The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comhe joined the service directly from Oxford, had been posted to Uruguayshortly after the outbreak of the Falklands war, then went to New Yorkto work in the British mission to the United Nations.Looking around the table, I realised the new recruits were all fromsimilar backgrounds. All were white, male, conventional and middleclass. All of us were university graduates, mostly from Oxford orCambridge. It was pretty much the background of all MI6 officers. Theservice's recruitment figures refute its claims to be an equalopportunity employer: only about 10 per cent of the officers werefemale, there were no black officers whatsoever, only one of mixedAsian parentage, and there were no disabled officers, even though therewere plenty of suitable opportunities. These issues gave me no concernat the time, though. I was deeply enthusiastic about my new career andcould hardly wait to get started on the training.MONDAY, 9 DECEMBER 1991PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND4. INDOCTRINATIONThe nine of us, crammed into the Bedford minibus, were silent and tenseas we drove through the darkness and driving rain towards the centre ofPortsmouth. It was 8.30 p.m. and the streets were almost empty. Only afew stragglers, huddled under umbrellas, were scurrying to the pubs.Ball drove, with Long silently alongside. One by one, they dropped usoff in dark side streets or deserted parking lots to merge into thenight. Castle went first, striding confidently towards his target,dressed in his suit with a Barbour jacket to protect himself againstthe elements. Spencer followed, sheepishly scuttling into the darknessunder a Burberry umbrella. My turn was next and Markham wished me luckas I slipped out of the back door of the minibus and orientated myselftowards my target.The IONEC was designed to train a recruit to a level of proficiency tostep into a junior desk job in MI6. Approximately half of the coursewas spent in the classroom, learning the administration of the service,the theory of how to cultivate, recruit, handle and debrief agents,listening to case histories and receiving presentations from thedifferent sections of the service. The remainder was spent inexercises, and we were on PERFECT STRANGER, the first of manyincreasingly complicated tests that were to form the backbone of thecourse.Our brief was simple but a little nerve-racking for novice spies. Wewere each assigned a pub in downtown Portsmouth in which we had toapproach a member of the public and, using whatever cunning ruse wecould invent, extract their name, address, date of birth, occupationand passport number. We were given an alias, but had to use ourinitiative to invent the rest of our fictional personality.Ball explained that the purpose of the exercise was three-fold. First,it was a gentle introduction to using and maintaining an alias identityin a live situation, an essential skill for an intelligence officer.Second, it would test our initiative and cunning in devising a crediblepage- 32 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com