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by Tricia Mansell (Author)
The Cold War days of the 1970s and 1980s were ripe with espionage investigations and double agent operations targeted between the USA and USSR. The race was on to gain and maintain military superiority, and this meant stealing enemy technology and strategy. Such stealing was the goal of spies. The author was at the very heart of counter-espionage activities during these decades, to include involvement in the Walker spy ring investigation of 1985, dubbed the "Year of the Spy." Also, to include supervising a double agent operation that led to the arrest of a spy prosecuted by then Boston US Attorney Robert Mueller, who went on to become the FBI Director. While these chapters are interesting, this book also tells the underlying story of a woman who is a trailblazer in both the intelligence and investigative fields. She was one of the first female commissioned officers to specialize in Naval Intelligence, and following that, she became one of the first female Special Agents for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). This book is a must read for any woman working in a field traditionally dominated by men. It illuminates the challenges and gives a shockingly candid and sobering account of the dawn of women in intelligence and law enforcement fields. For anyone who is a fan of the long-running hit television show NCIS, this book is a bonus with insight into their real work. The foreword to this book is written by Rear Admiral Cathal "Irish" Flynn, USN Retired (and now deceased). Admiral Flynn had a long career in U.S. Navy special operations and was the first Admiral to command NCIS. In his foreword, he writes the author had become an "invaluable asset, and a professional practitioner across a wide intelligence spectrum." He also notes this book will be "treasured for the clarity of its writing, for the author's self-revelation, and for her insightful retrospect of the United States Navy in a period of transition."
