April 1978 RCO Bob Roberson had offered for me to layover the weekend in Athens before returning to my home base at Amconsul Karachi. I accepted with the only caveat being that I attend a half-day security upgrade at Am Embassy Athens. >photo Hellenikon Air force Base, Athens, Greece circa 1976 by forgottenairfields.com I was…
Tag: SECSTATE
Baghdad | By the Rivers of Babylon
April 1978 The ’57 Chevy driven by a black-mustached Iraqi rumbled (the shocks were all gone) down the highway from the airport into Baghdad. I bet the tires (probably retreads) had little tread wear left. Boney M album cover courtesy en-wikipedia.org We passed a billboard that advertised the Iraqi leader Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. The old man…
Baghdad, Iraq | Arrival Resistance
April 1978 My cohort at the American Consulate Karachi, Al, had warned me. Regional Communications Officer Bob Roberson was adept at “expanding” our scheduled trips once we got out in the field. Bob’s well-crafted messages not only exonerated him but put the onus on us techs. Robertson’s message referenced the Office of Communication’s “Request for…
Middle East Travel | The Road to Damascus Ends at the Emerald City
March 1978 (Aboard a Jet Airliner 33,000 feet above Syria) In biblical scripture the “Road to Damascus” referred to the sudden turning point in the life of the apostle Paul (when God shined the light on him) while literally on the road to Damascus from Jerusalem. Prior to that moment, he had been called Saul,…
Caught on Film | The CIA Girl Who Waitressed at a Virginia Disco
[Part Three] February 1978 Looking back the CIA girl incident unfolds as a series of scenes, like a one-reel wonder. To bring the reader into the fold I will treat this message as such… <feature photo by lightbulbs.com Scene One—Rewind: The American Consulate General Karachi fourth floor hallway. I first meet the CIA girl… When…
The Pharaoh’s Curse Reaches Out | American Consulate General Karachi
February 1978 [Part One] After an arduous two weeks in Cairo trudging over one sand hill after another (not literally) I packed up and returned to Karachi. The majority of my time at the “sand pile” had been waiting on a radio repeater that was intended to extend the radio network coverage from Am Embassy…
The Cyrus Vance Cairo Detail | Radio Interference of the Third Kind
January 1977 At the Cairo International Airport ARRIVALS hall I looked out for the embassy driver dressed in dark trousers, blue cotton long-sleeve shirt with perspiration patches in the armpits, and a well-worn black tie (the drivers all seemed to wear the same uniform). <feature photo by ghettyimages.com When the American Embassy Regional Security Officer Childress…
The President Carter/Secretary Vance Joint Detail | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
January 1978 I had arrived at Riyadh with a full tank of expectation for ’78. From what I heard the mysterious Saudi Arabia had always been a closed society. Visas were hard to come by and tourism didn’t exist here. While In Bangkok I had talked to a guy that worked for the American ARAMCO…
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance Arrives | The Middle East Peace Initiative Begins
December 1977 The Author: Perhaps Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat didn’t get the memo when former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had stated: “You can’t make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can’t make peace without Syria.” Unbeknownst to the world Sadat had decided to bypass the influence of the Russians, Americans,…
From the Middle East to Karachi | The Deep Blue Goodbye
Late November 1977 After completing my first Middle East trip I headed back to my home base of Karachi, Pakistan on the Thai International flight. It had only been about two weeks, but it seemed like two months. As the flight ascended to its thirty-some thousand feet cruising altitude, it forsook the stark blue of…
Political Wars and the Middle East Peace Initiative
Late November 1977 Late in the afternoon Am Embassy Amman Communications & Records Officer Paul Messenger handed me a heads-up confidential message from my boss in Karachi, RCO Roberson. Basically, it stated that my partner-in-crime in Karachi, Al, and myself would be supporting the Secretary of State Cyrus Vance detail during the Middle East peace…
American Embassy Amman | Déjà Vu and Other Anomalies
Mid-November 1977 I stopped at the bottom of the footsteps leading up to the entrance into the American Embassy Amman chancery. I couldn’t get over the familiarity. It was déjà vu—like I had been here before. This was odd given that I had visited less than ten embassies to date. <feature photo by pinterest.com Once…
Confessions of a Diplomatic Courier
November 1977—Somewhere Over the Adriatic Sea The Egyptian Khamsin (sand storm) and the ghosts of the past remained at the American Embassy Cairo. I was headed to Athens on Thai International Airlines via Rome. Al, my cohort at Am Consul Karachi, had recommended it. Why not a straight flight to Athens? That’s what I asked the Egyptian…
American Embassy Cairo | Aftermath of the Khamsin
Early November 1977 After I got off the windswept Chancery roof I wrapped my face in linen à la T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and raced across the street to the guesthouse. To get to the upper floor I had to enter an ancient cage-like elevator, the type that I didn’t know still existed. I shut the…
Cairo Arrival | Shadows of the Past
Cairo International Airport | Early November 1977 The Pakistani Airlines flight made its final approach to the runway. I was in an aisle seat that didn’t afford a good glimpse of the pyramids. How ironic that my first trip from RCO Karachi would be Am Embassy Cairo, where my predecessor Charles A. had gotten on…
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO IMMEDIATE
American Consulate General | Early November 1977 When RCO Roberson called me into his office at Am Consul Karachi Tuesday morning, I had a sinking feeling. Joe, the telephone lead tech had worked for Roberson in Jakarta. He told me that when “Bob” called you into his office it usually wasn’t to pat you on…
The Journal: CIA Deception or Hoax?
American Consulate General Karachi | Late October 1977 After spending the day cleaning up the radio shop at the Con Gen I dragged into my Clifton apartment with the JOURNAL on my mind. The odor of Basheer’s baked chicken with potatoes and vegetables was a welcome alternative to the dank, rancid radio shop floor. <feature…
Foreign Service Ambiguities | Change of Plans
American Consulate General | Late October 1977 Al was very punctual when it came time to leave to work from the Clifton apartment building. At 0745 hours he had his Toyota Corolla warmed up in the driveway and the guard had opened the gate. Directly in front of us sitting on the lawn in a…
The Six Million Dollar Man Bites the Dust in Karachi
American Consulate General | Late October 1977 Al’s Thai girlfriend Sue made Thai food for dinner that evening after work at the Clifton Apartments. Sue, quiet and pleasant, called the noodle dish Pad Thai. After I commented how delicious the noodles were she immediately asked me if I was single or married. Al laughed it…
American Consulate General Karachi | The RCO
Late October 1977 When General Zia al-Huq had recently deposed Ali Bhutto’s liberal government during a military coup d’état he declared that Pakistan would return to traditional conservative Sunni Muslim values. The transfer of power did not hinder the operations of Am Consul Karachi’s Regional Communications Office. Because the RCO’s mission was to support the other…
The Consulate General | Chili Beans in Karachi
The American Consulate General | Late October 1977 I worked at the consulate of the highest rank, the American Consulate General in the largest city of Pakistan, the port city of Karachi. Consulate Generals normally served large cities in terms of bilateral relations with the United States (commerce, travel, etc.). <featured photo by pinterest.com My…
The American Consulate General Karachi | Inshallah
Late October 1977 Prior to leaving SECSTATE in Washington D.C. to Pakistan, I had attended a mandatory “in-country” security briefing, and an anti-terrorism symposium. The experts had stressed that Foreign Service Officers abroad should always change daily routes—never repeat. They instructed how to recognize when you’re being followed and what actions to take <feature photo…
Leaving on a Jet Plane
October 1977 After a year in Northern Virginia learning the basics of my job as a radio technician/diplomat for the Office of Communications/Programs & Engineering (OC/PE) I was ready to move on. I had checked off the 60% part of my mentor Norm Bates’ “60/40 Hypothesis:” Completed technical schools Supported SY (State Department Security) Protective Details…
Special Agent Martin V
Someone said that the strength of the Foreign Service are its people. They come from all walks of life. Most follow the traditional path: a university degree with a major in political science, economics, and the like. To prepare for a Foreign Service career they might become an intern in Washington D.C. They might contact their congressmen for…
The Foreign Service | An Education of Sorts
Back in the 1970’s, no one hired on with the U.S. Department of State to get rich. My base salary began at around $12,000 per year. I don’t recall many Foreign Service Officers owning homes given that they were out of the country most of their careers. Living overseas had its benefits. Housing was…
SECSTATE | Telegraphic Messages
One of the jobs I learned early on with the Office of Communications during my domestic assignment at Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia was how to read and compose telegraphic messages. <feature photo by radioblvd.com All classified and unclassified telegraphic messages from U.S. missions (American embassies, consulates) worldwide terminated at the U.S. Department of State. The…
Foreign Service Messages 