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Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Russian: Рудо́льф Ива́нович А́бель), real name Vilyam "Willie" Genrikhovich Fisher (Ви́льям "Ви́лли" Ге́нрихович Фи́шер; 11 July 1903 – 15 November 1971) was a Soviet intelligence officer. Upon his arrest by FBI agents on conspiracy charges in 1957 he assumed the identity of a deceased colleague, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (1900-1955), and it is under this last of many aliases that he became famous.
Born in the United Kingdom to Russian émigré parents, Fisher moved to Russia in the 1920s, and served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s, and early 1930s. He later served in an instructional role before taking part in intelligence operations against the Germans during World War II. After the war, he began working for the KGB, which sent him to the United States where he worked as part of a spy ring based in New York City.
In 1957, the U.S. Federal Court in New York convicted Fisher on three counts of conspiracy as a Soviet spy for his involvement in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case and sentenced him to 30 years' imprisonment at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Georgia.[6] He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. He died in 1971 at the age of 68.
Born in the United Kingdom to Russian émigré parents, Fisher moved to Russia in the 1920s, and served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s, and early 1930s. He later served in an instructional role before taking part in intelligence operations against the Germans during World War II. After the war, he began working for the KGB, which sent him to the United States where he worked as part of a spy ring based in New York City.
In 1957, the U.S. Federal Court in New York convicted Fisher on three counts of conspiracy as a Soviet spy for his involvement in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case and sentenced him to 30 years' imprisonment at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Georgia.[6] He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. He died in 1971 at the age of 68.
Rudolf Abel - Wikipedia
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Spies: CIA & KGB | The Cold War (1944–1994) 21 of 24
Throughout the Cold War both sides sought intelligence about their opponents using spies, satellites and other means. For political reasons, scientists worki...
Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that July 11 is the anniversary of the birth Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Russian: Рудо́льф Ива́нович А́бель), whose real name was Vilyam "Willie" Genrikhovich Fisher (Ви́льям "Ви́лли" Ге́нрихович Фи́шер.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was betrayed by a member of his own network and arrested in Brooklyn in 1957. Abel was sentenced to three decades in prison. But just over four years later he would be handed over in return for Gary Powers, an American apprehended by the Soviets when his U-2 plane was shot down in 1960.
Image:
1. 1962 Francis Gary Powers at left and Rudolf Abel at right "On the left side of this image, we see Francis Gary Powers as he appeared during his testimony before Congress on March 6, 1962. On the right side, we see Rudolf Abel (Willy Fisher) wearing his distinctive dark hat with the white band. Online via TASS."
2. 1962 Vladimir Semichastny, chairman of the KGB, talking to Soviet intelligence officers Rudolf Abel (second from left) and Konon Molody (second from right).png
3. 1962 Onlookers at the Glienicke Bridge, Berlin, Germany following Rudolph Abel's exchange for Gary Powers. The Glienicke Bridge became a familiar spot for spy swaps and has featured in many films and novels
1. Background from bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-34870934
"The arrest and trial of the "most famous Soviet spy of all time", Rudolf Abel, is the inspiration for the latest Steven Spielberg blockbuster, Bridge of Spies. But who was Abel and what is the story behind his unlikely upbringing as a grammar school boy in the north-east of England?
"Red spy nabbed" screamed the Pathé News broadcast of October 1957 as Rudolf Abel was marched away in handcuffs.
It was the archetypal Cold War tale - an undercover operative arrested after his cover was blown.
Spared the electric chair, Abel was sentenced to three decades in prison. But just over four years later he would be handed over in return for Gary Powers, an American apprehended by the Soviets when his U-2 plane was shot down in 1960.
As an intelligence colonel, Abel was the highest-ranking Russian to face spy charges in the US. He had worked as a radio operator during World War Two before taking a role with the Foreign Intelligence Service as a translator and then joining a forerunner of the KGB.
But while Abel was what he called himself when taken into custody in the US, perhaps unsurprisingly for a secret services emissary, it was not his real name.
"He was born William Fisher on 11 July 1903 in Benwell, in Newcastle's West End," says David Saunders, a professor of Russian history at Newcastle University, who has been instrumental in uncovering the full story of the spy's childhood.
Spotting a review of a Russian language book by former spy Kirill Khenkin in The Times Literary Supplement in 1983, he was amazed to read of Abel's English childhood and set about obtaining a copy of his birth certificate.
"Abel was familiar to me," says the professor. "I remembered the exchange of 1962. He's the most famous Soviet spy of all time.
"We make a lot in this country about Kim Philby and the Cambridge Five, but those British spies didn't have any rank in the KGB. Abel is the only British-born ranking officer in Soviet external security services that we know of.
"He was born at 140 Clara Street, a property which is no longer there, and his family lived at a number of other addresses - Greenhow Place, Hampstead Road, Armstrong Road - from 1901."
In 1908, William's parents would move their two sons out of the city for the fresher air of the nearby coast.
"William sketched and was artistic. He was also musically talented. It was a middle-class life of a kind," says Prof Saunders, who describes a gifted youngster who - to the outside world at least - enjoyed an ordinary existence.
But the future spy's father was no ordinary man. A Bolshevik revolutionary, Heinrich Fisher was a "staunch socialist" and had been imprisoned in his home country by the Tsarist authorities.
He and his wife Lyubov emigrated from Russia in 1901, making their way across Germany.
"He'd been a metal worker in St Petersburg and almost immediately got a job as an iron turner at Armstrong's [in Newcastle] and then as an engine fitter," said Prof Saunders.
"In 1921 he took the family back to Russia. It was now a Communist society."
William Fisher would never return to Tyneside.
Vin Arthey, author of Abel: The True Story of the Spy They Traded for Gary Powers, believes the years he spent in the North East would have helped shape his political views.
"The north-east of England at the beginning of the 20th Century was textbook territory for Marxism: heavy industry, the wealth concentrated in few hands, the working class living in pretty grim conditions.
"He was a committed Communist, as his parents were, and he joined the Red Army as a radio operator.
"A skilled linguist - a native English speaker, as well as Russian and German from his parents and French from Monkseaton Grammar School - he got a job as a translator."
Bridge of Spies focuses on Abel's arrest and lawyer Donovan's role in negotiating his exchange
Soviet security service postings to Oslo and London followed in the 1930s before World War Two saw him heavily involved in radio deception in efforts to trick German forces. It was, says Dr Arthey, the "most significant contribution" of his career.
The KGB colonel would arrive in the United States illegally in 1948. Working without diplomatic cover as a photo finisher, he assumed a number of identities as he "managed" agents.
"In 1948 Stalin was ailing, he died in 1953," says Dr Arthey. "The FBI was working hard to disrupt Soviet spy rings, but Fisher kept the show on the road.
"I don't think his job was seeking out military secrets, but he was an important cog in the wheel that got information back to Russia."
But he was betrayed by a member of his own network and arrested in Brooklyn in 1957. News reports said he had "high-powered radios capable of receiving signals from Moscow"
2. Background from awesomestories.com/asset/view/DONOVAN-ABEL-and-POWERS-after-the-BRIDGE-OF-SPIES-Bridge-of-Spies
"On the 6th of March, 1962, Francis Gary Powers testified before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. In a public hearing, the U-2 pilot explained what had happened to him on the day his plane was hit by a Soviet missile.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing and received the pay he would have received but for his incarceration in the Soviet Union.
President Kennedy sent Jim Donovan a letter of thanks and personally met with him at the White House.
Among JFK’s written words were these: "So far as I am aware, the type of negotiation you undertook, where diplomatic channels had been unavailing, is unique, and you conducted it with the greatest skill and courage. (See March 12, 1962 letter from the President to Donovan.)
Abel gave Donovan a gift of two rare books during the summer of 1962. He sent them - two 16th-century Latin editions, bound with vellum, of Commentaries on the Justinian Code - with a letter expressing his gratitude for everything Donovan had done for him.
Jim Donovan - who had courageously endured death threats and faced-down hecklers, demonstrators, picketers and other types of agitators while defending Rudolf Abel - lived until 1970. Beyond his achievements in saving Abel’s life and negotiating the Abel-Powers-Pryor exchange, Donovan also: Participated in the Nuremberg War-Crimes trial where he introduced historical footage and horrifying photographs of Nazi-run concentration camps; and
Negotiated - with Fidel Castro - the release of people captured during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (in Cuba), including: 1,113 prisoners; about 8,500 other Cubans; more than 30 imprisoned Americans; 3 CIA agents.
Francis Gary Powers worked at Lockheed for a time, as a test pilot, then flew helicopters for KNBC, a television station in Los Angeles.
On the job, in 1977, Powers encountered difficulties with his chopper. He could have landed safely, but to do so would have potentially harmed people on the ground. Instead, he tried to land elsewhere, but the chopper crashed. Powers died in that crash, as did his colleague.
Many years after Powers’ death, the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff - General Norton Schwartz -posthumously awarded Captain Powers (his Air-Force rank) a Silver Star. The event took place at the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes on the 15th of June, 2012.
The Silver Star recognized Powers’ “exceptional loyalty” to his country while he endured harsh interrogation at Moscow’s Lubyanka Prison.
The U-2 Incident had been extremely difficult for Powers’ family, too. His daughter Dee remembers an especially awful situation when she was in third grade.
Beyond coping with what had happened to her father, and what people were saying about him - including intense criticism for not destroying his plane and being captured alive - her teacher made the comments personal.
Fifty years later, when her father posthumously received the Silver Cross, Dee still remembered those words (and their impact on her):
[A teacher told] the entire class that my father should have killed himself.
That was very traumatic for me. And I went home that afternoon and I told my mom that someone had said that Daddy should have killed himself. And of course, my mother was up in arms over that. But that’s what they knew then. And things—it took a long time for that to change. (Quoted by Rebecca Berg in a New York Times article, "Powers, U-2 Pilot Captured by Soviets, Awarded Silver Star," published on June 15, 2012.)
What about Rudolf Abel? How did his life work-out after his walk across the Bridge of Spies?
He was reunited with Yelena (his wife) and Evelyn (his daughter) soon after regaining his freedom on February 10, 1962. The family flew back to Russia together.
Initially, Abel returned to the KGB working in the “Illegals Directorate.” He gave lectures, and visited with students, talking about what it takes to work in the intelligence service.
Abel, however, grew discouraged with life in Russia. According to Christopher Andrew, in The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB:
After his return to Moscow, he was given a chair in a corner of the FCD Illegals Directorate but was denied even a desk of his own. When a friend asked him what he did, he replied disconsolately: “I’m a museum exhibit.” (See Sword and Shield, at page 175.)
Willy Fisher / Rudolf Abel lived until 1971. He was 69 years old when he died of lung cancer on the 15th of November that year. It was the anniversary of the very day—November 15, 1957—when Jim Donovan had successfully convinced the Judge to spare his client's life.
In honor of his position, and the esteem in which he was held, his body lay in state at a KGB hall not far from the Lubyanka Prison. His remains were cremated, at the New Donskoy (Donskoi) Cemetery in Moscow, where his ashes are interred.
After her husband's death, Yelena fought for a year to change the name on the stone which marks his gravesite. She wanted it to reflect his real, not his spy, name: William Genrikhovich Fisher.
No one really knows, for sure, what Willy Fisher / Rudolf Abel actually accomplished as a Soviet spy living in America. One thing we do know, however. His walk across the Glienicke inaugurated that bridge's new nickname: "Bridge of Spies."
Throughout the Cold War both sides sought intelligence about their opponents using spies, satellites and other means
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv9CW_YqqsI
FYI CPT Don KempSFC Greg Bruorton CPT (Join to see) 1stSgt Eugene Harless MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy 1SG Carl McAndrews SPC Douglas Bolton Debbie Pomeroy Cloud Kathlean KeeslerSGT Tim Fridley (Join to see) Michael Horne SSG David Andrews Sgt John H. Sgt David G Duchesneau SGT Mark Halmrast CW5 Jack Cardwell Cynthia Croft
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was betrayed by a member of his own network and arrested in Brooklyn in 1957. Abel was sentenced to three decades in prison. But just over four years later he would be handed over in return for Gary Powers, an American apprehended by the Soviets when his U-2 plane was shot down in 1960.
Image:
1. 1962 Francis Gary Powers at left and Rudolf Abel at right "On the left side of this image, we see Francis Gary Powers as he appeared during his testimony before Congress on March 6, 1962. On the right side, we see Rudolf Abel (Willy Fisher) wearing his distinctive dark hat with the white band. Online via TASS."
2. 1962 Vladimir Semichastny, chairman of the KGB, talking to Soviet intelligence officers Rudolf Abel (second from left) and Konon Molody (second from right).png
3. 1962 Onlookers at the Glienicke Bridge, Berlin, Germany following Rudolph Abel's exchange for Gary Powers. The Glienicke Bridge became a familiar spot for spy swaps and has featured in many films and novels
1. Background from bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-34870934
"The arrest and trial of the "most famous Soviet spy of all time", Rudolf Abel, is the inspiration for the latest Steven Spielberg blockbuster, Bridge of Spies. But who was Abel and what is the story behind his unlikely upbringing as a grammar school boy in the north-east of England?
"Red spy nabbed" screamed the Pathé News broadcast of October 1957 as Rudolf Abel was marched away in handcuffs.
It was the archetypal Cold War tale - an undercover operative arrested after his cover was blown.
Spared the electric chair, Abel was sentenced to three decades in prison. But just over four years later he would be handed over in return for Gary Powers, an American apprehended by the Soviets when his U-2 plane was shot down in 1960.
As an intelligence colonel, Abel was the highest-ranking Russian to face spy charges in the US. He had worked as a radio operator during World War Two before taking a role with the Foreign Intelligence Service as a translator and then joining a forerunner of the KGB.
But while Abel was what he called himself when taken into custody in the US, perhaps unsurprisingly for a secret services emissary, it was not his real name.
"He was born William Fisher on 11 July 1903 in Benwell, in Newcastle's West End," says David Saunders, a professor of Russian history at Newcastle University, who has been instrumental in uncovering the full story of the spy's childhood.
Spotting a review of a Russian language book by former spy Kirill Khenkin in The Times Literary Supplement in 1983, he was amazed to read of Abel's English childhood and set about obtaining a copy of his birth certificate.
"Abel was familiar to me," says the professor. "I remembered the exchange of 1962. He's the most famous Soviet spy of all time.
"We make a lot in this country about Kim Philby and the Cambridge Five, but those British spies didn't have any rank in the KGB. Abel is the only British-born ranking officer in Soviet external security services that we know of.
"He was born at 140 Clara Street, a property which is no longer there, and his family lived at a number of other addresses - Greenhow Place, Hampstead Road, Armstrong Road - from 1901."
In 1908, William's parents would move their two sons out of the city for the fresher air of the nearby coast.
"William sketched and was artistic. He was also musically talented. It was a middle-class life of a kind," says Prof Saunders, who describes a gifted youngster who - to the outside world at least - enjoyed an ordinary existence.
But the future spy's father was no ordinary man. A Bolshevik revolutionary, Heinrich Fisher was a "staunch socialist" and had been imprisoned in his home country by the Tsarist authorities.
He and his wife Lyubov emigrated from Russia in 1901, making their way across Germany.
"He'd been a metal worker in St Petersburg and almost immediately got a job as an iron turner at Armstrong's [in Newcastle] and then as an engine fitter," said Prof Saunders.
"In 1921 he took the family back to Russia. It was now a Communist society."
William Fisher would never return to Tyneside.
Vin Arthey, author of Abel: The True Story of the Spy They Traded for Gary Powers, believes the years he spent in the North East would have helped shape his political views.
"The north-east of England at the beginning of the 20th Century was textbook territory for Marxism: heavy industry, the wealth concentrated in few hands, the working class living in pretty grim conditions.
"He was a committed Communist, as his parents were, and he joined the Red Army as a radio operator.
"A skilled linguist - a native English speaker, as well as Russian and German from his parents and French from Monkseaton Grammar School - he got a job as a translator."
Bridge of Spies focuses on Abel's arrest and lawyer Donovan's role in negotiating his exchange
Soviet security service postings to Oslo and London followed in the 1930s before World War Two saw him heavily involved in radio deception in efforts to trick German forces. It was, says Dr Arthey, the "most significant contribution" of his career.
The KGB colonel would arrive in the United States illegally in 1948. Working without diplomatic cover as a photo finisher, he assumed a number of identities as he "managed" agents.
"In 1948 Stalin was ailing, he died in 1953," says Dr Arthey. "The FBI was working hard to disrupt Soviet spy rings, but Fisher kept the show on the road.
"I don't think his job was seeking out military secrets, but he was an important cog in the wheel that got information back to Russia."
But he was betrayed by a member of his own network and arrested in Brooklyn in 1957. News reports said he had "high-powered radios capable of receiving signals from Moscow"
2. Background from awesomestories.com/asset/view/DONOVAN-ABEL-and-POWERS-after-the-BRIDGE-OF-SPIES-Bridge-of-Spies
"On the 6th of March, 1962, Francis Gary Powers testified before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. In a public hearing, the U-2 pilot explained what had happened to him on the day his plane was hit by a Soviet missile.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing and received the pay he would have received but for his incarceration in the Soviet Union.
President Kennedy sent Jim Donovan a letter of thanks and personally met with him at the White House.
Among JFK’s written words were these: "So far as I am aware, the type of negotiation you undertook, where diplomatic channels had been unavailing, is unique, and you conducted it with the greatest skill and courage. (See March 12, 1962 letter from the President to Donovan.)
Abel gave Donovan a gift of two rare books during the summer of 1962. He sent them - two 16th-century Latin editions, bound with vellum, of Commentaries on the Justinian Code - with a letter expressing his gratitude for everything Donovan had done for him.
Jim Donovan - who had courageously endured death threats and faced-down hecklers, demonstrators, picketers and other types of agitators while defending Rudolf Abel - lived until 1970. Beyond his achievements in saving Abel’s life and negotiating the Abel-Powers-Pryor exchange, Donovan also: Participated in the Nuremberg War-Crimes trial where he introduced historical footage and horrifying photographs of Nazi-run concentration camps; and
Negotiated - with Fidel Castro - the release of people captured during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (in Cuba), including: 1,113 prisoners; about 8,500 other Cubans; more than 30 imprisoned Americans; 3 CIA agents.
Francis Gary Powers worked at Lockheed for a time, as a test pilot, then flew helicopters for KNBC, a television station in Los Angeles.
On the job, in 1977, Powers encountered difficulties with his chopper. He could have landed safely, but to do so would have potentially harmed people on the ground. Instead, he tried to land elsewhere, but the chopper crashed. Powers died in that crash, as did his colleague.
Many years after Powers’ death, the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff - General Norton Schwartz -posthumously awarded Captain Powers (his Air-Force rank) a Silver Star. The event took place at the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes on the 15th of June, 2012.
The Silver Star recognized Powers’ “exceptional loyalty” to his country while he endured harsh interrogation at Moscow’s Lubyanka Prison.
The U-2 Incident had been extremely difficult for Powers’ family, too. His daughter Dee remembers an especially awful situation when she was in third grade.
Beyond coping with what had happened to her father, and what people were saying about him - including intense criticism for not destroying his plane and being captured alive - her teacher made the comments personal.
Fifty years later, when her father posthumously received the Silver Cross, Dee still remembered those words (and their impact on her):
[A teacher told] the entire class that my father should have killed himself.
That was very traumatic for me. And I went home that afternoon and I told my mom that someone had said that Daddy should have killed himself. And of course, my mother was up in arms over that. But that’s what they knew then. And things—it took a long time for that to change. (Quoted by Rebecca Berg in a New York Times article, "Powers, U-2 Pilot Captured by Soviets, Awarded Silver Star," published on June 15, 2012.)
What about Rudolf Abel? How did his life work-out after his walk across the Bridge of Spies?
He was reunited with Yelena (his wife) and Evelyn (his daughter) soon after regaining his freedom on February 10, 1962. The family flew back to Russia together.
Initially, Abel returned to the KGB working in the “Illegals Directorate.” He gave lectures, and visited with students, talking about what it takes to work in the intelligence service.
Abel, however, grew discouraged with life in Russia. According to Christopher Andrew, in The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB:
After his return to Moscow, he was given a chair in a corner of the FCD Illegals Directorate but was denied even a desk of his own. When a friend asked him what he did, he replied disconsolately: “I’m a museum exhibit.” (See Sword and Shield, at page 175.)
Willy Fisher / Rudolf Abel lived until 1971. He was 69 years old when he died of lung cancer on the 15th of November that year. It was the anniversary of the very day—November 15, 1957—when Jim Donovan had successfully convinced the Judge to spare his client's life.
In honor of his position, and the esteem in which he was held, his body lay in state at a KGB hall not far from the Lubyanka Prison. His remains were cremated, at the New Donskoy (Donskoi) Cemetery in Moscow, where his ashes are interred.
After her husband's death, Yelena fought for a year to change the name on the stone which marks his gravesite. She wanted it to reflect his real, not his spy, name: William Genrikhovich Fisher.
No one really knows, for sure, what Willy Fisher / Rudolf Abel actually accomplished as a Soviet spy living in America. One thing we do know, however. His walk across the Glienicke inaugurated that bridge's new nickname: "Bridge of Spies."
Throughout the Cold War both sides sought intelligence about their opponents using spies, satellites and other means
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv9CW_YqqsI
FYI CPT Don KempSFC Greg Bruorton CPT (Join to see) 1stSgt Eugene Harless MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy 1SG Carl McAndrews SPC Douglas Bolton Debbie Pomeroy Cloud Kathlean KeeslerSGT Tim Fridley (Join to see) Michael Horne SSG David Andrews Sgt John H. Sgt David G Duchesneau SGT Mark Halmrast CW5 Jack Cardwell Cynthia Croft
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SSgt Boyd Herrst
I had followed the exchange and various report’s by the media (then [60s]the media seemed to be more trustworthy compared to these days.. [2006 onward]... as yearsgo on I’ve become skeptable Of many left-leaning news sources.. fake news , is it questionable?... maybe a statement by the media company ascertains that the journalists therein have Confirmed that what they report after valid investigation that the source is true to best of their knowledge.. it’s a shame a statement like that has to be affirmed by the media and it’s employees... I remember when some questionable activity was going on in politics (a few different occasions ). I was asked to sign a “loyalty statement”. I let a couple others sign before I didn’t. “Are you going to sign SSGT Herrst?” The clerk asked ; “ When I joined the Reserve back in ‘70 I took an oath
To defend this nation “from all enemies both foreign and domestic”. To me that means being loyal to the government of this nation. I see it as being redundant to sign a loyalty oath that I took when I first enlisted, recited again when I became Regular AF, When I re-enlisted, each time . And When I became an Non-Commissioned Officer.. the first time and when promoted to SSGT.
So I see no purpose in signing such a statement.” After I finished A round of applause went on in the orderly room.. word got around in the orderly room and spread beyond. It seems I was not the only one with that line of thought..
it reached the Base and Wing Commander and som other Generals.. So why didn’t stop there? Because it came from higher up.. whether it was from Military or Civilian GS staff I don’t know,.. I would have hoped Military high up would have stopped that nonsense.. This isn’t Russia.. or some other Soviet bloc nation..
Somebody made allegations that We may not be loyal to our government, leaders.. and that I resented..
To defend this nation “from all enemies both foreign and domestic”. To me that means being loyal to the government of this nation. I see it as being redundant to sign a loyalty oath that I took when I first enlisted, recited again when I became Regular AF, When I re-enlisted, each time . And When I became an Non-Commissioned Officer.. the first time and when promoted to SSGT.
So I see no purpose in signing such a statement.” After I finished A round of applause went on in the orderly room.. word got around in the orderly room and spread beyond. It seems I was not the only one with that line of thought..
it reached the Base and Wing Commander and som other Generals.. So why didn’t stop there? Because it came from higher up.. whether it was from Military or Civilian GS staff I don’t know,.. I would have hoped Military high up would have stopped that nonsense.. This isn’t Russia.. or some other Soviet bloc nation..
Somebody made allegations that We may not be loyal to our government, leaders.. and that I resented..
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SSgt Boyd Herrst
Cont’d about loyalty oath; it seemed that word got back to the top that some were dissent’g from signing not out of disloyalty but of loyalty falling back on the paths we recited when we joined or re-enlisted. Or recited when accepting commission. I was thinking that they would accuse us dissenters of being disloyal.. and come back again . Thankfully Smart people prevailed (where were they, ... out golfing?) when the idea was put out?... it doesn’t
matter, We dissenters won.. I checked later andcseen no comment entered in my jacket that was negative against me becsuse I did not sign the loyalty statement.
I informed other dissenters that had the same line of thought to check their jacket at Squadron and Personnel level every few months. Don’t go exactly on schedule.. give or take a week.. being too regular gives opportunity to remove and return.. any form that may be detrimental to the Airman in question.
matter, We dissenters won.. I checked later andcseen no comment entered in my jacket that was negative against me becsuse I did not sign the loyalty statement.
I informed other dissenters that had the same line of thought to check their jacket at Squadron and Personnel level every few months. Don’t go exactly on schedule.. give or take a week.. being too regular gives opportunity to remove and return.. any form that may be detrimental to the Airman in question.
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SSgt Boyd Herrst
The reason I bring this type of sit-rep to surface is I was called to the orderly room when at Hospital Sqdn. I had had some counseling word with an Airman about a sit-rep that was easily corrected and they did correct forthwith, so I didn’t enter on counseling form, no need.
The new GS-10 had observed me explaining to an Airman about a sit-rep that needed to be cleaned up for sanitation/health reason.. they corrected and that was that.
The GS-10 wanted a counseling form done just because there was a counseling done.. I told him it was required because the Airman repaired the sit-rep forthwith..
“So SSGT. You’re refusing got do a counseling form.?” “yes I am. The Airman in question repaired the sit-rep forthwith.. a verbal admonishment was all that was needed. You’re former Army, you prob’ly have different ways than we do to handle sit-reps. You just got here and need time to study how we in the AF handle our sit-reps depending on urgency.. some are more serious and demand documented action. Many repeat sit-reps may require documentation
Because safety/ sanitation is involved. So i’m Not issuing a counseling letter.. You can Check AFM guidelines in reference to that”. I turned and went back in the kitchen. I had work to check on.. I was a new SSGT. myself and I wasn’t letting some GS-10 think he could have me s******g myself over their demands ... he just arrived himself(7 months after me).. Well back to orderly em sit-rep.; SSGT. Herrst., it seems Mr.Lomeli entered a letter of No confidence in your Ability as an NCO over your handling of a counseling session
With an Airman over a sit-rep.. that you refused to issue a standard AF Hospital. Counseling form”. “It wasn’t needed. The Airman corrected the sit-rep forthwith.. we had a friendly verbal counseling sit-rep.. end of matter.. I explained to That GS-10 that he is new and needs to learn how we in the AF handle our sit-reps.. s’times all that is needed is a verbal cousel sit-rep.. no need going off the deep end with a bunch of paperwork.. there are times documentationis needed.. Some Airmen need more than a pat on the backside( “thanks for coming back and fixing that AMN J___, you make sure not to let thAt happen again.. get on back up front..) because they done it before.. it may not have been with me, but I knew first hand.. Depending on seriousness(possible injury to life and limb?)... I may write up but refer to their teamleader.. if they want to talk to me again.. I can do that.. but I’d let them make the decision.. I was never informed about the letter and the Commander removed it On the Lt. Dietician’s reccomendation.. He handed her back the jacket and as I was about to leave Cmdr motioned for me to remain.. “I understand you do quite an amount of verbal coumselings.. SSGT. “ Yes I do Sir, If it can be handled with a verbal and the Airman can repair the sit-rep forthwith with no damage incurred... Some things need a letter.. Some don’t.. repeats do..
I’d been on the end of a letter and it does serve to remind me not to do again.. and i’d Repaired the sit-rep forthwith.. so a. Verbal would of been fine... The Sgt. Bucking yo make a name for himself went off the. Deep-end w/o checking the depth ... That letter got thrown out.. changed to a verbal .. Because the TSGT over him had seen me work and knew it was a small mistake.. s’thing about a wet towel.. I left it folded by the drain in the trough.. actually I was still using it.. just not that moment...
I take things into consideration.. a moment of forgetfulness.. it happens.. I look at seriousness.. Commander shook his head in agreement.. and dismissed me.. it was my day-off so I headed off base.....Away from Travis.. Napa valley Maybe.. good day to get away... I hadn’t eaten.. so I stopped at the Navy Base in Vallejo.. and got a soda, chips and sandwich.. and headed out the gate... I passed Napa and ends up in Marin.. Torrejon(for the unknowing that means shark ). ... coincidence ?
Then I thought of The GS-10...
He was like a shark.. or he wanted people to think that... I wiped him off my slate.. I was going to enjoy myself. I had rest of that day and next day.. I had my copy of schedule at home.. and made sure they would NOT need my presence .. well so much for 1st day .. only a couple hours shot.. what I didn’t know the Lt seen the GS—10 writing on my line on the schedule..
she set the schedule up and made sure we all knew of any changes.. if we got shorted a day because she changed for some inesplicable reason.. it happens.. she asked him why he messed with her schedule.. he didn’t say anything just went back in his little closet of an office. I got a room at Presidio of Frisco.. lucky on that.. TV didn’t work so I went down to The dayroom where the JR. Ranks were
Some Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall movie.. good enough.. it was midnight about, I went and hit the rack after a shower.. I headed back to Travis next day after going back to Vallejo.. I forgot to hit the Navy version of the class 6 Store.. I looked over at the Officer’s Ooen Mess Store and seen what I thought to be a familiar auto. Nah, just the same type of car.. I think this one was more new.. I waited to see.. a
Older woman got behind the wheel and backed out.. well, it wasn’t
Him.. I drove back to base and found a couple notes under my door ... one was from The Lt. Letting me know of Mr._______ intent to change my schedule making me U.A. The next note was from him..
Letting me know I was U.A.... I took both to the 1SGT and Cmdr. “This is good, you’re covered go find s’place and hang out.. other than your room. So I went to the “SnakePit”. and got a pizza.. and a beer. I could hang until 4 then I had to leave according to a sign by bar...
the pit was a walk across the parking lot from the barracks.. about a City block . So I got the rest of my pizza and went back to my room.. and set my uniform up for next day and watch tv.. .. One
of the Airmen on my shift came by
and told me that Lomeli is out to get me... “I know about it, the Lt. Knows and so does 1SGT. & Comdr, thanks anyway .. want some pie ? “ he said no and left.. I went work Friday and We got bkfst out.. still no GS-10 L________... lunch got done...
he’s still not here.. it’s 1340.. i’m Going back to quarters.. The other shift was in middle of making supper So kitchen didn’t get Inspected.. 1st Cook and I got out of there and he. Gave me a ride down the hill .. We stopped by my room and had a drink.. He was age of majority(21+)... I walked back to his car with him and seen him off.. about an hour later the GS-10 Lomeli came by.. I was just going back in. I hurried in and pllrd the door shut.. sign by the door said NO Civilians except those signed in!
By order of Comdr. It was about 1800 and I heard banging on The door.. My room was closest to center stairs so I went up them and peered out the fire escape .. sure enough I looked down and there he was.. banging on the door.. we had 4 day sleepers in our 10 rooms.. I went to the CQ’s office and had him call the AF Security Police.. He made it sound like we had a mad-ma out there ... They came...turned out he was a .11 on drunk scale.. they slapped cuffs on and took him to detention and then called civilian police in town.. they came and took him to the county hoosegow.. I surmised he stayed all weekend..
got out Monday morn’g... Heard his sister had to retrieve him and brought him to work. I noticed his POV was still sitting in an Airman’s unassigned car space.. I let her know and she retrieved it before it got towed.. He got a break on that ; towed autos were $100 a day at the county yard .. sure he was a WO4 .. he had one bad break.. Maybe I could be magninimous and give him one.. why? Maybe cause I’d want one? Anyway come The following day(Wednesday). I was
“Standing tall before the man”(Hospital Commander.. Squadron Comdr, 1SGT, The Lt Dietician was there.. that was my armor.. She had the Altered schedule.. The Sqdn Comdr and Hospital Comdr. All had one Even the CMSGT The Hospital. Sgt Maj.
had his copy of precedings .. Mr L_______ read off his Charges ...
The Sqdn. Cmdr rdad off his .. Forging/altering AF Hospital form
Xx-xxx... not informing affected Airman of change in schedule (he did it when Airman was not available to correct sit-rep and show up for work .. making him U.A.
Not of his own accord. It was good he had people looking out for him.;
Lt., Sqdn Comdr, 1SGT, .. Any charges made by the GS-10 are dismissed and he will appear before director HR for civilian Personnel.. I’m not saying here what happened ..
He’s fortunate he didn’t lose his job.
He got what I believe was equivalent to a Suspended bust(I don’t know if they have for civilians or not)... got suspended 3 months
They said he took unpaid leave.. yeah, ok ! ... by time he came back I had 2 weeks duty left.. I went about doing my duty and getting things done.. I still did verbal counseling if I thought it was sufficient.. i didn’t hear a peep out
of him.. I cleared hospital and Sqdn and base and got off the base.... North Dakota, Here I come !
I was awarded 6 days travel pay and 30 days leave I had on the books. I signed in in using 3.5 days travel and NO Leave... Mr. L_______ was fit-to-be-tied.. .. I let the Sqdn and S.A.C. at Grand Forks handle him...
I’d read and heard he threatened the equivalent of Hellfire and brimstone to rain down on me..
it wasn’t happening. I’m free to use my leave as I feel fit within standing AF Regulations. They got a relief in
By time I was gone 20 days. (They got a TDY from the.Base.. he stayed 15 days.. until the new guy cleared in for duty.. I had good connections, Friends that kept me aware .. The Civilian had an Angina attack.. Inthought I’d be a sport and sent a
“Sorry you’re indisposed Getwell card”.. He apparently had a relapse when it came .. he needed to stay off the fried chicken mashed taters, gravy and ice cream .. longer .. (imho)... I didn’t send anymore cards.. my friends informed me again he decided to retire fully and go to Southern Cal down by Monterey..
The new GS-10 had observed me explaining to an Airman about a sit-rep that needed to be cleaned up for sanitation/health reason.. they corrected and that was that.
The GS-10 wanted a counseling form done just because there was a counseling done.. I told him it was required because the Airman repaired the sit-rep forthwith..
“So SSGT. You’re refusing got do a counseling form.?” “yes I am. The Airman in question repaired the sit-rep forthwith.. a verbal admonishment was all that was needed. You’re former Army, you prob’ly have different ways than we do to handle sit-reps. You just got here and need time to study how we in the AF handle our sit-reps depending on urgency.. some are more serious and demand documented action. Many repeat sit-reps may require documentation
Because safety/ sanitation is involved. So i’m Not issuing a counseling letter.. You can Check AFM guidelines in reference to that”. I turned and went back in the kitchen. I had work to check on.. I was a new SSGT. myself and I wasn’t letting some GS-10 think he could have me s******g myself over their demands ... he just arrived himself(7 months after me).. Well back to orderly em sit-rep.; SSGT. Herrst., it seems Mr.Lomeli entered a letter of No confidence in your Ability as an NCO over your handling of a counseling session
With an Airman over a sit-rep.. that you refused to issue a standard AF Hospital. Counseling form”. “It wasn’t needed. The Airman corrected the sit-rep forthwith.. we had a friendly verbal counseling sit-rep.. end of matter.. I explained to That GS-10 that he is new and needs to learn how we in the AF handle our sit-reps.. s’times all that is needed is a verbal cousel sit-rep.. no need going off the deep end with a bunch of paperwork.. there are times documentationis needed.. Some Airmen need more than a pat on the backside( “thanks for coming back and fixing that AMN J___, you make sure not to let thAt happen again.. get on back up front..) because they done it before.. it may not have been with me, but I knew first hand.. Depending on seriousness(possible injury to life and limb?)... I may write up but refer to their teamleader.. if they want to talk to me again.. I can do that.. but I’d let them make the decision.. I was never informed about the letter and the Commander removed it On the Lt. Dietician’s reccomendation.. He handed her back the jacket and as I was about to leave Cmdr motioned for me to remain.. “I understand you do quite an amount of verbal coumselings.. SSGT. “ Yes I do Sir, If it can be handled with a verbal and the Airman can repair the sit-rep forthwith with no damage incurred... Some things need a letter.. Some don’t.. repeats do..
I’d been on the end of a letter and it does serve to remind me not to do again.. and i’d Repaired the sit-rep forthwith.. so a. Verbal would of been fine... The Sgt. Bucking yo make a name for himself went off the. Deep-end w/o checking the depth ... That letter got thrown out.. changed to a verbal .. Because the TSGT over him had seen me work and knew it was a small mistake.. s’thing about a wet towel.. I left it folded by the drain in the trough.. actually I was still using it.. just not that moment...
I take things into consideration.. a moment of forgetfulness.. it happens.. I look at seriousness.. Commander shook his head in agreement.. and dismissed me.. it was my day-off so I headed off base.....Away from Travis.. Napa valley Maybe.. good day to get away... I hadn’t eaten.. so I stopped at the Navy Base in Vallejo.. and got a soda, chips and sandwich.. and headed out the gate... I passed Napa and ends up in Marin.. Torrejon(for the unknowing that means shark ). ... coincidence ?
Then I thought of The GS-10...
He was like a shark.. or he wanted people to think that... I wiped him off my slate.. I was going to enjoy myself. I had rest of that day and next day.. I had my copy of schedule at home.. and made sure they would NOT need my presence .. well so much for 1st day .. only a couple hours shot.. what I didn’t know the Lt seen the GS—10 writing on my line on the schedule..
she set the schedule up and made sure we all knew of any changes.. if we got shorted a day because she changed for some inesplicable reason.. it happens.. she asked him why he messed with her schedule.. he didn’t say anything just went back in his little closet of an office. I got a room at Presidio of Frisco.. lucky on that.. TV didn’t work so I went down to The dayroom where the JR. Ranks were
Some Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall movie.. good enough.. it was midnight about, I went and hit the rack after a shower.. I headed back to Travis next day after going back to Vallejo.. I forgot to hit the Navy version of the class 6 Store.. I looked over at the Officer’s Ooen Mess Store and seen what I thought to be a familiar auto. Nah, just the same type of car.. I think this one was more new.. I waited to see.. a
Older woman got behind the wheel and backed out.. well, it wasn’t
Him.. I drove back to base and found a couple notes under my door ... one was from The Lt. Letting me know of Mr._______ intent to change my schedule making me U.A. The next note was from him..
Letting me know I was U.A.... I took both to the 1SGT and Cmdr. “This is good, you’re covered go find s’place and hang out.. other than your room. So I went to the “SnakePit”. and got a pizza.. and a beer. I could hang until 4 then I had to leave according to a sign by bar...
the pit was a walk across the parking lot from the barracks.. about a City block . So I got the rest of my pizza and went back to my room.. and set my uniform up for next day and watch tv.. .. One
of the Airmen on my shift came by
and told me that Lomeli is out to get me... “I know about it, the Lt. Knows and so does 1SGT. & Comdr, thanks anyway .. want some pie ? “ he said no and left.. I went work Friday and We got bkfst out.. still no GS-10 L________... lunch got done...
he’s still not here.. it’s 1340.. i’m Going back to quarters.. The other shift was in middle of making supper So kitchen didn’t get Inspected.. 1st Cook and I got out of there and he. Gave me a ride down the hill .. We stopped by my room and had a drink.. He was age of majority(21+)... I walked back to his car with him and seen him off.. about an hour later the GS-10 Lomeli came by.. I was just going back in. I hurried in and pllrd the door shut.. sign by the door said NO Civilians except those signed in!
By order of Comdr. It was about 1800 and I heard banging on The door.. My room was closest to center stairs so I went up them and peered out the fire escape .. sure enough I looked down and there he was.. banging on the door.. we had 4 day sleepers in our 10 rooms.. I went to the CQ’s office and had him call the AF Security Police.. He made it sound like we had a mad-ma out there ... They came...turned out he was a .11 on drunk scale.. they slapped cuffs on and took him to detention and then called civilian police in town.. they came and took him to the county hoosegow.. I surmised he stayed all weekend..
got out Monday morn’g... Heard his sister had to retrieve him and brought him to work. I noticed his POV was still sitting in an Airman’s unassigned car space.. I let her know and she retrieved it before it got towed.. He got a break on that ; towed autos were $100 a day at the county yard .. sure he was a WO4 .. he had one bad break.. Maybe I could be magninimous and give him one.. why? Maybe cause I’d want one? Anyway come The following day(Wednesday). I was
“Standing tall before the man”(Hospital Commander.. Squadron Comdr, 1SGT, The Lt Dietician was there.. that was my armor.. She had the Altered schedule.. The Sqdn Comdr and Hospital Comdr. All had one Even the CMSGT The Hospital. Sgt Maj.
had his copy of precedings .. Mr L_______ read off his Charges ...
The Sqdn. Cmdr rdad off his .. Forging/altering AF Hospital form
Xx-xxx... not informing affected Airman of change in schedule (he did it when Airman was not available to correct sit-rep and show up for work .. making him U.A.
Not of his own accord. It was good he had people looking out for him.;
Lt., Sqdn Comdr, 1SGT, .. Any charges made by the GS-10 are dismissed and he will appear before director HR for civilian Personnel.. I’m not saying here what happened ..
He’s fortunate he didn’t lose his job.
He got what I believe was equivalent to a Suspended bust(I don’t know if they have for civilians or not)... got suspended 3 months
They said he took unpaid leave.. yeah, ok ! ... by time he came back I had 2 weeks duty left.. I went about doing my duty and getting things done.. I still did verbal counseling if I thought it was sufficient.. i didn’t hear a peep out
of him.. I cleared hospital and Sqdn and base and got off the base.... North Dakota, Here I come !
I was awarded 6 days travel pay and 30 days leave I had on the books. I signed in in using 3.5 days travel and NO Leave... Mr. L_______ was fit-to-be-tied.. .. I let the Sqdn and S.A.C. at Grand Forks handle him...
I’d read and heard he threatened the equivalent of Hellfire and brimstone to rain down on me..
it wasn’t happening. I’m free to use my leave as I feel fit within standing AF Regulations. They got a relief in
By time I was gone 20 days. (They got a TDY from the.Base.. he stayed 15 days.. until the new guy cleared in for duty.. I had good connections, Friends that kept me aware .. The Civilian had an Angina attack.. Inthought I’d be a sport and sent a
“Sorry you’re indisposed Getwell card”.. He apparently had a relapse when it came .. he needed to stay off the fried chicken mashed taters, gravy and ice cream .. longer .. (imho)... I didn’t send anymore cards.. my friends informed me again he decided to retire fully and go to Southern Cal down by Monterey..
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Maj Marty Hogan An Exceptional "Illegal" (Not Operating Under Diplomatic Cover) Soviet Agent.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
May need to point out to some that an "illegal" in the spy world is an agent from another country, not an immigrant from another country who tries to enter without papers.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
PO3 Craig Phillips One is working for his country, the other is looking for work.
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Maj Marty Hogan, Bridge of Spies is a 2015 "film (that) tells the story of lawyer James B. Donovan, who was entrusted with negotiating the release of Francis Gary Powers—a U.S. Air Force pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960—in exchange for Rudolf Abel, a convicted Soviet KGB spy held under the custody of the United States, whom he represented at trial. The name of the film refers to the Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam with Berlin, where the prisoner exchange took place. The film was an international co-production of the United States and Germany."
It's a good film, although there are a number of historical inaccuracies.
SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Spies_(film)
It's a good film, although there are a number of historical inaccuracies.
SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Spies_(film)
Bridge of Spies (film) - Wikipedia
Bridge of Spies is a 2015 historical drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, written by Matt Charman, Ethan and Joel Coen and stars Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda. Set during the Cold War, the film tells the story of lawyer James B. Donovan, who is entrusted with negotiating the release of Francis Gary Powers—a U.S. Air Force pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960—in exchange...
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