A Spy's Journey by Floyd Paseman

Author:Floyd Paseman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2004-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

1. The Counterintelligence Reader, Vol. 3, Frank J. Rafalko, ed. (Washington, D.C.: National Counterintelligence Center [NCIC]), p. 407.

FOURTEEN

GERMANY—

BACK INTO THE FRAY

1994–1998

My assignment as chief, Germany, came about in a strange manner. I had been asked to select a post from among several excellent possibilities. The chief of European division had already asked for and been selected for Germany. I was asked to fly to Europe, and upon return, select the country that I preferred. I visited several places and was most impressed with them, but I had not come to a conclusion. I was en route home and stopped in Great Britain to take care of some business. While there, I received a phone call from the DDO.

“Congratulations!” he said.

“Thanks,” I responded, “what for?”

“You have been selected as chief of Germany,” he said, saying he would explain when I got back. So, I wound up with the German position that I didn’t ask for. Throughout my entire career, I never asked for a specific assignment, nor did I turn any down. We all serve at the pleasure of and for the need of the service. But in my view, that attitude has unfortunately changed with the current generation.

When I returned to the United States, I learned that the position in Germany had opened up for a number of reasons. Primarily because the officer who had been selected to be chief, Germany, had visited the country, and his wife hadn’t liked the country or the assignment. So he declined the assignment.

The DCI called me in and said, “I want you to go out and fix Germany.” I understood the DCI was talking about justifying the CIA’s significant presence there, now that the Cold War had ended. Four years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, little had changed. Our European friends and allies, Germany included, were no longer willing to turn a blind eye to our activities now that there was no common enemy. I understood my instructions and began preparations. For my part, I was delighted. I served in Germany while I was in the military, and both my ancestors and my wife’s ancestors came from Germany.

But there was one political problem. Several weeks before, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Holbrooke, a strong, demanding, and outstanding diplomat, was informed that the other officer was to be assigned as the chief, Germany. I had known Holbrooke from previous years when he was undersecretary for Asian affairs at the Department of State.

One afternoon, our associate deputy director for operations (ADDO) called me and told me to go with him to meet Ambassador Holbrooke and tell the ambassador I was coming to Germany instead of the other officer. We met Holbrooke and talked as we walked. The ADDO then gingerly told him that I was to be the chief and not the other officer, whom the ambassador had already met. Holbrooke exploded. He ranted and raved about our inability to make up our minds. He calmed down a bit, turned to me, and said, “Look, Floyd, I know you are a senior officer, and I like you.

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