield also saw the first real information war, which began with five hackers from the Netherlands breaking into computer systems of thirty-four different American Military sites. Starting in the spring of 1990 and continuing through May 1991, these hackers were able to obtain the exact locations of the American troops, the types of weapons they had, the capabilities of Patriot missile and the movement of US warships in the Gulf region.
We always send in English, and they always send in Russian. Nuance is the reason. When it comes to Presidential crisis management, composing a message in your native language is the only way to get just the right nuance on a diplomatic communication. That’s why the President and his advisors prepare all authentic outgoing messages in English. As a Russian linguist, I can pick the Chairman’s nuance out of the Russian and convey its essence to the President, but I would have a much harder time putting in just the right nuance in if I had to translate the President’s outgoing message from English into Russian.
Every shift, round the clock, the NMCC team, the DCL included, would simulate an incoming nuclear attack against the United States.
Almost all newly-arrived NMCC personnel would go through a period of deep self-examination as to how they would be able to function if the situation were ever real. Would they take the time to call home and warn their families that missiles were incoming? What good would it do since most ICBMs could then reach key American targets such as the D.C. area in less than an hour?
If it was real, our adrenaline would start pumping and our internal SOPs would kick in. First, my sergeant and I would lock both doors into our spaces so that we were separate from the NMCC and its Director. It was at this point that my boss changed from the Flag Officer to the President.
If an authentic message from Moscow began printing on my machine, my first task as I mentally translated it was to decide if it was so urgent that I needed to get the White House on the secure phone to give an immediate oral translation. If it seemed a bit less so, I was to make a written translation and send it by secure fax to the White House. The Hot Line was a teleprinter and not a phone for good reason. Think of problems with phone calls even when talking to another English speaker. You might not hear things right. Tone of voice can display emotional reactions and give false impressions. You don’t have time to give any thought to your best response. A typed incoming message alleviates those problems. The written word expresses the thoughts of the sender more accurately and gives the recipient time to ponder the message. The response can still be relatively immediate if need be. At times the amount of time before a response can be a “message” in itself.
Most defectors deserted because they were in trouble with the German or American authorities; very few defected due to ideological beliefs.
The Russians were mostly personable fellows, who only wanted to do a job, have a career, and retire without going to war, like
when I arrived at the Soviet checkpoint of Marienborn, the Soviet officer in charge, Captain Perevoznik, informed me that the train was being detained. I proceeded to inform Berlin Command by radio (in code) of the situation. My MPs dismounted from the guard cars and proceeded to provide security for the train for 24 hours a day. Finally, at the end of the third day, Captain Perevoznik came to my guard car and informed me that the train had been cleared for departure, at which time the train proceeded back to Berlin.
Working with the Russians was fascinating. They were a varied bunch, with some that were arrogant and self-important, others that were jokers. Some of them recognized the boring futility of their work. More than a few of them loved to drink. On special occasions they would ask if they could make a toast. Not a good habit to get in to, but I remember working on a New Year’s Eve and obliging. If I had known how they drink I might have thought twice, though! When they say a “shot” they mean a tumbler at least half full with room-temperature vodka, which they could easily swallow in one gulp. And I found out that drinks come in sets of two or three; they would suggest another as soon as the first was finished. I think I took that one, as they seemed insistent, but that was more than enough! We also had a toast when the wall came down, in November 1989. They recognized the historical significance of the occasion, the death knell of the Warsaw Pact.
One of the last photos the Mission ever took was of a Soviet troop train with a large sign on the side of a railcar with the words “WE WILL BE BACK”. In retrospect this seems less chilling than pathetic bluster.
Nicholson died in seconds. If he had been shot on the front steps of Mass General, no one would have been able to save him. Yet we made it sound as if Nicholson had suffered for hours while denied medical attention.
The crews had 10 minutes to be moving out of the camp gate – fully equipped, weapons mounted, ammunition on board.
Now, one regiment against the entire Warsaw Pact was very poor odds, and so most of us lowly troopers considered ourselves dead meat should the flag ever go up. But we were young, and with youth comes that feeling of immortality which caused us to shrug off the danger and concentrate on more important things, like trying to pull a little fun out of the boredom involved.
there wasn’t much adventure going on. We traded shifts standing in the tower watching some East German who was watching us watch him. When we were not doing that, we were cleaning the compound so when the inevitable dignitary came to visit, it would be presentable. This cleaning took the majority of our time.
On one of our more boring days, when for some reason I don’t recall, we were left without any officers or high-ranking NCOs to keep an eye on us, we decided to have a little fun. Whenever a dignitary visited, the East Germans would notice the extra activity and break out a high-powered camera to take pictures of whoever it was visiting, so we decided to put on a show for them. One of our guys stuck globs of aluminum foil to his hat and uniform epaulet, so from a distance he would appear to be a general or something. We then held a little ceremony as if we were welcoming him to the OP, and made a very big fuss of over-saluting him. Still in character, he went up to the tower for a look around, as all the dignitaries did, and we watched the cameras come out and start taking his picture. I like to think that somewhere in KGB Headquarters these pictures still exist, and that they spent a lot of time trying to figure out just who this guy was.
When we were given the go-ahead to break the seal on the ammo canister, we were horrified to find that the links which held the rounds together were so old that they had rusted away. Of course, this made firing the weapon impossible and we could do nothing but watch as the car continued to drive past us. As far as I know, it never attempted to escape and the East Germans never did anything to stop it. After this we were told to enter the ammunition locker and clean things up. We discovered the entire stock of ammo to be in the same poor state. Yup, the links fell apart in our hands because they were so rusted.
occasionally they would rush the barb wire with the first wave throwing them on the wire so their next wave could run up over their backs and get over the wire. That did not work very good for them though because all the flame throwers would light up and the machine guns would get the ones that didn’t fry on the wire. It is a smell a person will never forget.
He then said, “Well, in a few months we’ll get you past this glasses problem.” Two months later, and a lot of harassment as a leg (non-airborne), I was sent up to take the eye test again. This time the medic said, “I’ll be back in a little while to give you the test.” I was right next to the eye chart. I was in that room for ten minutes and memorized the lines. The medic came back in and naturally I passed with excellent results.
Several things I learned:
1) I knew little about how East / West Germany worked politically, militarily and legally. The book introduced me to some of the dynamics and gave me a brief sense of what it was like.
2) This book gave me a sense of how much paperwork and formalities plague the inter-workings of the military. Incredible. Not sure how people maintain their sanity.
3) I got really frustrated with the alphabet soup they used throughout, but I think that is also a military reality.
4) You don't have to be a good writer to sell an Amazon book. You don't even have to be a good writer to get 3 stars on Amazon books. You just have to include some cool stories. A good title also helps.
Random notes:
No tail. This happened more often lately after we learned to “blow” the radiators of the Stasi’s old model Mercedes cars by alternately speeding and then slowing to a crawl on the autobahn. After three or four times the old Mercedes’ radiator would boil over and we could take off alone in our 57 Chevrolet.
This happened more often lately after we learned to “blow” the radiators of the Stasi’s old model Mercedes cars by alternately speeding and then slowing to a crawl on the autobahn. After three or four times the old Mercedes’ radiator would boil over and we could take off alone in our 57 Chevrolet.
During USMLM’s history, many detentions, shootings, rammings and assaults occurred. For the most part, however, only a few of these incidents reached the press.
Financial cases posed the greatest challenge and came under great scrutiny as poor finances often trumped politics, ideology and other issues when it came to reasons for betraying your country.
Toward the end of the Cold War, the political pressure to channel information up to USAREUR Headquarters and even back to the Pentagon became huge. Commanders up and down the chain were under pressure to appear that they were doing something regardless if it had any useful effect.
a junior officer placed his briefcase full of COMSEC material on the roof of his car while he unlocked the door and promptly forgot it was there and drove off. A few miles later, he realized what he’d done and quickly returned to the scene. The briefcase was gone and never recovered. Like a good soldier, he immediately reported the loss, which resulted in the required—and expensive—replacement of a series of keycards. It also led to the quick end of his career.
Another military-only chore was the monthly alert. These were designed to exercise our ability to gather and commence operations quickly in case of attack by Russian hordes. Alerts occurred at various times of day – usually at night – and required all military personnel assigned to the staff to gather at their office, branch or division and simply do nothing. We always just sat around until someone in authority decided we were adequately prepared to go to war on a minute’s notice and let us go back home.
the Allies knew about the upcoming German bombing mission against the English city of Coventry ahead of time but could not say anything to anyone about it for fear of Germany finding out that we could take messages direct from Hitler and decrypt them simultaneously.
It was during the Persian Gulf War that the U.S. military truly realized the benefits of computers – and also the weaknesses. In fact, Desert Shield is often called the “first computer war.”
Desert Shield also saw the first real information war, which began with five hackers from the Netherlands breaking into computer systems of thirty-four different American Military sites. Starting in the spring of 1990 and continuing through May 1991, these hackers were able to obtain the exact locations of the American troops, the types of weapons they had, the capabilities of Patriot missile and the movement of US warships in the Gulf region.
We always send in English, and they always send in Russian. Nuance is the reason. When it comes to Presidential crisis management, composing a message in your native language is the only way to get just the right nuance on a diplomatic communication. That’s why the President and his advisors prepare all authentic outgoing messages in English. As a Russian linguist, I can pick the Chairman’s nuance out of the Russian and convey its essence to the President, but I would have a much harder time putting in just the right nuance in if I had to translate the President’s outgoing message from English into Russian.
Every shift, round the clock, the NMCC team, the DCL included, would simulate an incoming nuclear attack against the United States.
Almost all newly-arrived NMCC personnel would go through a period of deep self-examination as to how they would be able to function if the situation were ever real. Would they take the time to call home and warn their families that missiles were incoming? What good would it do since most ICBMs could then reach key American targets such as the D.C. area in less than an hour?
If it was real, our adrenaline would start pumping and our internal SOPs would kick in. First, my sergeant and I would lock both doors into our spaces so that we were separate from the NMCC and its Director. It was at this point that my boss changed from the Flag Officer to the President.
If an authentic message from Moscow began printing on my machine, my first task as I mentally translated it was to decide if it was so urgent that I needed to get the White House on the secure phone to give an immediate oral translation. If it seemed a bit less so, I was to make a written translation and send it by secure fax to the White House. The Hot Line was a teleprinter and not a phone for good reason. Think of problems with phone calls even when talking to another English speaker. You might not hear things right. Tone of voice can display emotional reactions and give false impressions. You don’t have time to give any thought to your best response. A typed incoming message alleviates those problems. The written word expresses the thoughts of the sender more accurately and gives the recipient time to ponder the message. The response can still be relatively immediate if need be. At times the amount of time before a response can be a “message” in itself.
Most defectors deserted because they were in trouble with the German or American authorities; very few defected due to ideological beliefs.
The Russians were mostly personable fellows, who only wanted to do a job, have a career, and retire without going to war, like
when I arrived at the Soviet checkpoint of Marienborn, the Soviet officer in charge, Captain Perevoznik, informed me that the train was being detained. I proceeded to inform Berlin Command by radio (in code) of the situation. My MPs dismounted from the guard cars and proceeded to provide security for the train for 24 hours a day. Finally, at the end of the third day, Captain Perevoznik came to my guard car and informed me that the train had been cleared for departure, at which time the train proceeded back to Berlin.
Working with the Russians was fascinating. They were a varied bunch, with some that were arrogant and self-important, others that were jokers. Some of them recognized the boring futility of their work. More than a few of them loved to drink. On special occasions they would ask if they could make a toast. Not a good habit to get in to, but I remember working on a New Year’s Eve and obliging. If I had known how they drink I might have thought twice, though! When they say a “shot” they mean a tumbler at least half full with room-temperature vodka, which they could easily swallow in one gulp. And I found out that drinks come in sets of two or three; they would suggest another as soon as the first was finished. I think I took that one, as they seemed insistent, but that was more than enough! We also had a toast when the wall came down, in November 1989. They recognized the historical significance of the occasion, the death knell of the Warsaw Pact.
One of the last photos the Mission ever took was of a Soviet troop train with a large sign on the side of a railcar with the words “WE WILL BE BACK”. In retrospect this seems less chilling than pathetic bluster.
Nicholson died in seconds. If he had been shot on the front steps of Mass General, no one would have been able to save him. Yet we made it sound as if Nicholson had suffered for hours while denied medical attention.
The crews had 10 minutes to be moving out of the camp gate – fully equipped, weapons mounted, ammunition on board.
Now, one regiment against the entire Warsaw Pact was very poor odds, and so most of us lowly troopers considered ourselves dead meat should the flag ever go up. But we were young, and with youth comes that feeling of immortality which caused us to shrug off the danger and concentrate on more important things, like trying to pull a little fun out of the boredom involved.
there wasn’t much adventure going on. We traded shifts standing in the tower watching some East German who was watching us watch him. When we were not doing that, we were cleaning the compound so when the inevitable dignitary came to visit, it would be presentable. This cleaning took the majority of our time.
On one of our more boring days, when for some reason I don’t recall, we were left without any officers or high-ranking NCOs to keep an eye on us, we decided to have a little fun. Whenever a dignitary visited, the East Germans would notice the extra activity and break out a high-powered camera to take pictures of whoever it was visiting, so we decided to put on a show for them. One of our guys stuck globs of aluminum foil to his hat and uniform epaulet, so from a distance he would appear to be a general or something. We then held a little ceremony as if we were welcoming him to the OP, and made a very big fuss of over-saluting him. Still in character, he went up to the tower for a look around, as all the dignitaries did, and we watched the cameras come out and start taking his picture. I like to think that somewhere in KGB Headquarters these pictures still exist, and that they spent a lot of time trying to figure out just who this guy was.
When we were given the go-ahead to break the seal on the ammo canister, we were horrified to find that the links which held the rounds together were so old that they had rusted away. Of course, this made firing the weapon impossible and we could do nothing but watch as the car continued to drive past us. As far as I know, it never attempted to escape and the East Germans never did anything to stop it. After this we were told to enter the ammunition locker and clean things up. We discovered the entire stock of ammo to be in the same poor state. Yup, the links fell apart in our hands because they were so rusted.
occasionally they would rush the barb wire with the first wave throwing them on the wire so their next wave could run up over their backs and get over the wire. That did not work very good for them though because all the flame throwers would light up and the machine guns would get the ones that didn’t fry on the wire. It is a smell a person will never forget.
He then said, “Well, in a few months we’ll get you past this glasses problem.” Two months later, and a lot of harassment as a leg (non-airborne), I was sent up to take the eye test again. This time the medic said, “I’ll be back in a little while to give you the test.” I was right next to the eye chart. I was in that room for ten minutes and memorized the lines. The medic came back in and naturally I passed with excellent results.
June 14, 2019
While there were some interesting anecdotes, the book had no organization, formatting problems on Kindle, and repeated itself, especially in the section on the Berlin train. I didn't know about the American/British/French teams that would roam all over East Germany (legally) spying so that was cool to learn about. Overall it was pretty dull.
October 6, 2012
Some interesting stories, but the acronyms were completely overwhelming. It probably would have been more interesting if I already had more knowledge on the subject.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews